Lethbridge defenceman Macoy Erkamps (Larry MacDougall, The Canadian Press)The Lethbridge Hurricanes, circa 1987, didn't take their name from the National Hockey League team that was established nearly 10 years later, but the jerseys they've worn for the past two seasons look familiar to NHL fans.

That team, the Washington Capitals, apparently don't like that the two sweaters look alike. Via Darrell Romuld of CTV Lethbridge:

President: The Lethbridge Hurricanes have been handed a timeline to change their uniforms by the Washington Capitals; Complained likeness.

— Darrell Romuld (CTV) (@CTVDarrell) March 21, 2013

The Hurricanes have had the red, blue and white colour scheme carried over from their days as the Calgary Wranglers (most of the historical WHL logos can be found on the indispensable sports logos.net) and minor teams, even unaffiliated ones, often like to pull designs from NHL clubs. The Capitals vibrant red and blue colour scheme and generic logo containing a hockey stick was probably more representative of the Southern Alberta city than naming a team after a storm typically found in the South Atlantic.

Russia's Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Kucherov (right) celebrate. (Candian Press)

At the start of the season, it looked like the QMJHL was a two-horse race between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Quebec Remparts. A series of unfortunate circumstances afflicted the Remparts, however. With three good import players and only able to play two, the Remparts had to trade Nikita Kucherov to Rouyn-Noranda, allowing them to play Nick Sorensen and two-way force and No. 12 overall pick Mikhail Grigorenko.

But then came time for the World Juniors, and Grigorenko left Québec to join Team Russia for their bronze medal win in Ufa. In his absence, the Remparts went 3-6. Their record was 22-9 on December 8, but 25-15 when he rejoined the team for a pair of defeats against Chicoutimi and Shawinigan on January 10 and 11.

On January 12, the National Hockey League and its Player's Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding to end the owners lockout after coming to an agreement on January 6. Grigorenko, a highly-touted two-way forward who was described as one of the more NHL-ready players in the draft crop, went to Buffalo to start the shortened season with his NHL club. Now the Remparts were without both Kucherov and Grigorenko.

Quebec Remparts left wing Adam Erne (The Canadian Press)The Halifax Mooseheads are the odds-on favourites to take the Presidents' Cup this season as QMJHL champions, thanks in large part to their dynamic duo up front of Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon will get back into the Mooseheads lineup tonight after sitting out 14 games due to injury.

MacKinnon and Drouin were selected at No. 1 and No. 2 in the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft, although MacKinnon, originally drafted by the Baie Comeau Drakkar, held out and publicly discussed making a move to the NCAA ranks. His hometown team in Halifax ponied up the resources to trade for the 15-year-old phenom centreman.

One of those resources was the young Adam Erne, selected at No. 22 by Halifax. The Mooseheads traded Erne to the Québec Remparts for picks that they used to obtain the rights to MacKinnon from the Drakkar. Halifax general manager Cam Russell used every available advantage to get into the 2011 season with both MacKinnon and Drouin in tow, including the admiration Remparts general manager Patrick Roy held for Erne.

In an interview with NHL.com's Mike Morreale on Wednesday, Erne said that he was never going to play for any QMJHL team except for the Remparts. Russell took a huge risk by using a high second round pick:

"I told every [QMJHL] team I wasn't entering except Quebec," Erne said. "Somehow, Halifax found out and because they were pursuing options to somehow acquire [Nathan] MacKinnon, they drafted me in the second round [No. 22]. They then completed a three-team trade to get MacKinnon."

On July 11, 2011, Halifax general manager Cam Russell dealt Erne to Quebec in exchange for a second-round pick and two first-round picks. That gave Halifax five first-round choices over the next three years.

Two days later, MacKinnon's rights were traded to Halifax by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for two players, first-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013, and Quebec's first-round draft pick in 2013, previously acquired by Halifax.

"I ended up where I wanted to be in Quebec, so it worked out," Erne said. [NHL.com]

Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre

The Soo Curling Club team of Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, E.J. Harden and Ryan Harnden won a Tim Horton's Brier title thanks to mastery of the "hit" game, but their latest "take out" is against a Western Hockey League opponent in British Columbia's capital.

The schedule for the first round series between the Kamloops Blazers and Victoria Royals—a repeat of last year's first-round series that the Blazers swept in four games—was released today, with games getting underway Friday March 22nd. The series shifts to Victoria for Games 3, 4 and 6, if necessary, on March 26, 28 and April 1. However those games are not at the modern Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre at the heart of downtown Victoria.

With the Ford World Curling Championships occupying the space, the WHL playoffs will move from Victoria to the suburb Colwood and the home of the BCHL's Grizzlies:

The Royals will vacate their home arena following their final regular-season game on Friday to make room for the Ford World men's curling championship. That event runs from March 30 through April 7, but the curlers are to begin setting up on Sunday.

As a result, the Royals have moved their first-round home playoff games to 2,300-seat Bear Mountain Arena, a facility that opened in February 2004. Bear Mountain also is home to the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies, who also are preparing for playoffs.

"Everything is set and (we are) ready to work around each other's games," Royals general manager Cam Hope wrote in an email yesterday. "Should be a great atmosphere in such a tight venue." [Kamloops Daily News]

Budweiser Gardens in London could host the 2014 CHL championshipThe Ontario Hockey League sent out a release today to announce that the Barrie Colts, Windsor Spitfires and London Knights were the finalists in the bidding for the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament. The tournament will be the 96th edition of the Canadian Hockey League's annual championship between the winners of the three leagues and the host franchise.

