Eric Williams was instrumental in the Chiefs' first round comeback (Photo courtesy spokanechiefs.com)Domanince established: Ty Rattie scored ten goals and Sven Bartschi had nine assists in the four games the Portland Winterhawks won against the Kelowna Rockets. Portland won the series by a combined goal total of 21-9. They'll go up against the Kamloops Blazers who saw some good output from their young second line of Tim Bozon-Colin Smith-J.C. Lipon. The Blazers combined score in their four-game sweep of the Victoria Royals? 22-11.

The Tri-City Americans, a mid-pack team at preventing shots by the best int he league at preventing goals, allowed just six goals in four games to Everett and scored 18, a modest number compared to their rivals. They're up against Spokane, who had a decidedly even series against Vancouver (just a 22-20 gap), and are the only team who are probably clear favourites in the second round.

Mark Scheifele is crucial to Barrie's hopes of beating Ottawa (OHL Images)

The Niagara IceDogs' coronation as the beasts of the East might seem inevitable — but it should not come easily.

The IceDogs, in a sense, probably could not have asked for a better second-round matchup than the Brampton Battalion. Facing one of the stingiest teams in major junior hockey ties into Niagara's theme of no shortcuts. Two seasons ago, Niagara coach-GM Marty Williamson had a team in Barrie which was similarly loaded, but perhaps had too easy a route through to the final and found out too late what it was missing.

The undercard between the Mark Scheifele-led Barrie Colts and Tyler Toffoli-led Ottawa 67's stacks up as something of a matchup of mirror images. Each team has its share of speed and skill and has shown it can play with just about anybody on any given day. There isn't much to choose between the two, other than wondering who will have a healthier lineup by Game 1 on Friday (7 p.m. ET, Rogers Sportsnet).

Buzzing The Net went 3-for-4 picking the first-round Eastern, whiffing quite badly on the Brampton-Sudbury series. Here is a look at Round 2.

London Knights goalie Michael Houser and star defenceman Scott Harrington (OHL Images)

Nothing is off-limits from gamesmanship as the playoffs roll along. Apparently, that even extends to when the games shall be played.

The starting date of the Saginaw-London series is as hot a topic as whether defensive-minded Knights Austin Watson and Jarred Tinordi can stifle their high-flying Team USA teammate Brandon Saad, who would hands-down win the OHL's outstanding player award if he had played a fuller schedule. The Knights, as is their prerogative, wouldn't sign off on Game 2 being held in Saginaw on Saturday since coach-GM Mark Hunter also has to run his team's draft room on the same day. That's forced the Spirit to host the tilt on Sunday, raising concerns they could be out a few thousand sheckels in playoff revenue if some potential customers choose to celebrate Easter. (The Spirit are apparently thinking on their feet, offering package deals aimed at families in hope the Dow Event Center will have a playoff atmosphere.

The other cross-border clash in the Western Conference also sells itself. The Plymouth Whalers and Kitchener Rangers are hooking up for the second year in a row. As was the case in their opening-round series a season ago, this one might go the distance.

Emerson Etem had 5 points Saturday (The Canadian Press)The first round in the Eastern Conference didn't see a single matchup go the distance, but that trend seems unlikely to continue.

It's not as if every series was expected to be a four- of five-game cakewalk. Many expected more from the Saskatoon Blades, the host team for next season's year's MasterCard Memorial Cup, projecting that the series would be nailbiter. Instead, it ended up being a four-and-out whitewash as per BTN's prediction.

Tigers star forward Emerson Etem, who posted seven goals and 12 points, was just too much for the Blades and goaltender Andrey Makarov to handle. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice Medicine Hat puck-stopper Tyler Bunz stood on his head. He stymied the Blades' top snipers, only allowing seven goals get past him throughout the series.

The Edmonton Oil Kings also pulled off a sweep. They knocked out the Kootenay Ice in four with rookie centre Curtis Lazar tallying an impressive three goals and seven points. The sixth-seeded Brandon Wheat Kings knocked off the third-seeded Calgary Hitmen in five games, but most expected the the much more experienced Wheat Kings to pull out on top of this battle.

The Wheat Kings' play between the pipes seemed to be one of their weak spots going into the playoffs, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Corbin Boes limited Calgary's offence to 10 goals. The Saskatoon native's .945 save percentage stands the best of any goalies after round one. His 1.95 goals-against average isn't too shabby either.

The Hitmen should still hang their heads up high. Very few expected them to bounce back from their last-place season to a home-ice advantage playoff spot. The future looks bright in Calgary.

