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    • Michael Nishi (OHL Images)A post-game interview seldom swings around to a famous Canadian novel. With Michael Nishi, though, it fits since his season has been so full of plot twists.

      It goes without saying that people of letters know the only one that matters in the playoffs is W. For Nishi, who stopped 31-of-35 shots on Monday while subbing of the ill Petr Mrazek during the Ottawa 67's 5-2 Game 3 loss to the favoured Niagara IceDogs in Game of the Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference final, ultimately there was a game to win that eluded his team. After the fact, it became evident how the Toronto native is a degree of separation from so many of the big events that have marked the OHL season.

      "I just wish I could have done more for the team," said Nishi, who rued giving up goals to the first minute in both the second and third periods. "I just kick myself because if I could have held on for a few minutes at the start of each period, it might have been a different game."

      "I could have done better," the Toronto native, who made just his ninth start since the 20-year-old Mrazek go back in the net after being voted to the tournament all-star team at the world junior championship. "My teammates, my defencemen, they all came out and bailed me out at the precise times. Like the first shot, I let out the rebound and they were able to clear it."

      The way Nishi handled the emergency start — he told the Ottawa Citizen's Don Campbell that he "repressed the fact I was playing until I walked into the dressing room" — might say as much for him as his performance. He made several solid saves early in the game before the IceDogs, who had a 26-9 shots edge across the final 40 minutes, took control of the game.

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    • Combing all corners of the country and the blogosphere for your junior hockey headlines ...

      WHL

      The Portland Winterhawks would have to pay a premium to complete a deal with the Everett Silvertips for star defenceman Seth Jones, writes Dylan Bumbarger. (Oregon Live)

      If Ty Rattie is scoring at this rate in the WHL playoffs, it makes you wonder what he could do/would have done at Christmas time in a Team Canada sweater. (Calgary Herald)

      It is not too early to talk about the trickle-down effect a NHL lockout would have on major junior. (Regina Leader-Post)

      Edmonton Oil Kings forward Rhett Rachinski is a busy young man. On Sunday night, he played a playoff game and then wrote a university exam the next morning. (Edmonton Journal)

      There's excitement in Moose Jaw for the Eastern Conference final, but will the Warriors sustain it by winning Game 3 tonight? (Regina Leader-Post)

      Kamloops Blazers coach Guy Charron looks ahead to next season. (Kamloops Daily News)

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    • Islanders pick Mitchell Theoret had two timely goals on Monday for Niagara (OHL Images)New York Islanders pick Mitchell Theoret scored in the first minute of each of the final two periods and Mark Visentin made goal-scoring goalie OHL history on Monday night. That helped the Niagara IceDogs break on top of the Ottawa 67's, who were missing star goalie Petr Mrazek due to illness. On with the post-game questions:

      Niagara 4 Ottawa 2 (IceDogs lead Eastern Conference series 2-1) — How does one explain Niagara's near-total dominance of the last two periods? The IceDogs came out ahead 26-9 on the shot counter and 5-1 on the scoreboard across the final 40 minutes. And that Ottawa goal was nothing shy of a gift.

      It was eerily reminiscent of a one-goal defensive game the IceDogs had in the nation's capital on March 9 when they essentially salted away top seeding in the Eastern Conference. In this instance, it just took 20 minutes of adapting from the raucous Jack Gatecliff Arena to a more spacious venue that was somewhat deserted due to a conflict with an Ottawa Senators playoff game, with the turnout announced at 4,394.

      "We stopped circling," IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson said of his team's transformation. "We were a bad hockey team in that first period and credit to them, they came out and put the pressure on us. We didn't respond well. We had a strong talk between periods about getting back to our game and getting physical. All I've been hearing is how they're going to wear us down. We have some pretty big forwards and we can wear them down."

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    • Niagara IceDogs goalie Mark Visentin scored in the OHL playoffs on Monday (OHL Images)

      Mark Visentin, often perceived as Mr. Serious, was as devil-may-care as a child let loose from school on Monday. And why not?

      The 19-year-old Phoenix Coyotes prospect is often slotted into the basic goalie personality profile: grounded, even-keeled, reflective. The beauty of the rare treat of a goalie scoring a goal it only takes the right set of circumstances — a goalie who takes pride in his puck-handling and a late-game 6-on-4 scenario where there's no risk of icing or giving the opponent an easier chance to tie the game. When that presented itself it Monday, Visentin hit the net from more than 185 feet away with 38 seconds left to seal the Niagara IceDogs' 5-2 win over the Ottawa 67's in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final.

