A four-year Ontario Hockey League veteran, goalie John Cullen recently finished his final year of junior with the Windsor Spitfires. He will be bringing his player's perspective to Buzzing The Net on a regular basis.

John Cullen and his father, Thomas.

The grueling 68-game regular season of the Ontario Hockey League leaves players mentally and physically exhausted. It was in my first week home with my family after my overage season with the Windsor Spitfires that I would hear the news that would turn my world upside down. With a first-round playoff loss to one of the top teams in Canada, the London Knights, and the opportunity to play professional hockey in the ECHL with the Ontario Reign over, I returned home very drained and worn out. All of the trials and tribulations of my hockey career have readied me for the challenges of life, but nothing could have prepared me for the news I was about to hear: My father had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.

Initially, I was in shock, but it was the fear of this unknown disease that frightened me the most. I was immediately reminded of Michael J Fox's condition. The tremors, involuntary and slowness of movement, rigidity and speech problems are just a few of the symptoms associated with Parkinson's. Over the next week I educated myself on the disease the best way I knew how. I took to the books and read everything I could about it to prepare to help my father in whatever way I could.

A good friend let me know about former NHLer Steve Ludzik and his battle against Parkinson's. Ludzik played parts of nine seasons in the NHL, not to mention the hundreds of games spent in junior and minor leagues. He does not hesitate to make the connection between head trauma he suffered in his playing career and the onset of his Parkinson's almost 20 years later.

"I watch these hits guys are taking and delivering," Ludzik said of today's game. "I know in my heart of hearts (the disease) was caused by taking shots to the head." He has become an inspiration to me because of his determination to help make a difference by becoming an advocate for those with going through the same thing.

"My legacy isn't going to be Steve Ludzik the player, Steve Ludzik the coach, Steve Ludzik the writer or Steve Ludzik the television personality," he said. "It's Steve Ludzik, the guy who had Parkinson's and helped other people."

New York Rangers prospect Shane McColgan is headed to the 2013 Memorial Cup hosts (Marissa Baecker, Getty Images)At last week's Western Hockey League bantam draft this past Thursday, the Saskatoon Blades began to shake up their dressing room for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Blades general manager Lorne Molleken acquired sniper Shane McColgan and rugged power-forward Jessey Astles from the Kelowna Rockets for 18-year-old Ryan Olsen and a couple bantam picks; as well as 80-point winger Brenden Walker from the Brandon Wheat Kings for a trio of bantam picks.

Adding Walker, McColgan, and Astles significantly changes the look of the Blades' offence. Walker broke out for Brandon this season, scoring 26 goals and 81 points in 68 games. McColgan, a New York Rangers prospect, stayed on par with his previous two seasons in Kelowna, netting 16 goals and 64 points in 70 games. Walker and McColgan should play wing on Saskatoon's top two lines. Astles' role up front isn't scoring goals. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger earns his keep by wearing down opponents physically. He racked up 84 minutes in the sin bin this season, including 10 fighting majors. Astles will likely play sparingly, but make an impact as a grinder nonetheless.

Molleken shaking up his roster shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. After being swept by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the first round of the playoffs in March, Molleken made it clear he was going to try to add to his team in the off-season. He told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the StarPhoenix, "It's two years now where we haven't been able to win with these players so we're going to have to look elsewhere and see what we can do in that category."

Former Portland Winterhawks star Ryan Johansen (Getty Images)The Portland Winterhawks, who are tied 1-1 with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL final, have moved on from Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter. It's a tribute to the Winterhawks that they are playing for a spot in the MasterCard Memorial Cup after seeing two top scorers both leave for the NHL as 19-year-olds. It does bear examining whether it paid off for both players.

Johansen and Niederreiter did appear to be ready for a new challenge this season. Johansen was coming off a 40-goal, 92-point season in 63 games and led the WHL in playoff scorer. Niederreiter posted 41 goals and 70 points in 55 games. They both clearly had nothing left to prove at the major junior level. The best-case scenario for each teenager would have been for them to play in the American Hockey League. But because of the NHL-CHL agreement, they weren't eligible to play in the minors. So the pair of 19-year-olds made the jump to the National Hockey League and stayed put for the entire season. Those decisions by their respective teams do not look too bright in hindsight.

(Meantime, the Winterhawks are prepping for Game 3 of the final with star Ty Rattie being a game-time decision due to an upper-body injury. Obviously, they have block out any thoughts of whether it would be nice to still have their two stars. Sixteen-year-old Nic Petan performed admirably in Rattie's role in Game 2.)

