Brennan YadlowskiA rough year for the Everett Silvertips got worse Tuesday when the WHL revealed that overage defenceman Brennan Yadlowski has been suspended for 10 of Everett's 20 remaining games.

Yadlowski is one of the best players on the Everett blue line along with Ryan Murray, and probably logs more minutes than any other skater on the team. Even though the 'Tips are in the league basement, they're only six points out of a playoff spot. The journey to the postseason gets a lot tougher without Yadlowski in the lineup, and also leaves him with potentially as few as 10 games left in his junior career.

It's a stiff penalty, and what makes it even more strange is that it had nothing to do with what Yadlowski did on the ice. Late in the Silvertips' 7-3 loss in Portland Friday, Yadlowski was involved in a fight with Portland's Jason Trott (Trott received an instigator penalty for the tilt).

Both Trott and Yadlowski earned game misconducts, but Yadlowski was extremely agitated and needed to be restrained by officials as he was escorted to the dressing room while bleeding from his forehead. All the while he was engaged verbally with Trott and Portland goaltender Mac Carruth.

Originally details were sketchy with nobody connected to the team or league saying why exactly Yadlowski was suspended. Tuesday night, however, Everett coach Mark Ferner confirmed speculation that Yadlowski had gone into the Winterhawks dressing room:

The suspension came as a result of Yadlowski's actions after he left the ice. The explanation of the suspension on the WHL's website read: "The player's off-ice actions, following removal from game in the third period, were unacceptable."

When asked about the incident Monday, Everett coach Mark Ferner limited his response to: "He did something he probably shouldn't have done." However, during Tuesday's pregame radio broadcast Ferner admitted that Yadlowski went to Portland's locker room after the game. (Everett Herald)

The only other public details were in a handful of tweets from Winterhawks players Taylor Peters and Troy Rutkowski, who suggest that Yadlowski had entered their dressing room. Rumors circulating among fans and observers suggest Yadlowski may have even vandalized either Portland's room and/or the visitors' room (such rumors are unconfirmed and are likely to stay that way).

Anaheim Ducks draft pick John GibsonIt pays to have a backup plan. It was around this time a year ago that a team thought to be contending had its star goalie take ill, thrusting his backup in the spotlight. However, this season's Kitchener Rangers are hardly the same organization as the Kingston Frontenacs and Franky Palazzese

The upshot for the Rangers is they have learned what has been ailing John Gibson, the world junior goaltender who's a second-round pick of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. Gibson has barely played for Kitchener since December, leaving most of the netminding to 18-year-old Franky Palazzese. From the sounds it, this could end up being a mere bump in the road instead of the beginning of the end. That was the case last season when Kingston lost star goalie Philipp Grubauer to mononucleosis. Neither the team nor a younger Palazzese could make up for each other's deficiencies and Kingston went out in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

From the sounds of it, the Rangers can get over this bump. From Josh Brown:

Rangers head coach and general manager Steve Spott was worried that [Gibson] was suffering from mono. But bloodwork came back negative, much to the team's relief.

"For me that was my biggest concern," said Spott. "When you have bronchitis and pneumonia, does that work its way into mono?

"At least we know what it is and at least we can start looking at a return to play."

Everyone reacts differently to surgery and Spott said this particular one can be hard on adults. The bench boss could not give a firm return date but added that if all goes well, Gibson, 18, could be back in seven to 10 days. (Waterloo Record)

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

WHL

Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy is returning to Swift Current — for a dinner in his honour. (Globe & Mail)

Calgary Flames first-rounder Sven Bärtschi had the Lemieux hat trick on Monday, scoring a power-play, short-handed and even-strength goal for Portland. (Oregon Live)

Calgary Hitmen overage centre Jimmy Bubnick is playing for a pro contract somewhere, anywhere, next season. (Calgary Herald)

Getting to know Spokane Chiefs rookie Liam Stewart, without asking too much about his famous parents. (Dan Sallows)

Winning ugly is still winning. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)

Regina Pats rookie goalie Adam Beukeboom made the most of rare back-to-back starts last weekend. (Regina Leader-Post)

Hey, the Everett Silvertips get to take a boat ride to their next game in Victoria. (Everett Herald)

OHL

How many goals did Windsor Spitfires GM Warren Rychel think his 17-year-old son, left wing Kerby Rychel, would

UND_coach_Dave_HakstolLike the swallows flocking to Capistrano or salmon swimming against current, developmental hockey has a similar ritual involving a species called the late-summer jumper.

