Portland Winterhawks' 17-year-old Chase De Leo has five points in his last two games (Getty Images)

The difference between the top two teams this week is about the width of a credit card.

The Kamloops Blazers' four-game losing skid and Portland Winterhawks' 12-game streak have combined to produce a Dynamic Dozen dead heat, with the WHL rivals sharing top spot. Each team has a .600 RPI, but Portland has been blowing out teams by greater margins lately.

For anyone wondering, the Blazers' RPI is .6004 and Portland's is .5996. There is no practical difference, but Ted Williams' frozen head might disagree. The logjam will not last too long, since the teams have a rematch on Friday in Kamloops.

This might be the first time the Double-D has had a 4-4-4 split between the leagues. The surging Edmonton Oilers nearly gave the WHL a fifth team.

Valeri Nichushkin is up for the 2013 NHL draft (Derek Leung, Getty Images)

If you have followed the Subway Super Series enough, you must have caught yourself thinking — who's the masked guy? No, we're not talking about goalies. The guy wears #15 on his back and a full-face mask on his head. That would be Valeri Nichushkin — one of the hottest Russian prospects this season.

North American fans and media would know him a little bit better if he opted to play in the CHL this year. Nichushkin, who was ranked first by KHL scouting bureau this past spring, said in May he's willing to cross the Atlantic but instead he stayed in his hometown of Chelyabinsk.

"I was going to play in Canada but then I signed a contract with Traktor," explains the 17-year-old.

Nichushkin signed a three--year contract but hasn't played a game in the KHL yet. Clearly being too good for the MHL — Russia's major junior league — he now plays for Chelmet, Traktor's VHL affiliate team. How is he too good for a junior team? He has four goals and four assists in nine games for Belye Medvedi this season. In the VHL he scored eight goals and 10 points in 15 games.

That doesn't really explain the full-face mask, though.

Tom Wilson (left) is one of junior hockey's most rugged forwards (OHL Images)

Even if you didn't watch the Subway Super Series game on Monday, you know that NHL first overall pick Nail Yakupov had his helmet cracked by after a massive open-ice check by the Plymouth Whalers' Tom Wilson, a first-round pick of the Washington Capitals.

A lucky fan in Sarnia, where Yakupov played his junior hockey, of course, got The Saucy Tatar's broken bucket as a keepsake. The upshot for Yakupov is that he shook off being flattened at centre ice and recovered to score Team Russia's lone goal in its 2-1 loss to the OHL. Meantime, those across the Ontario Hockey League who have regularly seen Wilson's move-and-you're-fair-game modus operandi nodded in approval.

Calgary's Saddledome, home of the HitmenCanadian Hockey League teams that operate out of National Hockey League cities are seeing a boost in attendance—but not by much—after the first quarter of the season. The effect that the lockout had on CHL attendance in 2005 is not being duplicated, as increases in fan interest haven't happened in every market.

First, the good: The Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings, who averaged 5,753 and 4,990 fans respectively in their first 11 home games last season, saw their numbers increase to 6,238 and 6,013. The Giants struggled out of the gate, but not for generating interest in a hockey-mad Vancouver, while the Oil Kings benefit from a WHL championship and MasterCard Memorial Cup appearance last season that spurred societal and media interest in junior hockey last season.

However, the Calgary Hitmen and the Ottawa 67's, attendance powerhouses in their leagues, have seen a slight decline in overall attendance to start the season. The 67's can probably pin that on their home games being moved out of Ottawa and over to Scotiabank Place.  I cannot find a logical explanation for why the Hitmen haven't increased attendance (averaging 7,752 over 11 games last season to 7,653 this season) even when splitting up weekend games from weekday games.

Halifax Mooseheads left wing Jonathan Drouin (Richard Wolowicz, Getty Images)

There could be some debate fodder over whether Jonathan Drouin is more advanced than his namesake among electrifying forwards from the Quebec League.

The Saint John Sea Dogs' Jonathan Huberdeau became the No. 3 overall pick at the Florida Panthers in 2011, but was not even given a shot at trying out for Team Canada in December. The 17-year-old Drouin, after his strong Subway Super Series showing alongside with Huberdeau and Halifax Mooseheads collaborator Nathan MacKinnon, the consensus top prospect in the 2013 NHL draft class, is making a case to be included in Canada's national junior team selection camp next month. Just to be in serious discussion is a coup for the 17-year-old, who's the only player in the QMJHL averaging two points per game.

"I can't control what they do," the 5-foot-11, 176-pound Drouin says, referring to Hockey Canada's brass. "I just play my game every night and hope that I get an invite to prove that I can play in a 19-year-old tournament. That's my goal right now."

Victor Rask (WHL.ca)

The Calgary Hitmen received an early Christmas present on Tuesday when the AHL's Charlotte Checkers reassigned Victor Rask to their club.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound centre was sent back to Calgary because the Checkers, the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate, thought it was the best option for his development. He was a healthy scratch three times. He did, however, make his presence known when in the lineup, scoring one goal and four assists in 10 games.

"We're just trying to do what we think is best for Victor," said Checkers head coach Jeff Daniels to Paul Branecky of gocheckers.com. "We want him to be able to get as much ice time as possible in all situations that he might not have gotten here. He needs to be playing at the end of games, taking key faceoffs and being in more of a leadership role."

For Rask, 19, being a healthy scratch and playing sparingly in the AHL could have been detrimental to his overall confidence. It is the safer bet to have him see major minutes in the Western

(CP)Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the CHLPA resurfaced.

Last Friday, Georges Laraque resigned from fronting the major junior hockey player association after some bizarre identity allegations came to light surrounding one of the CHLPA's bosses, Derek Clarke.

But despite losing momentum, the CHLPA continues to fight, now arguing that if the National Hockey League doesn't get their season together, that Canadian Hockey League teams could compete for the Stanley Cup.

CHLPA has officially submitted application to the Stanley Cup Trustees to allow CHL to compete for the Stanley Cup if NHL lockout continues

— CHLPA (@theCHLPA) November 13, 2012

Wait… what?

Russia's Nail Yakupov at the Subway Super Series

Russia lost a hard-fought game to Team OHL but captain Nail Yakupov didn't disappoint Sarnia fans as he scored a big goal and sent them an unusual present over the boards. What else was there of interest in Game 4 of the Subway Super Series?

• Despite a stellar performance in Game 3 Igor Ustinski was replaced with Andrei Vasilevski in goal.
• Defenceman Alexei Vasilevski — Andrei's older brother — was the only healthy scratch for Russia in Sarnia. Belleville's Daniil Zharkov and London's Nikita Zadorov weren't eligible for this game by CHL rules as they would have had five games in five nights. Team OHL's Scott Harrington and Max Domi played four games in four nights.
• The crowd cheered loudly when Nail Yakupov's name was announced. The boo-birds stayed home.
• Yakupov was clearly fired up for Game 4 but the OHL did a good job of tying him up and leaving him little room to maneuver.
• Russia had trouble early getting three minor penalties in the first period, including when they had to play 5-on-3