Per the release:

All three clubs will present before the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup Site Selection Committee on Wednesday April 17, 2013, in Toronto, ON.  The Site Selection Committee is comprised of five leaders in the sports industry including Toronto Blue Jays President and CEO Paul Beeston, former OHL and NHL Executive and Director of Central Scouting Frank Bonello, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jim Gregory, and President of Broadcast, Rogers Media (Sportsnet) Scott Moore.  Ex officio members of the Site Selection Committee include OHL Legal Counsel Gord Kirke, and OHL Commissioner David Branch.

The successful host centre for the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup will be announced in early May to provide the delegates of the successful host committee the opportunity to travel to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in time for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup which takes place May 17-26.

The 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup will take place May 16-25 featuring the league champions from the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, along with a host team from the OHL. [OHL]

The names on the list are none too surprising. Windsor and London had been rumoured to be making bids. Kitchener who debuted their new arena could have been a contender, but they hosted the tournament back in 2008. The 2011 tournament was played to a sparse, quiet crowd at Mississauga's Hershey Centre which is none too appealing for TV viewers, so bringing the cup to a hot-bed is in the OHL's interest.

Nathan MacKinnon (right) and Jonathan Drouin (The Canadian Press)Last season it was the Shawinigan Cataractes and Saint John Sea Dogs who fought for the top spot in the Dynamic Dozen week-to-week. Neither of the two teams in contention for the top CHL club this season is constructed like either team. The Cataractes were built as a Memorial Cup host with lots of 19- and 20-year-old additions, while the Sea Dogs had a deep team centred around a top NHL prospect in Jonathan Huberdeau.

Halifax and Portland have built their teams from within, and while the Mooseheads have two top prospects, there's a debate as to which one is the feature. The Portland Winterhawks seem to keep replacing the talent that leaves for the pros with even more. Two seasons ago the team won the WHL Western Conference with Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen. This season they've made do with Oliver Bjorkstränd and Ty Rattie filling those spots. The team is built to protect even more prospects like Seth Jones and Nic Petan, who can both expect to go in the first round this June. While "Jones vs. MacKinnon" was the marquee headline for the CHL coming into this season, it's proved that both the Mooseheads and the Winterhawks are both composed of a little more than that. Halifax holds onto the top spot this week.

There's some competition out West however. The Saskatoon Blades are eking their way into contender status after an 18-game win streak (although one that was snapped on the weekend) and a familiar foe for the Winterhawks could once again greet them in the WHL championship series should they make it that far.

1. Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (.579 RPI, 1.9 SRS, —) — The Mooseheads went 3-for-3 this week to maintain their standing on top of the Dynamic Dozen, leading the nation in both RPI and SRS. Having won ten straight and with Jonathan Drouin showing no sign of slowing down, the only thing that could hurt the Mooseheads come the playoffs is health. Nathan MacKinnon could be back before the playoffs now that he's skating with the team, a scary thought for Sherbrooke or Saint John who are the two likely teams to match up against Halifax in Round One of the 'Q' playoffs later this month.

2. Portland Winterhawks, WHL (.564 RPI, 1.7 SRS, —) — The Winterhawks in contrast to the Mooseheads lost some ground this week after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Vet in Portland last week. On Saturday, Portland lost again in Everett. That said, there aren't any pressing concerns for the Winterhawks as they prepare for the playoffs. They'll face either Seattle or Everett, and the team has lost just four times in 23 tries against those two teams this season.

blazers PP

JC Lipon had two first-period goals in Kamloops' win over Kelowna Sunday night. His third was a little unconventional. With Rockets centre Colton Sissons already in the box for interference, Damon Severson took a two-minute elbowing minor giving the Blazers a 1:15-long two-man advantage and a chance to ice the contest.

What followed was a power-play formation that flew in the face of hockey wisdom. A standard setup for a team with a two-man advantage will be to have two point men, two players near the goal mouth and a big body in front of the net. The purpose is to get the puck into the slot and create rebounds and screens.

[Highlights of the game (including the goal at 1:55) can be found at the Blazers' website. The above image is a screenshot from the highlight package]

"I saw an NHL game, a power play in Florida with Pittsburgh, and they nearly killed off a five-on-three. The extra guy was clogging the slot," said Guy Charron post-game about what led him to his new formation. Watching the Penguins kill off over a minute of the 5-on-3 without leaving their zone or giving up any scoring chances led Charron to think about ways he could improve his own power-play formations.

Petes rookie Jonatan Tanus (OHL Images)

No. 1 Star - Jonatan Tanus, Peterborough Petes (OHL)

The Peterborough Petes have been on a surprising run as of late. There are seven games to go in the OHL's regular season, and all of a sudden the Petes are just 2 points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. At one point before the start of Jody Hull's tenure in late December, the Petes were 16 points out.

But they're still two out after a 4-3 shootout win against Ottawa on Thursday, and the Frontenacs have a couple of games in hand. The Petes got two late shorthanded goals to come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to tie to the game 3-3 in front of 2560 fans at the Memorial Centre. It was the first year Finnish import, Jonatan Tanus, who tied the game with Michael Clarke in the box for cross-checking with just 1:01 on the clock.

Things aren't rosy for the 67s, and you can forgive a team for not playing well with the lead when they haven't had too many on the season, but the comeback (the other shorthanded goal, scored earlier in the third, came from Nick Ritchie) could prove instrumental. Tanus scored the only goal in the shootout for the win. It's worth noting that down 3-0 by the end of the first, the Petes peppered the Ottawa net with shots. Clint Windsor, the journeyman backup and—by name merits—future news anchor, stopped 43 of 46 in the loss, and two of three in the shootout.

No. 2 Star - Olivier Archambault, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Not a lot of action in the CHL tonight with just nine games cross-country, and few of them meant much. The contest between the Voltigeurs and the Saguenéens was important for Drummondville because leap-frogging a team or two in the stretch run means getting to play P.E.I. or Rouyn-Noranda in the first round of the playoffs rather than Moncton or Québec.