Regardless of where one sits in the endless CHL vs. NCAA bun fight, where the high ground is to be pro-prospect, many are left cold by seeing NHL draft picks decide in July or August to go play major junior hockey. There's a whole charade to it; the player stands there in May or June and swears he's committed to ol' State U. Then after the draft, the tune changes and John Gibson is a Kitchener Ranger instead of playing at Michigan. That's not all on the CHL. A lot of it is on the NCAA for its archaic façade about amateurism and some of it is on NHL clubs for being so anxious to get a draft pick under contract so he doesn't miss some team activity, like when the New York Rangers signed J.T. Miller, leading to him playing for the OHL's Plymouth Whalers instead of at North Dakota. Another instance was Phoenix Coyotes first-rounder Connor Murphy jilting Miami of Ohio for the Sarnia Sting in the last week of July and then signing a NHL contract eight days later; not all on the CHL, but easy to pin entirely on it.

Either way, Paul Kelly and College Hockey Inc., are trying to put a stop to it.

From Brad Schlossman:

College Hockey Inc., is working to enact legislation — either with the oversight of the NHL or through the transfer agreement between USA Hockey and Hockey Canada — to bar Canadian major junior teams from stealing a player who has signed a letter of intent until after the player's freshman year.

... The Canadian Hockey League, which routinely tries to poach college players and recruits, is driving these developments to an extent.

UND has lost two highly regarded recruits to the CHL since July in first-round draft pick J.T. Miller and possible 2012 first-rounder Stefan Matteau. Both had signed letters of intent. Miller bolted in July, leaving UND with few options to find a replacement before the start of this season.

And while the CHL routinely pursues college players, NCAA teams are not allowed to do the same because CHL players are currently not eligible for college.

"We need to have a deal in place with the NHL and with the CHL," UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "We are going into a back-alley brawl. They are bringing guns. We're coming with no weapon and one hand tied behind our back." (Grand Forks Herald)

Top NHL draft prospect Nail YakupovThe worst thing for Canadian Hockey League president David Branch in the Nail Yakupov suspension is that the Sarnia Sting had a single-game weekend, extending the story's shelf life. That meant the London, Ont., doctor who treated the NHL draft's top prospect was bound to be asked for his side of the story. Suffice to say, Dr. Bob Giffin apparently does not appreciate that the CHL suspended Yakupov for passing on the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game last week in Kelowna, B.C.

This was about where the buck stops, all along. One can accept that the CHL would probably like to have a clear protocol in place for such situations when a marquee player is not at 100 per cent so it does not read "more like the student who tried to wiggle out of an excursion to the museum by, ahem, coincidentally getting 'sick' on the day of the trip," to borrow from a Toronto Sun column. There is blame to go around. The bottom line, though, one has to wonder what the principle was when Dr. Giffin is claiming no one from the CHL asked him to elaborate on Yakupov's condition.

From Ryan Pyette:

After playing three games before the prospects game, Yakupov's knee was sore and he was examined by Giffin, who determined it would be better if Yakupov took the time off.

"I don't know how anyone can feel that it would be better for Nail to fly to the West Coast, get off a plane and be seen by someone who doesn't know his history or the treatment he's received," Giffin said. "In a five-minute examination, a doctor who has never seen Nail before is supposed to have a better idea of what to do than someone who has treated him for a month? It's ridiculous."

Giffin said he has never been contacted by Branch to learn what the situation is first-hand.

"If the situation were reversed, and I was the doctor in Kelowna and someone said to me, 'examine this player and give me an opinion' knowing that he was under the care of another doctor, I'd be wondering what the heck is going on," Giffin said. (London Free Press)

This will come out in the wash from a hockey perspective. It has not hurt the Sting in the Western Conference playoff race. They actually took down a team above them in the standings by beating Plymouth last Friday will Yakupov sat and watched. Of course, if the suspension doesn't have any impact on the final standings, that's mere happenstance.

London Knights winger Greg McKegg, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospectA light schedule last week was not conducive to a ton of movement in the Dynamic Dozen. There was enough action to cause the London Knights, however, to drop out of the ranking for the first time all season, leaving just a sole representative of the Ontario Hockey League.

It's not like it matters since (a) this is a pure math exercise and (b) these are the dog days of the major junior hockey season. The Knights have hit a semi-rough patch with four losses in their past 10 games while the likes of world junior defenceman Scott Harrington, Boston Bruins second-rounder Jared Knight and glue guys such as Tommy Hughes and Chris Tierney have battled myriad injuries and illnesses. Vladislav Namestnikov has also been in a scoring slump. Tierney has resumed practising, right on time for a four-pointer vs. Plymouth where a win might clinch home ice advantage throughout the first three rounds for the Knights.

1. Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL (.566 RPI, -). Perhaps the Gerard Gallant-Mike Kelly management team was correct not to sell the farm for Brandon Gormley. They have allowed just 11 goals in their past seven games with a back end that is supposed to lack a bona fide No. 1 defenceman, although this might be a best-defence-is-a-good-offence scenario. Like they did last year, they are showing they can squeak out the close games against the QMJHL's best. It has not been all clear sailing in the Port City, since the Dogs lost a good depth player recently with Devon Oliver-Dares (broken collarbone) going down. They are in great position to get home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, provided they can win upcoming home games with year-long nemesis Acadie-Bathurst and Quebec.

2 (tied). Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL (.558, -). Why yes, the rivalry with Saint John is getting intense. The MasterCard Memorial Cup-host Cataractes did not get out of the showdown unscathed since Kirill Kabanov suffered a concussion, but they went toe-to-toe with the top team for 59-plus minutes. The Cats look like they can hold serve for the remaining 15 games and be ready to strike if Saint John ever slumps (unlikely). Their team defence has been impressive; Shawinigan has allowed more than three goals in a game only once since New Year's Day.

Shawinigan Cataractes star defenceman Brandon GormleyThere was resistance a few seasons ago when one major league mandated neck guards after since-retired NHL forward Richard Zednik was cut badly by a skate to the neck. Well, a neckguard didn't keep Shawinigan Cataractes star Brandon Gormley, who was the top defenceman at last month's world junior hockey championship, from suffering a severe cut, but it might have helped limit the damage.

Gormley caught a skate to the throat Saturday late in the Cataractes' 2-1 loss to league-leading Saint John. It was obviously a scary situation, with the Phoenix Coyotes first-round pick requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital (where as the Charlottetown Guardian reported, he had a six-hour emergency room wait). It a freak occurrence, to be sure, and it appears Gormley's own fast reaction saved the day.

Gormley dove to knock the puck away from Sea Dogs' star Charlie Coyle.

In the process, the heel of Coyle's skate came up and struck him in the throat.

The skate just missed Gormley's jugular, leaving

Kingston Frontenacs rookie defenceman Warren SteeleWarren Steele is a small-town guy who is known to find solace with a rod and reel in hand — and he's also helped the young Kingston Frontenacs reel in some big fish of late.

Steele's name was absent from the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings that were released four weeks ago Monday. However, the adverb conspicuously should probably be in that sentence. The 17-year-old is emerging as a smooth-skating skilled defenceman with a good shot and some offensive derring-do who is also getting tougher to play against in his own zone. Steele was expected to be a regular as a rookie this season, but the rate of his progress has been a pleasant surprise for the Todd Gill-coached Frontenacs. Kingston is in Year 1 of a long-overdue rebuild, yet Steele and his mates have scored road wins over both conference leaders in the OHL in recent weeks.

"I've just taken those opportunities and made the best I can out of them," says Steele, who has six goals and 20 points in 51 games with a -9 plus/minus. "I think I've progressed really well since the start of the season both points-wise and with my play. Coach Todd [Gill] lets me do that. I'm very thankful to him for letting me to do that."

The reasons why Steele might have been left off Central Scouting's list are fairly evident. He's 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds, so it's fair to question whether he will develop a NHL body. Steele, who played Junior A a year ago, also spent the first half  of the season adapting to the faster pace of the OHL. His coach was doing the same; since he and Gill were on rival Central Canada Hockey League teams (Smiths Falls and Brockville) last season.

"Steele's game has blossomed," says Gill, the former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman who played more than 1,000 NHL games. "Here's a 17-year-old kid who has the poise of a 20-year-old. He's playing huge minutes and again, you have to remember that he's 17. He's a great skater, that's his asset. Because of that ability to skate, he can get himself in and out of good and bad situations. He is thinking the game a lot better now and because of that he's playing some very good hockey.

"He's slippery, I guess is the best way to put it," Gill adds. "It's hard to hit him because of his skating ability. A lot of times he can make the play and get out of the check all at once."

Steele actually played more of a shutdown role in Smith Falls, judging by the fact he had 72 penalty minutes. That the strong skills he came in with somewhat surprising.

"For development, it was huge," he says. "I got lots of ice in Smiths Falls. It's a great organization. I would do it the same again [go to Junior A for his age-16 season] because of the development I was able to get there, while coming up to Kingston for a few games. That helped me feel that much more mature coming into the year."