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

WHL

Seth Jones' odometer is up to 83 games, including prospects games in two countries and a world junior championship 14 time zones away from Portland. "I didn’t really hit a wall, but probably a few speed bumps," says the top NHL draft prospect. (Portland Tribune)

To the shock of no one, the Vancouver Giants snapped up Tyler Benson with the first overall pick in Thursday's bantam draft. Now the Benson theme music will be in our heads all day long. (Vancouver Sun)

Nolan Patrick and Kale Clague? Brandon Wheat Kings GM Kelly McCrimmon made out like a bandit on draft day. (Brandon Sun, Luber's Lounge)

Rumblings of "recruitment issues" might account for why the Prince George Cougars selected defenceman Josh Anderson with their No. 3 overall bantam pick. (Regina Leader-Post)

Another Howden for Moose Jaw? Former Warriors star Quinton Howden's brother Brett Howden, who played AAA midget as an underager this winter, went No. 5 overall. (Moose Jaw Times-Herald)

A rematch in the WHL final is rare, so savour this Portland-Edmonton matchup. (Edmonton Journal)

If you had been told a 2011 Winnipeg Jets pick would win his league's player of the year award, would you have guessed it would be Swift Current Broncos captain Adam Lowry? (Winnipeg Free Press)

OHL

London Knights defenceman Paxton Leroux has been rewarded for sticking it out during his 18-year-old season, when he nearly left for Junior B to get more ice time. (London Free Press)

Western Conference teams winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 10 of the 11 seasons is probably more than a trend. (Bayshore Broadcasting)

Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Scott Harrington (left) and Flyers prospect Anthony Stolarz (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

The Plymouth Whalers were supposed to derail the London Knights, and London needed only one game more than the minimum to advance to the OHL final.

That's spawned the elephant in the room — a thought of whether the Barrie Colts can possibly keep up a championship series that might continue the Western Conference's monopolization of the J. Ross Robertson Cup. One year ago, the Niagara IceDogs looked formidable entering in the final, but London rolled in five games after dropping the opener in double overtime.

The counter-point is that some fissures appeared in the Knights' game during their five-game win over Plymouth. Goalie Anthony Stolarz (2.26 average, .935 save pct. in playoffs) has had an excellent post-season, but the Knights surrendered multi-goal leads in during three of their four wins over the Whalers. Barrie, with the Mark Scheifele-Anthony Camara-Zach Hall first line and supporting talent such as ex-Knight Andreas Athanasiou, overager Steven Beyers and New York Islanders draft pick Mitch Theoret, can certainly be opportunistic. Long preamble short, the Colts have a shot if London doesn't limit Barrie to one-and-done on its offensive attacks.

"That's going to be very important for us," Knights captain Scott Harrington, the stay-at-home defenceman extraordinaire, says of supporting Stolarz. "It's going to be very similar to the Plymouth series where they were stacked up front with three lines that can score. I think Barrie's no different. Last series was a good learning experience for us. It was a hard-fought series with tough games and it prepares us well heading into the next series."

The Knights, of course, can run and gun, but also finish from within five feet of the net as well as anyone in the OHL, at least. Barrie goalie Mathias Niederberger and their back end — which is without its burliest blueliner, 6-foot-3, 222-pound Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Dotchin, who's suspended until Game 5 — probably haven't seen the kind of heat the Knights can apply. Max Domi is second in playoff scoring behind Scheifele, while 19-year-olds Alex Broadhurst and Seth Griffith turned it up against Plymouth.

Stefan Fournier, Nathan MacKinnon and the Mooseheads should win in 6, writes Mike Sanderson (The Canadian Press)

(2) Baie-Comeau Drakkar (44-19-2-3, .684) vs. (1) Halifax Mooseheads (58-6-3-1, .882)

Odds favour: Halifax 76 per cent. Most statistically probably outcome: Halifax in 5.

Mike’s prediction: Halifax in 6.

It took a lot of upsets and bloodshed to get to where we are in the QMJHL playoffs, but anyone with a standings page could have pointed to these two favourites and predicted they would make it to the final.

