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WHL

Portland Winterhawks scoring star Ty Rattie is injured; that much we know. (Kamloops Daily News, Oregon Live, Taking Note)

How does the Edmonton Oil Kings' 8-0 playoff run compare to the Saint John Sea Dogs' 8-0 playoff run down east? Guy Flaming contrasts and compares. (Coming Down The Pipe!)

That's the only roaming he plans on doing: likely NHL first-rounder Mathew Dumba, captain of Canada's under-18 team, called southern Alberta scribe Kristen Odland back from the Czech Republic. (Calgary Herald)

It's Spokane Chiefs Hockey Day in Eastern Washington. Will that help the home team even its series by winning Game 4 vs. Tri-City? (Spokane Spokesman-Review)

A few of the Edmonton Oil Kings have never experienced a playoff series that actually needed a Game 5. (Edmonton Sun)

Vancouver Giants centre Jordan Martinook, the late bloomer who didn't crack the lineup until he was 18, is hoping his 40-goal season pays off with a pro contract. (Leduc Representative)

Niagara IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson and forward David Pacan (OHL Images)There's a storyline that cannot be overdone: two seasons ago, then-Barrie Colts coach Marty Williamson moved a promising 16-year-old centre named Ryan Strome to the Niagara IceDogs, then joined that organization following the season. Now the IceDogs coach-GM and his star centre could be poised to face their old team in the Eastern Conference final after Thursday's results.

On with the post-game questions:

Barrie 3 Ottawa 2 (Colts lead Eastern Conference semifinal 3-1) — Are the 67's finito after moving to within one loss from elimination? They're not playing well enough to be upset about the result, but Ottawa has a chance if it can punch through the Colts' Rhineland Roadblock where everyone collapses inside to help out German goaltender Mathias Niederberger. This was their second one-goal loss of the series, so it easily could have gone the other way.

At the same time, Ottawa's been a little too laissez-faire by times to make one think they can live on the razor's edge and win three consecutive games. The first Colts goal from seldom-used defenceman Derek Hartwick came when forward Steven Janes "feathered" (Stephen Sweet's term, not mine) a weak clearing attempt and the puck stayed in the defensive zone. Ottawa goalie Petr Mrazek (three goals on 21 shots) also gave up another goal from well out when Barrie's Aaron Ekblad tied the game on the opening shift of the third period with a wrist shot from 35-plus feet.

Barrie Colts captain Colin Behenna has two game-winning goals this week (OHL Images)No. 1 star: Colin Behenna, Barrie Colts (OHL)

The captain came through again for a Colts crew which is being held together by their belief in each other, chewing gum, duct tape and goalie Mathias Niederberger's playoff mojo.

Behenna (1G-1A) got his second game-winning goal in five days, redirecting Daniel Erlich's wrister from the centre point over goalie Petr Mrazek's glove with 10 minutes left to give Barrie a 3-2 comeback win over the Ottawa 67's and 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference final. Behenna also used his overager wiles to help secure the win, contributing some strong backchecking and also deflecting some passes.

Behenna also had the secondary assist when rookie of the year Aaron Ekblad tied the game 2-2 just 20 seconds into the third period on a 35-foot wrist shot that seemed to catch Mrazek off-guard. On the whole, Behenna has been a big part of Barrie being within one win of the league semifinal. The 20-year-old Waterloo, Ont., native has had four points in as many games, including his Game 2 double-overtime winner on Easter Sunday.

The Colts' effort has been nothing shy of remarkable, as they've held off Ottawa while essentially relying on only four defenders: Ekblad, Chris Buonomo, Alex Lepkowski and Reid McNeill. Ekblad and fifth defenceman Derek Hartwick, an ex-67, scored two of their three goals tonight.

Former Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice (Getty Images)The first hours and days after a team has tied the canned to its coach is when any and all rumours about replacement spread like a grass fire.

In the wake of the OHL's Oshawa Generals announcing that caretaker coach Gary Agnew, general manager Chris DePiero and assistant coach Joe Cirella would not be back in what was called "the politest mass execution in history" since contracts of all three expiring, one big name shot up as the Gens' next coach. It's not lost on anyone that the Generals' ownership group has close ties to Paul Maurice, who's been at loose ends since being fired by the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in November. But co-owner Rocco Tullio was quick to pooh-pooh the notion.

