Round Robin Preview: Mooseheads at Storm
They’re the host team, but the Halifax Mooseheads won’t have last change on Sunday night when they face the OHL champion Guelph Storm.
Two clubs who won their opening game of the 2019 Memorial Cup Presented by Kia go head-to-head as the Mooseheads look to build off Friday’s 4-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders while the Storm try and pick up where they left off in Saturday’s 5-2 triumph over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
The Halifax trio of Samuel Asselin, Maxim Trépanier and Raphaël Lavoie came up big in Friday’s opener as Asselin earned first star honours with a goal and an assist while Trépanier collected three helpers.
The Mooseheads had a chance to see the Storm in action Saturday night, helping them prepare for Sunday’s matchup.
“They played yesterday so they’re ready for sure,” said Asselin. “We’re going to have to be ready right from the start and expect their push. Yesterday they scored five goals so they’re on a high and with all their players they can score, but we just have to be ready and focus on ourselves.”
The Storm come in riding high after knocking off QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday as Alexey Toropchenko scored a first period hat-trick. With Saturday’s result in their rearview mirror, the Storm are back down to business against a Halifax team they aren’t looking past.
“Especially in a tournament like this you can’t get too up or too down, you just have to look at every day as a different day and refocus for Halifax tonight,” said Storm defender Markus Phillips.
“We saw the first period of the last game here and the fans are awesome. Having some of them on our side last night was nice but it’s going to be a complete 180 playing Halifax so we’re ready.”
The Mooseheads will be back in green, red and white, looking to join the 2017 Windsor Spitfires as the only other host team to start 2-0 in the past 10 years of Memorial Cup action.
Catch all the action between the Mooseheads and Storm on Sunday at 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW. Fans can also tune in at CHLLive.ca.
Next up: Monday action sees the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Prince Albert Raiders look to rebound from opening game losses.