      "I honestly wasn't trying to score," Visentin said as he cooled down on an exercise bike outside the IceDogs dressing room at the J. Benson Cartage Centre. "I was just trying to get it out. I looked up and it was just going in the net. I didn't even know, it just such a surreal feeling. A couple of guys started celebrating, 'you scored a goal.' I was like... it doesn't make sense.

      "It was an awesome feeling and a great way to end the game if you look at the way the game went, with that one mistake I had in the second period," added the two-time Team Canada netminder, who stopped 22-of-24 shots one day after being pulled in Niagara's Game 2 loss. "It was a good way to end it off."

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    • Top 2013 NHL draft prospect Seth Jones (Bruce Bennett, Getty Images)Anyone possessed of the theory that Seth Jones might prefer a NHL-style schedule for his draft year might feel pretty smart tonight.

      The Portland Winterhawks, who have had a good run of adding players who were already in the NCAA or seriously considering it, have acquired the WHL negotiating rights to the top defenceman in next year's NHL draft class from the Everett Silvertips. It goes without saying it would a huge coup for the Winterhawks if they could pry Jones away from North Dakota, possibly teaming him up on the blueline next season with offensive defenceman Derrick Pouliot, who's likely to be a first-rounder this summer. The 17-year-old Jones looked impresive in sparking Team USA to its fourth consecutive gold medal in the IIHF under-18 championship. With Everett's new GM, Garry Davidson, having previously been the Winterhawks' director of player personnel, it raises some pointed questions about who the Silvertips could demand in a trade if Jones wants to go to Portland.

      From Nick Patterson

      Jones' rights remain with Everett. This deal just gives Portland a window to talk with Jones to try to convince him to choose the Western Hockey League instead of the NCAA. Davidson declined to reveal either the conditions of the bantam pick or the length of the window. If the Winterhawks are able to convince Jones, then another deal will have to be worked out to move Jones' rights.

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    • Combing all corners of the country and the blogosphere for your junior hockey headlines ...

      WHL

      Brandon Wheat Kings grad Mark Stone is a game-time decision tonight for the Ottawa Senators in Game 6 against the New York Rangers. Still, what a thrill to get a point in his first NHL game. (Ottawa Citizen)

      Edmonton Oil Kings goalie Laurent Brossoit could have topped off his night by taking a shot at an empty-net goal, but didn't. (Edmonton Journal)

      The Oil Kings already faced one team in the playoffs that used to be in Edmonton. With Portland up 2-0 in the Western final, might they face another? (Edmonton Sun)

      Being frustrated won't help Moose Jaw's prospects of a comeback against Edmonton, but 49 shots and one goal? (Moose Jaw Times-Herald)

      The Tri-City Americans are looking at a long uphill climb vs. Portland. (Tri-City Herald)

      Owen Sillinger, son of long-time NHLer Mike Sillinger, is hopeful of being selected in the WHL bantam draft although he's undersized. (Regina Leader-Post)

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    • Seth Griffith scored a game-tying short-handed goal on Sunday for London (OHL Images)The London Knights win again despite trailing after two periods to take control of the Western Conference final against Kitchener, while the Ottawa 67's earned their road split in Niagara in a rather sloppy game. On with the post-game questions

      London 6 Kitchener 4 (Rangers lead Western Conference final 2-0; Game 3 on Tuesday at London) — What chance go the Rangers have of coming back? It's all in how the question gets asked. The conventional way is to presume Kitchener is gutted by blowing a two-goal lead in the third period, with signed Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick Scott Harrington driving in the final nail with his game-winner with 50 seconds left, where he stepped into a shot from the high slot after the Rangers were left completely discombobulated. But it might not be a question of mental reserves as much as what it's the tank physically.

      "They're down now, understandably," Rangers assistant coach Paul Fixtertold Kitchener's News 570. "But they're resilient guys and they'll bounce back. It''s our job to remind them of a lot of good things we did as well."

      When a lead gets away, the knee-jerk response is to blame the coaches for not giving the right Knute Rockne speech before the third period. But the simple answer is the Knights' depth won out in the final 20 minutes. Both Harrington's winner and Josh Anderson's goal that cut the lead to 4-3 came when Kitchener looked run-down.

      "They cranked it up," Fixter added. "They're a skilled team that transitions well and they did that. We got a couple shifts [where] we were out there too long and got running around and the puck ended up in our net."

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    • Calgary Flames draft pick Laurent Brossoit is 10-0 in the playoffs (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Laurent Brossoit, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

      Brossoit added another page to the case study for him to be one of Team Canada's goalies at next winter's IIHF under-20 championship on Sunday night. Edmonton's  6-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors was one of the hardest-fought of their 21-game win streak, with Brossoit making 23 saves during the pivotal second period among his 48 on the night to earn first-star honours. That's the most saves made by a winning goaltender so far in the Western Hockey League playoffs.