Columbus conundrum

Johansen became very familiar with press boxes this year. The Columbus Blue Jackets fourth overall pick in 2010 was a healthy scratch seven times, including four consecutive games in February.

London Knights rookie centre Ryan Rupert (OHL Images)No. 1 star: Ryan Rupert, London Knights (OHL)

Rupert, the Knights' 186-pound perpetual-motion machine, delivered his second hat trick of the playoffs to help London come back for a 5-3 win over the Niagara IceDogs in Game 2 of the OHL final. The Knights, who wrested back home-ice advantage with the win, spotted Niagara a 2-0 lead. But captain Jarred Tinordi effectively threw a bucket of cold water across his team's collective face by executing a give-and-go to cut into the lead.

In the second period, Rupert scored consecutive goals less than three minutes apart to put the Knights ahead for good. First the 17-year-old from Grand Bend, Ont., intercepted an ill-advised pass up the boards by veteran IceDogs defender Brock Beukeboom, carried into the slot and beat Mark Visentin with a backhand. A few minutes later, the winger, his twin Matt Rupert and centre Austin Watson got the IceDogs on the run with a well-executed cycle that was capped off with Ryan Rupert converting a centring pass from his brother.

Rupert also some fine grunt work along the boards in the corners in the third period, when the IceDogs kept the play inside London's blueline about two-thirds of the time. He ended up scoring the empty-net clincher with eight seconds left after Greg McKegg won a puck battle and sprung Rupert for the chance.

Portland Winterhawks forward Brendan LeipsicNo. 1 star: Brendan Leipsic, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Winterhawks fans are used to seeing a slightly built forward with an 8 on his back score big goals. Instead of Ty Rattie, who sat out due to injury, it was Leipsic (who wears 28) who scored two early goals to spark their series-tying 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 2 of the WHL final. As Jim Matheson described it, the 17-year-old Leipsic showed his skill by beating Oil Kings goalie Laurent Brossoit high glove side to open the scoring. Midway thorugh the second period, the willowy Winnipegger struck again after Edmonton's Ashton Sautner made a sucker pass up the middle. Sven Bärtschi scored again just 68 seconds later to put Portland well on its way to wresting away home-ice advantage, with the next two contests scheduled for the Rose City.

Amateur numerologists might not be shocked that Leipsic had a big game at Rexall Place. After all, his birthday, May 19, is also the anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers' first Stanley Cup win.

Rimouski Océanic forward Scott Oke (Rimouski Océanic photo)Scott Oke won a MasterCard Memorial Cup with the Saint John Sea Dogs but is now doing everything in his power to prevent a repeat.

That was in the past, this is the present. Last Dec. 29, Oke was traded to the Rimouski Océanic when the Sea Dogs opted to add draft picks so they can restock the pantry this summer after much of their nucleus graduates. Little did anyone know the two teams would end up playing for the President's Cup and a ticket to Shawinigan for the championship.

"Saint John asked me about being traded so I had a feeling I was going to be moved." Oke said.

"Leaving Saint John and my Sea Dogs teammates was difficult at first but playing in Rimouski for the Oceanic has been a great experience," Oke said. "I know all the guys on their team so it should be a lot fun playing against them and a real competitive series."

Ty Rattie leads the WHL in playoff scoringThe Portland Winterhawks' only three losses in the first three rounds of the Western Hockey League playoffs came after leading scorer Ty Rattie was injured. Now the Winterhawks are down 1-0 to Edmonton in the league championship series and one of their catalysts is again banged up.

Rattie left the game on Thursday night after he was checked heavily into the boards by the Oil Kings' Mitch Moroz. As always when it's the playoffs, information about the extent of the injury to the St. Louis Blues prospect was kept close to the vest. The prevailing reaction was that it didn't look good.

From Dean Millard:

Rattie was off balance and appeared to bang his head into the boards. To me it looked like he was out and was wobbly as he left the ice. Hawks head coach Mike Johnson did say he looked okay after the game so we'll see. The hit was clean in my books. (Coming Down The Pipe!)

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WHL

Portland Winterhawks coach-GM Mike Johnston was circumspect about playoff scoring leader Ty Rattie being injured in a Game 1 loss at Edmonton: "I didn't see how hard he was taken in, but he was off-balance," said Johnston. "We'll see how he is [Friday]." (Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun)

So how long will every feature on No. 1 pick Mathew Barzal have to include a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins reference? It's the West Coast version of the Sidney Crosby-Nathan MacKinnon comparison. (Calgary Herald)

Saskatoon Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken used draft day to strengthen his team up the middle, adding overage Brenden Walker and New York Rangers pick Shane McColgan. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regan's Rant, Brandon Sun)