Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ryan MurphyNo. 1 star: Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Funny how Murphy gets in a groove and now the Rangers have won 8-of-10 games to move into a tie for third overall in the Ontario Hockey League. The 18-year-old Carolina Hurricanes draft pick scored a short-handed breakaway goal and chipped in two assists in the Rangers' 5-3 win over the Guelph Storm, giving him 18 points in his past seven games.

There are few defencemen in junior who skate two-thirds the length of the ice for a short-handed goal, but Murphy broke the game open early by doing just that in the first period. Kitchener led 1-0 when Guelph's Andrey Pedan duffed a slapshot from the centre point. Rangers captain Michael Catenacci tapped the puck about 10 feet ahead to Murphy, who went coast-to-coast to beat Toronto Maple Leafs-drafted goalie Garret Sparks (who's been great lately, by the way) five-hole. Murphy also added two assists later on to help the Rangers play from ahead all afternoon.

No. 2 star: Angelo Miceli, Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)

The 17-year-old scored his first career hat trick, helping the Canadian Hockey League's highest-scoring team edge the division rival Quebec Remparts 6-5. The game must have resembled the NHL all-star game by times since there were seven goals in the second period, including four in a 2:38 span. Miceli, who just six goals on the season, got the Tigres started with an unassisted tally in the first period and scored twice during that wild second frame.

Top NHL draft prospect Nail YakupovNail Yakupov cannot wait to open the throttle again.

The Sarnia Sting right wing barely needs any introduction, since he's been the consensus favourite to be the NHL's No. 1 overall pick since, if not before, dazzling scouts in last spring's IIHF under-18 championship. The native of Nizhnekamsk, Russia, is a rare confluence of quick hands, creativity and assertiveness on the ice. He's done little to disabuse most observers he will go No. 1 between his play for Russia's silver-medal world junior team while putting up 22 goals and 55 points in 29 games for the Sting despite losing time to back and knee ailments. It speaks well for him that he rushed back from hurting his knee in the world junior gold-medal game to rejoin the Sting.

"My knee is fine, I'm feeling 100 per cent," says Yakupov, who tested out his knee with a 3-in-3 weekend for the Sting, scoring an unassisted goal vs. powerhouse Ottawa and contributing a helper in a 2-1 win over a Kingston team that played the trap. "I missed 20 games, so it's pretty exciting to be back. We just need to keep going, we need some wins."

By all accounts, Yakupov — the type who actually asks media folks if they want an interview — has the personality to match his game. Another big takeaway from his injury-interrupted second season with the Sting is that he's scoring at a prolific rate without cheating in the defensive zone. His team-best +19 plus/minus is more than double that of any of his Sting teammates. Listed at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, he's also not averse to finishing the odd check along the boards.

On top of missing time, one dark lining in Yakupov's season is that the Sting (24-19-1-5) are lagging behind the lead pack in the OHL's Western Conference. Can Yakupov make them a darkhorse, especially if fellow potential top 10 pick Alex Galchenyuk returns from rehabbing a surgically repaired knee around March 1?

"We have a good team," Yakupov says. "We just need to start winning and stay focused,"

Erie OttersNo. 1 star: Dane Fox, Erie Otters (OHL)

It's been a rough year for the Otters, so it's nice to be able to take the opportunity to point out a big performance in a rare win. Fox, who came over from London in the big trade that sent Greg McKegg to the Knights, scored three times as Erie won in Sudbury 7-4 to end a 12-game losing streak.

Fox, an 18-year-old centre, has seven goals and 10 points in nine games with Erie after posting 32 points in 34 games with the Knights. He's clearly trying to make the most of a tough situation, as he went from the best team in the league to the worst.

Until Saturday, the Otters hadn't won a game in 2012, and in fact last tasted victory back on December 17. It wasn't easy for Erie in Sudbury, as they built a 4-0 lead and watched the Wolves whittle it down to 5-4 in the third period. But 16-year-old rookie Stephen Harper scored his second of the game on the power play to rebuild a two-goal advantage, and Fox sealed the win with an empty-netter for the hat trick.