      The scoreline suggests a blowout but it was a one-goal contest until Oil Kings scoring leader Michael St. Croix set up Martin Gernat for a power-play goal which was the straw that broke the Warriors' back. Brossoit made big saves on Cam Braes and Brayden Point early in the game when Moose Jaw was bent on stealing a road win. Brossoit — here one thinks of the old saw about the goalie being the most important penalty killer — also made sure the Oil Kings were able to hang in despite being short-handed five times in that second period. Buffalo Sabres first-round pick Mark Pysyk was also vital to the Oil Kings' overworked penalty kill.

      This performance came two months to do since Brossoit's last loss, a home setback where he was yanked against Kelowna. Since then, the Calgary Flames prospect has posted a 1.63 average and .942 save percentage.

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    • It turns out that is not so far from Brandon to Broadway. Graduating Brandon Wheat Kings forward Mark Stone, the one-time 178th overall choice in the 2010 entry draft, made his NHL debut Saturday for the Ottawa Senators in the make-or-break Game 5 of their playoff series against the top-seeded New York Rangers.

      All Stone did in his first period as a honest-to-goodness National Hockey Leaguer was make a perfect aerial pass by two Rangers defenders that Jason Spezza converted into the only goal the Sens would need to win 2-0 and go up 3-2 in the series. That's a pretty nice start to a career. Stone, like Brandon Saad with the Chicago Blackhawks, joined Ottawa as a spare player after his Wheat Kings season ended. He ended up doing a lot more than just drinking in the playoff atmosphere.

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    • Joseph Morrow's snapped stick slashed his neck late in regulation of Portland's Game 2 winKENNEWICK, Wash. — Trailing 4-3 late in a second straight 5-4 victory over the Tri-City Americans in the WHL's Western Conference finals, the Portland Winterhawks were beneficiaries of penalty call on Tri-City's Nathan MacMaster when he hit Joseph Morrow into the boards through the neutral zone.

      Ty Rattie scored on a rebound to tie the game with 1:53 left in regulation on the ensuing power play, then netted a short-handed winner at the 7:58 mark of the extra period -- his third goal of the game and 16th in 13 games this playoff season. Leading 2-0, the Winterhawks return home with a chance to put the Americans on the ropes Wednesday.

      When Morrow went into the boards, his stick jammed into the base of the boards and snapped violently, sending the stick into Morrow's neck. He stayed down for a couple of minutes before getting up, but returned to the game.

      The question remains, though: was MacMaster's hit really a penalty? It didn't appear, at first glance, like referees Steve Papp and Sean Raphael were going to call an infraction on a play, but the violence of the snapped stick and Morrow's possible injury may have caused them to change their tune.

      After conferring, Papp and Raphael chose to assess a boarding minor to MacMaster, allowing the Winterhawks to have one last chance to tie a game the Americans led 2-0 early and 4-2 midway through the third.

      After the game, Tri-City coach Jim Hiller mentioned that the third period had been good for his team, "if not for a penalty that people can talk about and dissect a little bit."

      When pressed further to describe the play, Hiller wouldn't shed any more light:

      "These questions are not for me. It's for other people to make those calls. I'm probably biased in the way I saw it, but yeah, those aren't questions for me to answer."

      Portland coach Mike Johnston conceded that the hit "looked worse than it was," saying that MacMaster hit Morrow from the side and "propelled him into the boards."

      "His stick snapped and then the stick went up into his neck," Johnston said of Morrow. "He has a big gash on the side of his neck."

      Johnston added, however, that he felt the hit was "for sure" a two-minute minor.

      ----------

      Rattie created the game-winning goal by poking the puck away from Tri-City's Justin Feser at the point during an Americans power play. Feser, a forward, plays the point along with fellow forward Patrick Holland on a unit that features five dynamic offensive players.

      Johnston noted that despite using forwards at the point, Feser and Holland have been playing that role for a long time and are experienced players. Still, Rattie was able to take advantage of Feser at the point, then Holland on the resulting 2-on-1 with Sven Bärtschi.

      "I was just thinking about getting it by (Feser)," said Rattie. "I knew I was in trouble if I didn't.

      On the 2-on-1, we talked about how they like to slide on those so I read that Holland was going to slide, so I just pulled it around him and went high glove."

      Rattie added that he would pass to Bärtschi "98% of the time," but felt taking the shot was the best move there. Rattie snapped a shot over the outstretched glove of Tri-City goaltender Ty Rimmer, who made 43 saves in defeat.

      "It was a great play," Hiller said. "There's not too many goalies who could have gotten that one. I thought Rimmer played terrific and held the fort."

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