Halifax's Jerseys

With the 2019 Mastercard Memorial Cup beginning tonight in Halifax, the home squad will don some special uniforms to honour the military tie-in with the Memorial Cup. This year, the Mooseheads will auction off the jerseys they wear this evening to raise funds for the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund which will be used for the care and benevolent support of Veterans and their dependents. It's always the one thing I look forward to in this tournament because these jerseys always have special meaning and usually look spectacular. Halifax's jerseys tonight did not fail.

The 2019 tournament will feature the WHL's Prince Alberta Raiders, the OHL's Guelph Storm, the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, and the host Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. To kick off each tournament, the host team wears a special jersey to reflect the heritage of the Memorial Cup's early beginnings as the Ontario Hockey Association Memorial Cup, an award that was instituted in memory of the many Canadian First World War soldiers that died fighting in 1919. The jersey program was started in 2008, and every host team since that time has kicked off the tournament on the Friday night by wearing a special jersey that honours a branch of the military.

These are the jerseys that Halifax took the ice in tonight. As per the release by the Mooseheads, "[t]he jersey pays tribute to the Nova Scotia Highlanders (NS Highrs) by proudly displaying their hat badge as our front crest. The NS Highrs are one of only two units from the Maritime provinces that took part in the Landing at Normandy on D-Day in 1944 during World War II. This year marks the 75th anniversary of that event." The words on the top of the circle surrounding the crest read "Siol Na Fear Fearail" which is the motto of the Nova Scotia Highlanders and translates to "Breed of Manly Men". While the Mooseheads don't normally wear blue or boast about their manliness, they looked good against the green-and-white of the Prince Alberta Raiders who drew the opening game against the Mooseheads tonight as the 101st Mastercard Memorial Cup began.

As you can see by these celebrations, the Halifax Mooseheads were in a good mood tonight as they opened the 2019 Mastercard Memorial Cup with a 4-1 win over the WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders. The round-robin portion of the tournament continues all week as the OHL's Guelph Storm and QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies battle on Saturday in their first games. While we won't see these jerseys worn again, you can get one via the CHL auction page if you like them. While they're out of my price range, I'm a fan of these Halifax jerseys!

Well done on continuing a great tradition at this tournament, Halifax! Hopefully, these jerseys will raise a ton of dough for the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!