Brayden Point (The Canadian Press)When the Moose Jaw Warriors called up Brayden Point at the end of the regular-season, they were not expecting him to fill the scoresheet. They were more or less just prepping him for next year and rewarding him for his outstanding play with the Calgary Buffaloes of the Alberta Midget Hockey League this season.

"We called up three of our young prospects at the end of the year because of injuries and also to give them some experience," says Warriors director of hockey operations Alan Millar.

Five goals and eight points in nine playoff games later, the 5-foot-8, 160-pound centre doesn't look like he's on a call-up stint. He looks like one of the Warriors' go-to goal scorers.

"I can admit I didn't think Brayden would do this well this fast," says Millar. "And it's not just his offensive game. He has made smart decisions in his own zone and has looked great defensively for a young player. We are pleasantly surprised with his play and we think it's a sign of great things to come."

Much like Millar, Point is also surprised that his transition to major junior hockey has been this smooth.

"I didn't think I'd do this good at all," says Point. "I was just happy to be called up and get some experience. The goals have just been a bonus."

London Knights' Michael Houser tied an OHL record with 46 wins this season (OHL Images)Try picturing the London Knights without Michael Houser. Give up? Well, that's why he was the overwhelming choice as the Ontario Hockey League's goaltender of the year over netminders with the international hockey and NHL draft pick cred that has so far eluded him.

Like Adam Sandler continuing to get $20 million for a movie or Ke$ha charting, it's an enduring mystery why the Knights goalie has not got more attention for both the NHL and USA Hockey. Other goalies might have be perceived as having more upside, but none have matched Houser's importance to his team. The Wexford, Pa., native played a Canadian Hockey League-high 3,698 minutes this season and tied the OHL record for wins in a season with 46, getting the W in all but one of London's regular-season victories. He still has to something to prove in the Western Conference final against the archrival Kitchener Rangers and his cord-cottage counterpart is John Gibson, a fellow native of Pennsylvania. Gibson, who fits the pro-goalie prototype at 6-foot-3, was the first American goalie chosen in last summer's NHL draft and played for Team USA at the world junior championship.

"It's going to pretty exciting not only playing against John but playing against the Kitchener Rangers," said Houser, who's also considered a frontrunner to be selected the winner of the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's outstanding player, an award which has not gone to a goalie since 2000. "It's a big rivalry we have there and there's no better place to play than in the Western Conference final. It's a big stage. In terms of playing him, we've had a couple good battles this year. We grew up playing pretty close to each other. He was a year younger than me so I was never playing against him but I've been keeping an eye on him. He's a great goalie and we're looking to have a couple more good battles in this round."

Barrie Colts graduating player Daniel Erlich (OHL Images)First the Barrie Colts thought it was over, then it was really over. Of all the teams to have the fates roll a seven on them in Game 7.

Retired NHLer Darcy Tucker, who knows frantic junior hockey games since he won three Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers in the 1990s — described the end of regulation time in Tuesday's Barrie-Ottawa OHL tilt as the "biggest emotional swing I think I've ever seen."

First the 67's went ahead with 24.1 seconds left when Sean Monahan scored from the slot with 24.1 seconds left on a power play created by a too-many-men penalty on the Colts. To paraphrase Bob Cole, surely that had to be it, so late in the game and so late in a series where Barrie lost regulars right and left.

The Ottawa crowd was standing and cheering the goal that seemed like it would complete a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit when Aaron Ekblad dumped the puck into Ottawa's zone from his own side of centre ice. Icing was waved off and in the split-second of confusion, Colin Behenna banked the puck off the glass. It caromed in front of the goal and Scheifele, scoreless since Game 3 of the series, backhanded it in out of the air to force overtime. Anyone who had looked down ever so briefly — say, at her or his computer screen — would have wondered why the Colts seemed to be fighting among themselves as they mobbed each other in celebration.

Then it was on to overtime and another misplay at the same end of the ice that allowed Ottawa's Brett Gustavsen to bag the winning goal for a 4-3 win and a spot in the third round. C'est la vie and que sera, que sera for the Colts, who played without 4-6 regulars throughout their playoff run.

"I've never really seen that before," said centre Daniel Erlich, whose OHL tenure ended with the loss. "The hockey gods, they work in mysterious ways. We battled really hard and we deserved it. But they're a good team too and hopefully they give Niagara a run."

Across the way, Ottawa coach-GM Chris Byrne quipped, "It wasn't good for my heart or hairline, I'll tell you that."

Ottawa 67's Brent Gustavsen salutes fans after being named a star in his team's Game 7 win on TuesdayNo one had to ask Brett Gustavsen how tall he felt.

Six-foot-seven instead of his listed 5-7? Seven feet tall? Ten?

The Ottawa 67's winger joined the legion of Game 7 overtime scorers whose name would never have come up when people played the Who Will Get The Goal? game but, after the fact, seemed suited to the role. Taken on its own, Gustavsen's decider 2:09 into overtime that gave Ottawa a 4-3 win over the Barrie Colts and its first date in a conference final since 2005 was born more chaos and entropy. Barrie's overworked first defence pair, Aaron Ekblad and Reid McNeill, and goalie Mathias Niederberger miscommunicated on how to play a dump-in. Gustavsen got the puck and heeded centre Mike Cazzola's advice ("I heard Cazz say, 'just shoot on net' and I saw the goalie was off and it went in," he said) to end a cliffhanger game that featured two goals in the final 25 seconds of regulation time.