From Brian McNair:

When asked about Paul Maurice, who was fired by the Carolina Hurricanes this season and who's a good friend to co-owners Peter DeBoer and Adam Graves, Tullio said rumours of him coming to Oshawa are unfounded.

"Paul's very good friends with Adam and Pete, but at this point in time we haven't even broached that subject," he said. "I'd be surprised even that Paul would be available.

"We want somebody who's got a ton of knowledge, a ton of experience at this level, and anything above that is all gravy, so if he's got some NHL experience, we'll look at that," Tullio added. "We're going to look at everything." (durhamregion.com)

Barrie Colts centre Mark Scheifele (OHL Images)Young hockey players don't mature on someone else's schedule, so it is a fact of life that some juniors' best work comes in front of a few thousand observers in league playoffs instead in front of a few million watching the world junior championship. Winnipeg Jets first-round choice Mark Scheifele seems to have become an exemplar of that.

The No. 7 overall choice last season didn't have an overwhelming world junior tournament, where Canada finished third, and he had an only-okay second half with the Barrie Colts. However, one of the emerging storylines in the Ontario Hockey League post-season is how Scheifele is putting an injury-riddled Barrie team on his back. The Colts have had 4-6 regulars out of the lineup throughout the post-season, but Scheifele (four goals, 10 points) has thrived against some, uh, close coverage against Mississauga and Ottawa. The Colts have a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference final heading into games 4 and 5 on Thursday on Friday.

From Gene Pereira:

Perhaps fatigued from what has been an extremely busy last 12 months, Scheifele struggled at times in the second half of this season, his play far off from the player who dominated most shifts.

His meteoric rise in hockey also brought with it a ton of attention from the opposition. Scheifele was hammered at every chance, testing his will in an effort to get him off his game.

He appeared to let it bother him, often jawing with officials over what he felt were missed calls. It seemed the more he got upset, the more officials turned a blind eye.

With the Niagara IceDogs favoured to win the Ontario Hockey League championship, the team's management surely felt confident it could justify spending the big bucks on a playoff video.

More often than not, junior hockey teams will go for the goal/thundering bodycheck/fight/big save compilation set to something from AC/DC's catalog or (Lord save us) Nickelback. The IceDogs deviated 180 degrees from that, commissioning Niagara-area singer songwriter Angela Siracusa to provide vocals for a slickly produced video. One might wonder about a lack of references to or images of current IceDogs players. Can you think of another team with five members of Canada's national junior team? But given the heavy roster turnover of OHL teams, maybe they wanted to get more than one year's use out of it.

Sample lyrics:

We're gonna fight
Let's win this Cup
Shoot from the hip
Trip them up.

The Buzzing The Net CHL Chatravaganza returns Thursday for a special playoff edition at 12 noon ET/1 p.m. AT/9 a.m. PT.

Please join Sunaya Sapurji, Cam Charron, Neate Sager and a cast of many for the blogetariat's most-attended, widest-ranging approximately one-hour long livechat dedicated to major junior hockey. The results of the NHL draft lottery, the release of the final Central Scouting rankings and the second round of the playoffs in the Canadian Hockey League figure to be among the hot topics.

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

Combing all corners of the country and the blogosphere for your junior hockey headlines ... please come for the Chatravaganza at noon ET/ 1 p.m. AT/9 a.m. PT.

WHL

The Portland Winterhawks are asking the league to consider supplemental discipline to Kamloops' JC Lipon and Austin Madaisky for questionable hits on Wednesday. Lipon's check was the one that put 50-goal scorer Ty Rattie out of the game. (Kamloops Daily News, Portland Tribune)

Does the Spokane vs. Tri-City look like it might go the distance? (Spokane Spokesman-Review, Tri-City Herald)

Edmonton Oilers draft pick Martin Gernat is not the only Edmonton Oil King to have had a big game on his birthday. Were any of the Oil Kings born from May 18-27? (Edmonton Journal)

Ottawa Senators prospect Mark Stone's junior days ended with him watching from the stands with an injury. (Brandon Sun, paywall)

The Minnesota Wild seem bent on drafting one of the Dub's Fab Five, say either Ryan Murray or Morgan Rielly. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Chicago Blackhawks-drafted goalie Mac Carruth has learned to keep an evener keel. (Portland Tribune)