History
The team was first envisioned by Moosehead Brewery regional sales manager Harold McKay in 1993, who believed that Halifax could host a QMJHL team. The QMJHL had teams exclusively located in Quebec, so adding a team in the Maritimes would add to travel costs for the other teams. McKay was confident that the Halifax franchise could be successful and received financial backing from Moosehead Breweries President and CEO Derek Oland. After careful negotiations, the QMJHL expanded to the city of Halifax for the 1994–1995 season. In their first year in 1994, the Mooseheads finished in 6th place and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Beauport Harfangs, taking the first place team to seven games. The Mooseheads are considered pioneers for the QMJHL. Following the success of the Mooseheads, the league began accepting franchises through relocation or expansion into Atlantic Canada, which lost most of its American Hockey League franchises in the mid 1990's. The QMJHL has franchises in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Moncton, New Brunswick, Bathurst, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (the Bathurst, Charlottetown, and Sydney franchises were relocations from Quebec). While the league has had success with most of its Atlantic franchises, only the St. John's Fog Devils failed to garner the interest and following and moved to Verdun, Quebec after the 2007-2008 season which was only their third season in existance.
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