At 6-37-3-1, Erie is still 31 points out of a playoff spot.

No. 2 star: Gabriel Desjardin, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)

This really could've gone to any number of Remparts on Saturday night, as Quebec absolutely hammered the Gatineau Olympiques 12-1 in front of a season-high crowd of 14,665 at Colisée Pepsi.

But Desjardins, playing in his seventh game with Quebec since coming over in a trade from Halifax, stood out the most with three goals and an assist. The 19-year-old scored twice in a six-goal first period, and completed his hat trick 58 seconds into the second frame with a shorthanded tally. He scored on the only three shots he put on goal.

All in all, 14 of the 18 skaters dressed by the Remparts hit the scoresheet, with 10 picking up multiple points. All this came despite Quebec registering just 32 shots on goal.

Gatineau goaltender François Lacerte needs a hug after this one. He was yanked after giving up four goals in the first 13:03, but backup Alexandre Michaud didn't fare much better. Lacerte came back to play the last two periods, surrendering 10 goals while making only 16 saves.

Astonishingly, the Remparts have now scored 12 goals three times in the last two seasons. They beat Lewiston 12-3 on September 17, 2010, and followed it up with a 12-2 win over Rouyn-Noranda a week later, both at the Colisée. No other team in the Q has scored as many goals in a game in that span.

No. 3 star: Dany Potvin, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)

Potvin got in a fight in the first period, then scored three times in the third period -- including the game-winner with 31 seconds remaining in regulation -- to rally the Screaming Eagles to a 5-4 win over Acadie-Bathurst.

The Titan led 3-1 through two periods, but Cory MacIntosh and Potvin each scored early in the third to tie the game. Acadie-Bathurst reclaimed the lead at 11:19 of the period, but Potvin took over from there, knotting the game up again at the 14:44 mark before notching his winner in the waning moments.

Zach O'Brien scored his CHL-leading 45th goal of the season in the first period for Acadie-Bathurst.

Chris Driedger

No. 1 star: Chris Driedger, Calgary Hitmen (WHL) — After losing the core of their team following their championship season in 2009/10, it seemed the Hitmen were bound for a three to four year rebuild. They did finish dead last in the WHL standings last year, only winning 20 of their 72 games. However, that championship hangover season seems to be their only rebuilding season. The Hitmen's 2-0 win over the Vancouver Giants tonight places them tied with the Kootenay Ice for fourth in the Eastern Conference. Since the Calgary based squad are on a roll with a 12-1 record in their last 13 showings, it seems quite likely they could land a home ice advantage playoff spot in a season that was supposed to be another growing pain of the rebuild process.

Goaltender Chris Driedger was the main reason for Calgary's win tonight. He turned away 32 saves for a shutout. What's even more impressive is that he shutdown red hot Brendan Gallagher, who has 28 goals and 55 points in 33 games on the season.

Boston Bruins second-round pick Ryan SpoonerFirst there were the movie nights. Then a barbeque night. Then it was a haunted house walk during a side trip to Niagara Falls. Anything to make the Sarnia Sting chemistry experiment work by playoff time.

"It was like a scary maze thing," Sting overage defenceman Adrian Robertson, one of several veterans whom Trader Vic GM-coach Jacques Beaulieu added in the first few days of the New Year, recalls of his first weekend with the team. "You can find out a lot about someone doing one of those ... Anything you can do to be with the guys away from the rink can help form that bond with them."

There is no set deadline for the assortment of talent Beaulieu has brought in to turn into a cohesive whole, although it would be reassuring for the franchise's supporters if it happened soon. Friday's 5-2 loss to the surging Ottawa 67's was kind of a good news-bad news microcosm of the season. The good was that top NHL draft prospect Nail Yakupov scored an unassisted, strip-and-score goal in his first game back after missing three weeks with a knee injury. That was no mean feat for someone not yet able to make those stop-on-a-dime cuts that make him so special. The bad, of course, is that a third consecutive loss left Sarnia (23-19-1-4) only one point ahead of Owen Sound for fourth in the OHL's Western Conference. And the Attack off-loaded older players at the deadline.

