Top prospect Nail Yakupov’s status clouds everything; an OHL Western Conference playoff preview

Time waits for no one in the post-season. Not even Nail Yakupov.

With little to dispute over the favourites in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference — the London Knights got the regular-season banner, the Plymouth Whalers have momentum — Yakupov's status kind of commands the focus. The consensus top prospect for the NHL entry draft has had his season disrupted by injuries and a controversial suspension. For all his talent, he has only posted 16 points in 15 OHL games since returning from the injured knee he suffered in the world-junior gold-medal game, raising doubts if he even would go No. 1 in June. His status for the start of the playoffs is also an open question after he was belted by Owen Sound's Mike Halmo on March 10.

The story going in might be whether the Sting, the fourth seed in the West, are able and ready to deliver on their potential and be a sleeper. Here are capsules on all four series in the conference, which each begin Friday.

(4) Sarnia Sting (34-27-2-5, 75 points) vs. (5) Saginaw Spirit (33-27-1-7, 74 points)

Season series: Sarnia 4-2-0-0. Odds favour: Saginaw 58%. Prediction: Saginaw in 6.

Why Saginaw should win: The Spirit appear to be peaking at the right time and it's not hard to see why. The trio of Chicago Blackhawks prospect Brandon Saad (50 points in 30 games since Jan. 1), overage Nashville Predators propsect Josh Shalla (50 in 31) and Florida Panthers third-rounder Vincent Trocheck (40 in 30) toasted the Western Conference across the last 11 weeks.

Their season arc has been a complete 180 from last season. This is a team which, remember, traded away a grinder, winger Anthony Camara, and shutdown defenceman, Jamie Oleksiak, to Eastern Conference teams at the deadline.

Saginaw is 20-10-1-5 under new coach Greg Gilbert and seems to be playing with vim and vigour, having won 6-of-7 as they head into the playoffs. They have an edge behind the bench, although Sarnia might have this thing called "better high-end players." The Spirit do have questions about their defence. They are also really giving up experience in goal with 17-year-old Jake Paterson going against San Jose Sharks prospect JP Anderson. However, Paterson has a 2.26 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in his last 11 games. He could surprise.

A year ago this time, the Spirit seemed to be fading as they entered the post-season under then-coach Todd Watson. This year they are on an upswing. Sarnia won the season series, but all four wins were before the Spirit made the coaching change.

Why Sarnia could win: They have Nail Yakupov on their team.

If the Saucy Tatar is unencumbered by injuries after missing the past four games due to the Halmo hit and centre Alex Galchenyuk can contribute after lacing up only twice, the Sting will win. One would expect the dangerous duo will try their best to dress for the opener on Friday but neither would be in peak form. There is no way either can be 100 per cent after their dual turns in Draft Year, Interrupted, which apparently will be premiering at Cannes next month.

The Sting are skilled, with proven scorers such as 87-point man Charles Sarault, Boston Bruins second-rounder Ryan Spooner and three-time 30-goal scorer Brett Thompson filling out coach-GM Jacques Beaulieu's ensemble. It also should not be overlooked that they had a lot of injuries during the season which might have held down their final point total. Throw in Phoenix Coyotes first-rounder Connor Murphy anchoring the back end in goal and Anderson's post-season experience and they could still be sleeper. Granted, Anderson would have to improve on his post-trade stats (3.01 average, .905 save percentage).

(3) Kitchener Rangers (42-24-1-1, 86 pts) vs. (6) Owen Sound Attack (32-29-3-4, 71 pts)

Season series: Kitchener 4-2-0-0. Odds favour: Kitchener 63%. Prediction: Kitchener in 5.

Why Kitchener should win: The Rangers freely acknowledge they caught a huge break when Owen Sound captain Mike Halmo got a suspension for his hit on Yakupov that will cover up to seven playoff games.

Kitchener will have an advantage so long as it prevents Halmo's absence from creating a false sense of security. There are some similarities with how the Rangers enter the playoffs this season compared to last. As in 2011, they are a No. 3 seed who didn't light the world afire (4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games, compared to 2-6-1-1 a season ago). Coach-GM Steve Spott's team has also drawn a foe which gives a honest effort almost every night. However, star defenceman Ryan Murphy, as teenagers do, has become older and wiser. Edmonton Oilers pick Tobias Rieder (42 goals, 84 points) should also understand what the playoffs are all about now that he is in his second North American season; he had no goals and two assists in the seven-game loss to Plymouth last spring. Amazingly, it's also taken this long to mention Radek Faksa is the best forward in the series. He could match the 10 points in seven games that current NHLer Gabriel Landeskog posted in last season's playoffs.