Either way, we have a 1-vs-2 final that could be a barnburner, and will definitely be a thriller.

The Mooseheads have left a trail of Saint John Sea Dogs, Gatineau Olympiques and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in their midst to get to this point. The Drakkar defeated the Sherbrooke Phoenix, Victoriaville Tigres and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to get here.

Behind the benches, last year’s Memorial Cup winning coach Eric Veilleux is back in the final this year with the Drakkar. He clearly knows how to get the best out of his players and what’s at stake, as he was able to coach the Shawinigan Cataractes against all odds, beating the champions from the WHL, QMJHL and OHL in three straight elimination games, to a Memorial Cup win last May.

He will be up against Dominique Ducharme, who has never been this far in the QMJHL playoffs and hasn’t really been tested matchup-wise. Ducharme was able to outwit Patrick Roy in last year’s playoffs though, so he is capable of playing and winning a mind game. Veilleux will give him a go this series, to be sure.

Burnaby Winter Club's Mathew Barzal (WHL.ca)Even though he didn’t win any hardware at the Western Hockey League’s Awards Luncheon in Calgary, top pick of the 2012 bantam draft Mathew Barzal stole the show by officially announcing he will sign a standard contract with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Inking Barzal is obviously a monkey off Russ Farwell’s back. The Seattle general manager spent countless hours throughout the year trying to convince the Coquitlam, B.C., native to choose the Thunderbirds organization over the NCAA schools who have been attempting to recruit him.

“We are extremely excited to have Mathew signed and committed to play with our team,” said Farwell from the Awards Luncheon. “Mathew has proven to be the most elite player in his age group in Western Canada and he has both the personal drive to be a pro and the ability to make everyone he plays with better. Having Mathew on our team will be exciting for our fans, team and everyone involved with our organization.”

Barzal is regarded as one of the top options

Mathew Barzal (photo via northeastchiefs.com)It's time for the wave of 1997-born players to impress.

While Connor McDavid was in Sochi leading Canada to its first IIHF U-18 Championship since 2008, Mathew Barzal was presumably watching from home. The Burnaby, BC native and 1st overall choice of the 2012 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft signed with the Seattle Thunderbirds Wednesday afternoon.

From the team:

The Seattle Thunderbirds are pleased to announce center Mathew Barzal, the first overall pick in the 2012 Bantam Draft, has signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the team. The announcement of Barzal’s signing was made by Western Hockey League Commissioner Ron Robison at the WHL Awards Luncheon today at the Deerfoot Inn in Calgary, Alberta.

“We are extremely excited to have Mathew signed and committed to play with our team,” said T-Birds general manager Russ Farwell from the Awards Luncheon in Calgary. “Mathew has proven to be the most elite player in his age group in Western Canada and he has both the personal drive to be a pro and the ability to make everyone he plays with better. Having Mathew on our team will be exciting for our fans, team and everyone involved with our organization.”

“I am really excited to join the T-Birds,” said Barzal from the Awards Luncheon in Calgary. “I am looking forward to the season next year. I was down in Seattle this past season to practice with the team and I was able to attend a playoff game. I had a chance to meet a lot of the guys on the team when I was in Seattle. They made me feel welcome and they were all great guys. I am looking forward to playing with them next season and I hope to contribute to a winning season."

Unlike McDavid, Barzal is not yet known to a national audience. He had just one appearance on TV, the 2012 All-State All-Canadian Mentorship Cup, where him and McDavid went head-to-head on opposing teams and were named our first and second stars of the event (future OHL No. 1 pick Travis Konecny was our third star). McDavid's star has grown playing in the Ontario Hockey League under exceptional status. Barzal spent the year with the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs of the BC Major Midget League.

Dale Hawerchuk speaks with Barrie Colts stars Anthony Camara (left) and Mark Scheifele (OHL Images)

Nostalgia is for those who saw Dale Hawerchuk and Dale Hunter play — not for the OHL final's opposing coaches.

