Shannon Coulter
A season to remember for the Halifax Macs has led them to compete for Canada’s U18 Men’s National Club Championship for a sixth time.
The Atlantic Region champions dominated on the East Coast this season, losing just twice in 34 games (once in regulation, once in overtime) during the regular season and outscoring opponents by 138 goals (202-64). That success continued into the playoffs, where the Macs swept the Sydney Rush and Cape Breton West Islanders before beating the Pictou Country Majors in five games to claim the Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League (NSU18MHL) title.
At Regionals, Halifax dropped one game in the preliminary round to the Fredericton Caps, but got its revenge in the championship game, shutting out the Caps 2-0 to advance to the TELUS Cup.
Overall, the Macs take an impressive 47-3-1 record into Peterborough, which is the best record of the six teams playing for a national title.
Cape Breton Eagles prospect Evan Lyver has led the offence for Halifax this season. He recorded 53 points (23-30—53) in 34 regular-season games and tacked on 29 more (9-20—29) in 17 playoff games.
The Macs look to become the third Atlantic team in the last decade to win the TELUS Cup, joining Cape Breton West in 2017 and Moncton in 2022. Halifax’s best placement at the national championship came in its first appearance in 1980, when it finished fourth.
HOW THEY GOT TO PETERBOROUGH
Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League Quarterfinal: defeated Sydney Rush 3-0 (8-1, 12-0, 5-2) Semifinal: defeated Cape Breton West Islanders 4-0 (5-2, 3-2, 5-1, 6-3) Final: defeated Pictou County Majors 4-1 (5-2, 6-2, 2-3, 5-2, 5-3)
Atlantic Regional Preliminary round: 3-1 – 2nd place (defeated Kensington Wild 6-3, defeated Saint John Vito’s 4-3, lost to Fredericton Caps 6-3, defeated St. John’s Growlers 6-5) Championship game: defeated Fredericton Caps 2-0
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-OTL): 32-1-1 (1st in NSU18MHL) Goals for: 202 (1st in NSU18MHL) Goals against: 64 (1st in NSU18MHL) Longest winning streak: 18 (Sept. 27-Dec. 10) Top 3 scorers: - Evan Lyver – 23G 30A 53P (2nd in NSU18MHL) - Will Shearer – 13G 31A 44P (6th in NSU18MHL) - Jax Ginnish – 19G 22A 41P (11th in NSU18MHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 15-2 Goals for: 88 Goals against: 40 Top 3 scorers: - Evan Lyver – 9G 20A 29P - Riley Creelman – 3G 17A 20P - Sam Fleming – 10G 9A 19P
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
1980 – Halifax McDonald’s | 4th place | 3-3 | 15GF 17GA 1983 – Halifax McDonald’s | 8th place | 2-4 | 13GF 37GA 1994 – Halifax McDonald’s | 5th place | 2-3 | 24GF 25GA 2011 – Halifax Titans | 5th place | 1-2-2 | 5GF 23GA 2014 – Halifax McDonald’s | 5th place | 1-3-1 | 10GF 19GA 2019 – Halifax McDonald’s | 5th place | 1-3-1 | 6GF 12GA
QMJHL DRAFTED PLAYERS
Logan Trewin – Halifax Mooseheads (4th round, 71st overall) Jax Ginnish – Cape Breton Eagles 2025 (6th round, 102nd overall) Gavin Sudds – Halifax Mooseheads 2024 (6th round, 107th overall) Will Shearer –Titan d’Acadie-Bathurst 2024 (6th round, 110th overall) Evan Lyver – Cape Breton Eagles 2025 (8th round, 138th overall) Ian Lovett –Cataractes de Shawinigan 2024 (9th round, 152nd overall) Riley Creelman – Cape Breton Eagles 2024 (13th round, 219th overall) Joseph Breen –Remparts de Québec 2024 (13th round, 220th overall) Carter Sullivan – Olympiques de Gatineau 2024 (14th round, 241st overall)