"[The chemistry is] obviously not where it needs to be right now — we've lost two in a row [three with Friday's result ] and we have to deal with that," says Robertson, who reached a conference final last season in Windsor. "We could start to feel a gelling and everything. We're not satisfied but we can see it going in a positive direction. The big thing is to be on an upward swing by playoffs."

Quebec Remparts centre Mikhail GrigorenkoThrow a few more shekels to the Patrick Roy fine counter? The Quebec Remparts coach, GM and part-owner has already had his wrist slapped once this month for criticizing game officials.

Now Roy is criticizing Quebec Major Junior Hockey League president Gilles Courteau over Remparts star Mikhail Grigorenko playing in next week's CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Grigorenko is the headliner among the forwards since Nail Yakupov is just getting back from a knee injury and surely won't chance travelling cross-country for a non-league game, but he's also coming back from an injury suffered during the world junior.

[Roy] is accusing Courteau of wanting to have star Mikhail Grigorenko appear in the NHL/CHL Top Prospects game, even though he is not yet fully recovered from an ankle injury.

"I find it extremely upsetting that one seems to want to advocate for the image of the league, instead of protecting the players," explained Roy to TVA Sports on Friday. The image of Courteau, David Branch and Ron

Windsor Spitfires' Ty Bilcke leads the OHL with 27 fighting majorsWhen it comes to the eternal question about banning fighting in junior hockey, the Canadian Hockey League has its story and it's sticking to it.

Fighting is on the frontburner again since USA Hockey has recommended eliminating it from all American junior leagues, including the USHL, and wants Hockey Canada, the CHL and Canadian Junior Hockey League to go along. (Why would the USHL going for something that makes it less like the CHL?) From Allan Maki:

Canadian hockey officials are willing to discuss the fighting issue and do what's best for the players. Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson participated in a meeting with USA Hockey during the 2012 world junior tournament in Edmonton and said Thursday: "We want to remove fighting from the game, but we don't want to create other violent acts that may occur. We'll work hand in hand with USA Hockey. (The Globe & Mail)

One can, present company included, make every well-intentioned argument about how hockey is a great enough game that it does not need fighting or that teenagers' physical welfare shouldn't be excessively jeopardized for the vicarious joy of the ticket-buying public. It is possible the day when it will be removed from major junior, not because the owners vote for it but because it is forced to by legislation and/or litigation. (Concussion prevention is already becoming a wedge issue.) For now, the CHL and the heads of all three leagues, Ron Robison in the west, David Branch in Ontario and Gilles Courteau in the east, have their line of rhetoric.

Brampton Battalion coach and director of hockey operations Stan ButlerCoaches never seem to win when they cross the fine line from riding referees to doing it in a way that shows up those in authority. The Ontario Hockey League showed that coaches are just as subject to severe suspensions as players, handing down an eight-game ban to Brampton Battation bench boss Stan Butler for a two-part tirade that began on the ice last Sunday and then resumed in a hallway.

It's a pretty stiff punishment, three more games than Niagara's Marty Williamson received last season for losing it during a game. Coaches in a playoff chase will always act like they have to do whatever it takes to keep their team from getting jammed. The OHL takes a dim view of it, though when a coach comes on the ice to yell at officials in front the entire rink (4:45 in video). It goes right to the heart of their integrity, don't you know. In other words, the league is making an example of Butler at a point in the season when many coaches might have a lower boiling point about officials' calls. That doesn't excuse it in full, though.

"I'm very disappointed with the decision," said Butler, who received two game misconducts for abuse of an official after haranguing referee Mike Marley on the ice and in a Powerade Centre corridor following the Battalion's 2-1 victory.

Butler was incensed that Sudbury's Joshua Leivo didn't receive an instigating penalty for starting a fight with Cameron Wind at 8:36 of the third period after Wind made a legal check on Michael Sgarbossa. (Battalion press release)