The man holding the Barrie Colts' reins scored 1,409 points during a Hall of Fame career. The bench boss for the London Knights played 1,407 NHL games as a hard-nosed two-way winger. While prominent former NHLers coaching in major junior is hardly novel, the Dale vs. Dale coaching matchup includes two who are each in the NHL's 1,000-game played club. Neither, though, will cop pulling out the 'when I played' card while working with their teenaged players.

"You don't want to go there because when you watch the old film of when we played, we're a lot slower — no lie," Hunter, 52, joked on Wednesday. "It's a new game out here. It's a lot faster. It's a pleasure watching these kids play at these high speeds."

"I played in the West quite a bit, it's a lot faster," Hawerchuk, who turned 50 last month, interjected. "Obviously, we draw on some of our experiences. Maybe in Game 7 [such as in the Colts' semifinal series vs. Belleville] you talk about how there's a mindset to have. Like Dale said, this game's changed a lot and keeps on changing. You got to change with it."

It is worth touching upon, especially since Hawerchuk's "you got to change with it" principle seems to have applications b beyond analyzing hockey. The two coaches' playing careers are still a first reference point for many fans, plus it's another storyline ahead of Game 1 on Friday at London's Budweiser Gardens.

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

WHL

Edmonton Oil Kings standout Curtis Lazar might have been the first player who was happy to go to the dentist during the hours before a Game 7. (Edmonton Journal)

The Oil Kings' win put the lid on the Dub careers of Calgary's Brooks Macek, Spencer Humphries and Cody Sylvester. (Calgary Herald)

Prince George Cougars owner Rick Brodsky tells Sheri Lamb that the team, which averaged 1,840 fans this season, are not moving: "I've never gotten anybody asking about selling the team. Not ever. Every time I've heard that I've sold the team my first question is 'How much did I get?' " (Prince George Citizen)

Some empathy for coach Steve Young, please: the Prince Albert Raiders cut him free on April 30, Tax Day. (Prince Albert Daily Herald)

Portland star Seth Jones would be the first Coloradan drafted in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche. (KUSA-TV)

If the Vancouver Giants pick a forward first overall in the bantam draft, does that leave offensive defenceman Kale Clague for the Regina Pats at No. 2 overall? (Regina Leader-Post)

Keep an eye on where Tanner Kaspick ends up. The forward thrived as an underager in Manitoba AAA midget hockey this season. (Luber's Lounge)

OHL

Plymouth Whalers owner Peter Karmanos, who also owns the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, believes Whalers coach-GM Mike Vellucci belongs in The Show: "I think Mike's a better coach today than three or four guys now coaching in the NHL. In fact, I called Mike after this last coach that Tampa hired and told Mike how bad I feel that he’s coaching and being so loyal in the OHL when I think he’s better than [New Jersey’s] Peter DeBoer, he’s a better coach than [Tampa Bay's] Jon Cooper. He’s certainly a better coach than the kid in Buffalo [Ron Rolston]." (Detroit Free Press)

Some might have viewed the Western Conference final as the real final, but the London Knights cannot afford to believe that as they brace to face Mark Scheifele, Aaron Ekblad and the Barrie Colts. (London Free Press)

Tyler BensonThe last time the Vancouver Giants kicked off a rebuild with the first selection of the Western Hockey League bantam draft in 2002, their prized pick Gilbert Brule led them to an Ed Chynoweth Cup in his third season in the league.

Eleven years later, all signs point to Vancouver looking to Edmonton native Tyler Benson with their first pick of the 2013 draft to guide them to their second WHL championship.

Scout’s take: “Although the Vancouver Giants are not going to publicly reveal this information, they are in fact going to take Tyler Benson first overall,” says Western Elite Hockey Prospects founder Tyler Neisz. “Not only is he the most dominating player in the draft, but he also plays a good responsible two-way game, can play a pass first or be a goal scorer, has uncanny vision on the ice, has good hands and isn't afraid to go to the tough areas and plays a gritty game, if need be.”

One, however, has to keep in mind that stranger things have happened on the draft floor than the