'We're making some noise': Scrappy Mooseheads a win away from major playoff upset

Richard Woodbury · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 05, 2025 10:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

The defending-champion Drummondville Voltigeurs were expected to easy bushed a youthful Halifax Mooseheads squad that hardly made the QMJHL playoffs.

But the Mooseheads, up 3-2 successful their first-round series, whitethorn person benefited from their playoff inexperience. That's what defenceman and squad skipper Brady Schultz thinks.

"You could accidental we're naive due to the fact that we're a small young, but sometimes I deliberation that works successful our favour," said Schultz, a 20-year-old defenceman who is successful his last twelvemonth of eligibility.

The Mooseheads are in a rebuilding year, having traded away astir of their apical endowment for aboriginal draught picks and younger players.

Not overmuch was expected of them, but the Mooseheads won the archetypal 2 games successful Quebec. A 4-2 triumph Friday successful Halifax gives them the bid pb heading into Game 6 Monday backmost successful Drummondville.

The triumph marked the archetypal clip a 16th-seed won 3 games successful a QMJHL playoff series. That besides means nary squad that started wherever the Mooseheads did has ever advanced.

Schultz said the connection he's been delivering to younger teammates is that Drummondville is simply a large squad and the Mooseheads won't outshoot them. They person to artifact shots, play a carnal benignant and capitalize connected the constricted chances they get.

"They're conscionable going retired determination and giving it their all, not a attraction successful the satellite astir what happens, conscionable buying in," said Schultz.

Perhaps the biggest crushed for the Mooseheads occurrence has been the play of goalie Jacob Steinman, a 20-year-old besides successful his last play of eligibility. He's faced betwixt 31 and 54 shots each game, portion the Mooseheads have countered with betwixt 17 and 27.

For a young squad similar the Mooseheads to win, Steinman said it takes "guts and grit." And portion an older squad similar Drummondville is bigger and faster, the Mooseheads person to trust connected different things to win.

"Having the guts and the volition to artifact shots and bash each that doesn't travel with age, it conscionable comes with however consenting are you to bash it for the squad and enactment the squad first," helium said.

Despite the regular-season record, Schultz said the Mooseheads person ever believed successful themselves.

"After the archetypal 2 games successful Drummondville, I deliberation everybody started benignant of paying attraction to us," helium said.

"It's thing we knew each twelvemonth long. We person a precise peculiar group. Everybody's bought in. There's nary egos, nary anything. I emotion it and … we're making immoderate noise."

Game 7, if necessary, would beryllium Tuesday successful Drummondville.