Mooseheads fire Midgley
Assistant coach Liam Heelis also let go following Herd’s first-round playoff exit
Jim Midgley is out again as head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads.
The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) team announced his dismissal on April 16, along with assistant coach Liam Heelis. Assistant coach Brad MacKenzie will remain with the team.
"After lengthy discussions with ownership, we have decided to move in another direction behind the bench," Halifax general manager
Cam Russell said in a news release. "I'd like to thank Jim and Liam for all of their hard work and their dedication to the team and we wish them all the best in the future."
This was Midgley's second stint as Halifax's head coach. He first took over for the 2017-18 season after six years as an assistant coach with the team. The Mooseheads let him go after one season and he went on to work as a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers and an assistant coach with the New York Rangers and Canada's national women's team.
Midgley, a Townsend, Ont., native, started his coaching career as an assistant with the Acadia Axemen in 2003 following his playing days with the Saint Mary's Huskies and the Fort Worth Brahmas. He worked with the Axemen for four seasons, winning an AUS championship in 2005-06, and was inducted into Acadia Hockey Honour Roll in 2023.
Midgley was rehired last spring after Sylvain Favreau resigned after two seasons as the Mooseheads' head coach. Favreau was hired by the Drummondville Voltigeurs a few days later.
Midgley guided the Mooseheads to a 42-18-7-1 record during the regular season but they were swept by the Bathurst Titan in the first round of the playoffs. Halifax finished fourth overall in the QMJHL and won the Maritimes Division title.
"Jim and Liam are both good people and we wish them nothing but the best in their future," Mooseheads chairman/owner Sam Simon and president of Simon
Sports Peter Simon said in a joint statement. "This was a tough decision but one that's right for the organization."
Heelis spent three seasons on the Halifax bench and worked primarily on the power play and with the forwards.
Heelis was an assistant coach and head coach of the McGill Redmen for four years before joining the Mooseheads. Prior to becoming a coach, Heelis played four seasons at Acadia University from 2011-12 to 2014-15 and was the captain his final two years.