The lack of pressure to push for playoff position also bought Spott time to rest his veteran cogs who were hampered by injuries, namely captain Michael Catenacci and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Andrew Crescenzi. Throw in a rested John Gibson and his OHL-best .928 save percentage and the Rangers could roll to Round 2.

Why Owen Sound could win: The Attack would probably have to play way above their Halmo-less level to have a shot. That would include New York Rangers-signed goalie Scott Stajcer stoning his NHL organization's namesake, the likes of Cameron Brace, Daniel Catenacci and potential high draft pick Gemel Smith each getting hot at the same time and giving the Rangers as few power plays as possible. (For the second year in succession, the Attack were among the league leaders in number of penalty kills.)

It is a lot to ask. Owen Sound will have a great home crowd to feed off for the even-numbered games of the series. They could extend this to a sixth or seventh game, at the most.

(2) Plymouth Whalers (47-18-2-1, 97 pts) vs. (7) Guelph Storm (31-31-2-4, 68 pts)

Season series: Even at 2-2-0-0. Odds favour: Plymouth 82%. Prediction: Plymouth in 5.

Why Plymouth should win: It is their season, pure and simple. Coach-GM Mike Vellucci built the Whalers for the playoffs by focusing on the three D's — depth, defence and dominant goaltending.

On the first count, Ottawa Senators first-rounder Stefan Noesen (38 goals, 82 points) leads an attack which had nine players record at least 45 points. Fellow first-rounders J.T. Miller (23 points in 30 post-world junior games) and Rickard Rakell (25 in 31 since helping Sweden win gold) should be amped for the new challenge of the post-season. Plymouth might also have the best trio of overages in the league seeing how centre Andy Bathgate, imposing wing Jamie Devane and captain Beau Schmitz combining for 162 points. They're solid on the blueline and insured against a breakdown in goal, since world junior 'tender Scott Wedgewood is backed up by Carolina Hurricanes choice Matt Mahalak.

Why Guelph could win: The Storm thrive on frustrating more highly regarded opponents and possess some of the traits of the giant killer. That starts in goal with Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Garret Sparks, extends out to a a defence led by underrated Matt Finn and a group of opportunistic forwards, particularly the draft-eligible Scott Kosmachuk.

Coach Scott Walker and assistant coach Bill Stewart did a commendable job getting Guelph into the playoffs for the 20th consecutive season. However, seven of their top nine point-getters are 18 or younger. They have also been bad at home (14-16-2-2, the worst of any playoff team), so the odds are against them holding serve at the Sleeman Centre. It would not be a shock, though, if they got Plymouth's attention by winning in their rink early on in the series.

(1) London Knights (49-18-0-1, 99 pts) vs. (8) Windsor Spitfires (29-32-5-2, 65 pts)

Season series: Even at 3-3-0-0. Odds favour: London 86%. Prediction: London in 5.

Why London should win: This is a toss-out-the-records matchup fraught with ego, ambition and two teams — two entire sports cities in southwestern Ontario, really — that do not care much for each other. Windsor sees itself a city of scrappy underdogs and views Londoners as the smug folks who put on a tie every morning and go insurance. (That's not a knock. People need insurance.)

That filters down to the players and makes for a true potboiler of a series. Ultimately, though, the Knights are the better team across the board. World junior defencemen Scott Harrington, Olli Määttä and Jarred Tinordi helming the defence? Nineteen-year-olds Jared Knight, Greg McKegg, Austin Watson and Vladislav Namestnikov, each hoping to win a championship before going pro, leading the attack? There's also Michael Houser with his 2.47 average and .925 save percentage across a whopping 62 games.

The Knights have looked human for some time now. Provided they can play as much as possible at 5-on-5 and avoid getting in a special teams game, where they finished 11th in both power play and penalty kill, they should advance. It just won't be without a fight.

Why Windsor could win: The Spitfires' blend of size and speed, plus their likely willingness to go nasty faster than a Republican presidential candidate, could create havoc for London.

The Spitfires are very young and will not have Knight's fellow Bruins second-rounder Alexander Khokhlachev for the series. They do have some beef up front with the likes of Kerby Rychel, a likely NHL first-rounder in 2013, along with fellow youngsters Jordan Malletta and Chris Marchese. They could grind on a London team that aside from Tinordi and Watson, doesn't have a lot of size. Seventeen-year-olds Michael Clarke, Ben Johnson and Brady Vail can also be very pesky.

Please keep in mind, though, Windsor scored only 211 goals and their more creative forward is injured. Goalie Jaroslav Pavelka is sometimes the teenaged Czech equivalent of Tim Thomas with how he flops all over the crease, but he is new to the post-season. Point being, though, the Spitfires will be a tougher nut to crack than most eighth seeds.

(Odds by Rob Pettapiece.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.