The night on the whole defined the 18-year-old's personality and what he means to a veteran team. It's also a nice see-what-I-did to anyone who ever told him he's too small for elite hockey.

"It's not how big you are, it's how big you are in your heart," said Gustavsen, who's listed at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds. "I don't see myself as a small guy out there at all. I see myself as a big guy. I like to go up against bigger guys because I know it pisses them off. I'll do anything for this team to win. If it involves me getting my butt kicked out there, I'll do it.

Halifax Mooseheads captain Cameron Critchlow (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Cameron Critchlow, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

James Cameron should have produced something so epic as the night captain Critchlow and the Mooseheads had while completing their comeback with 5-4 Game 7 overtime win over the Quebec Remparts. In a series where rookies were so often the story, the overager saved the Mooseheads' season time and again. He scored all four of their markers in regulation time, helping Halifax rally back to win despite twice being down by two goals. With the win, the Mooseheads became the first QMJHL team in 11 years to win a series after being down 3-0.

Quebec came out with a renewed vigour after being humbled 24 hours earlier in Game 6 and got out to a 2-0 lead earlier in the second period. As a party atmosphere began to take over the old Colisée, Nathan MacKinnon took the puck to the net and Critchlow popped home the rebound to silence the crowd. Critchlow, the former captain of the late and lamented Lewiston Maineiacs, scored two more goals in the last four minutes of the second period to tie the game. Adam Erne restored Quebec's lead with a snipe early in the third, but Martin Frk drew a penalty in the final 10 minutes and Critchlow popped in the equalizer after pouncing on the puck after a point shot ricocheted off the glass.

Five Canadian Hockey League playoff series will be decided with a Game 7 on Tuesday, so what better time than for Buzzing The Net to capture it for posterity with a livechat.

Please join Sunaya Sapurji, Cam Charron and Neate Sager for an always wide-ranging discussion and to find out whose ticket will be punched for the OHL and QMJHL semifinal series. In the Ontario league, the Plymouth Whalers face the determined Kitchener Rangers in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal with the victor to face the London Knights. The Ottawa 67's, who have earned back-to-back 3-2 victories to stay alive, host the Barrie Colts in the deciding game of the Eastern Conference semi with the Niagara IceDogs awaiting the winner.

The MasterCard Memorial Cup-host Shawinigan Cataractes, who probably would prefer not to be in drydock for a month before the tournament, face the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the decider of their QMJHL quarter-final. Another division champion, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, also faces a Game 7 at home vs. the Rimouski Océanic. Meantime, the Halifax Mooseheads will try to complete their comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Quebec Remparts after winning 5-1 in Monday night's sixth game.

Does there still need to be a reminder this is BYOP — bring your own peanuts? See you soonly.

Saginaw Spirit coach Greg Gilbert (OHL Images)The Saginaw Spirit's transformation in the second half of the season can't be called a quick fix — but it was rapid enough for bench boss Greg Gilbert to be voted as the OHL's coach of the year.

Saginaw, frankly, was disspirited and disarray when the former NHL and AHL coach took over in December, languishing outside the playoff picture in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference. For the way he helped the Spirit rejuvenate themselves by climbing from ninth place to fifth. They also knocked of the Nail Yakupov-led Sarnia Sting in the first round before meeting their match in the Western semifinal vs. regular-season champion London, who wrapped up a six-game win on Saturday. All in all, the result was as much as the 50-year-old Mississauga native could have hoped for when he returned to the OHL by taking the job.

"You couldn't ask for a better ending — well, you could ask for a better ending, hopefully we'd still be playing," said Gilbert. "For something like this to happen, it's great for myself and great for the organization."

The Spirit easily could have punted on the season after their disjointed start. After coach-GM Todd Watson parted ways with the team, new general manager Jim Paliafito made some trades for the future by dealing NHL draft picks Anthony Camara, John McFarland and Jamie Oleksiak to the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. The Spirit also gave Chicago Blackhawks prospect Brandon Saad the captaincy. It paid off with a 20-10-1-5 finish down the stretch, which works out to a .639 point percentage.

Youngstown Phantoms centre Austin Cangelosi (Rob Bindler, Youngstown Phantoms photo)For sheer inventiveness, it's been a while since one has come across a gem like the one Austin Cangelosi pulled from who knows where to score the overtime winner for the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms on Monday.

Cangelosi, who is planning to join the Frozen Four champion Boston College Eagles next season, told the media he had a hard time processing what he did to score the winner in Youngstown's 4-3 triumph over the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. The 17-year-old native of Estero, Fla., was leading a Phantoms rush with Cedar Rapids having three defenders back. Since you do anything to get the puck on net in sudden-death overtime, where each rush could be your last, Cangelosi had to try something. But at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, his chance of breaking through the three defenders Cedar Rapids had back seemed rather remote.

So Cangelosi, who's been described as classic crafty centre, got his Bubba Watson on and chipped the puck high and out of reach of Cedar Rapids' John Gilmour before darting in to flip it over goalie Jacob Hildebrand and create a magical playoff moment. Phantoms play-by-play man Bart Logan's state of nirvana really competed the tableau.

Typically, the puck magician is able to explain his tricks. But Cangelosi admitted he was a little stunned the move worked. As well he should have; it's not easy to flip the puck up in such a fashion and have any idea where or how it might land.