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

WHL

Regina Pats coach Pat Conacher says he's not about to hop on the coaching carousel, even though the turnaround he engineered in the Queen City might spark AHL interest. Assistant coach Malcolm Cameron might deserve a shot at running his own bench, though. (Regina Leader-Post)

In case you did not hear, St. Louis Blues second-rounder Ty Rattie (understatement ahead) had a very good start to the playoffs. (Portland Tribune)

Edmonton Oil Kings centre Henrik Samuelsson is still going to try to play on the edge despite having run afoul of the Dub's disciplinarian a time or three. (Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun)

Portland Winterhawks centre Cam Reid tells BTN's own Scott Sepich about his mid-season move to the WHL from St. Cloud State. How did his college teammates feel about it? "The guys I talked to said they'd do the same thing if they were still eligible for the WHL and a team like Portland came knocking." (The Canadian Press)

Do not discount Quinton Howden's experience when projecting the Medicine Hat-Moose Jaw series. (The Hockey News)

Even though the Calgary Hitmen finished third in their conference, GM Kelly Kisio says they're "still in a bit of a rebuilding mode." The five-game loss to Brandon might have revealed as much. (Calgary Herald)

At long last, there are plans to raise a monument honouring the four victims of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos bus crash. (Swift Current Online)

The Kootenay Ice will be a much, much younger team next season. But they have Sam Reinhart. (Cranbrook Daily Townsman)

The amazing true story of how Edmonton forward Klarc Wilson left his car unlocked with the key in the ignition before leaving for a road trip — and still has the car. (Edmonton Journal)

Switching to Eric Williams in goal wasn't the whole series for the Spokane Chiefs vs. Vancouver, but it did define it. Now how will he hold up vs. Tri-City? (Spokane Spokeman-Review)

Anthony Camara

The play might have started with a bad bounce, but for the Barrie Colts, it ended in the game-winning overtime goal that pushed them through to the second round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

"It was just a bad bounce on the boards at the blueline," said Colts forward Anthony Camara who scored the winner with 27.2 seconds left in the first overtime period. "(Steven) Beyers picked up the puck and I was thinking about going behind him, but then I just said, 'Go to the net hard.'  I went (skating) head down with my stick on the ice and it hit my stick and went in."

The thrilling 3-2 victory gave the Colts a 4-2 series win in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

"It was exciting; it was great," said winning netminder Mathias Niederberger, who finished with 44 saves. "It turned out positive for us which makes it even better."

Catherine Ward (left) and Sarah Vaillancourt celebrate Canada's late tying goal (Chris Roussakis for Yahoo! Canada)

The women in black found a way without Wick.

Maybe the Livestrong uniforms were that jarring, but Team Canada looked out of sorts for a good two-thirds of the game that served as the real start of the road to Sochi 2014. Thirty-four-year-old captain Hayley Wickenheiser, who injured her knee early last month, left in the second period and Canada was chugging behind Team USA. The youthful Yanks, with only a half-dozen players who will be 26 years old — the average age of Canada's current lineup — by the time the puck drops at the Olympics next February, seemed to be in a higher gear.

Yet Team Canada crashed the net to fish out two greasy goals against U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter in the final 10 minutes, leading to Jennifer Wakefield burying the shootout clincher for a 3-2 victory in the two powerhouses’ opener at the IIHF women's world championship. It was a faith-restoring finish; seeing a father telling his young daughter, "see, that's why you never give up" as they headed for the exit confirmed how the effort went over with 9,052 flag-waving fans at Scotiabank Place.

That erased any impressions fostered by the opening 20 minutes, when Canada was a step slow and had only five shots while the U.S. scored two slick goals, one by Monique Lamoureux and the other by Brianna Decker off a deft defence-splitting pass from phenom Amanda Kessel. For a long while, Canada's situation was as scary as, well, The Woman In Black ("we were really on our heels," said defender Catherine Ward, who tied the game off a scramble with 1:47 left).

"The number of shots we had early in the game was unacceptable," said left wing Caroline Ouellette, the no-nonsense veteran. "But as the game went on, we became more connected as a unit of five players. Our passing wasn't up to the level it needed to be in order to beat the Americans, but it came together.

Saskatoon Blades centre Lukas Sutter (The Canadian Press)A year away from hosting the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup, the Saskatoon Blades went into the post-season hoping to send a message.

However, the message they sent wasn't the one intended. They were swept by the Medicine Hat Tigers. A couple games were close, but for the most part they didn't resemble a squad which is a year away from competing with the Canadian Hockey League's best.

Hearing the Blades underachieved in the playoffs is becoming more repetitive than a telemarketing call. They have made the post-season six of the past eight years and finished first in their division twice, including first in the entire league with 115 points last year. Yet they haven't made it passed the second-round once during that time.

These playoff woes go a lot farther back than the past eight years. The Blades have never won the Memorial Cup even though they're one of the original franchises in the Western Hockey League.

Saskatoon's hockey struggles are starting to take its toll on their fans. The volume of critical comments on columns on the Blades in the hometown StarPhoenix has increased of late.