First off, Buzzing The Net’s own Neate Sager on CBC with Rob Pizzo and David Amber (cbc.ca):

WHL

So Seth Jones may not be a lock for the no. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft after all... (blogs.denverpost.com)

...but he sure did enjoy Max Domi’s pass last night. (sportsnet.ca)

Washington Capitals goaltender and former Saskatoon Blade Braden Holtby sports new hairstyle, haggard look, at the 2013 Mastercard Memorial Cup. Also, he drove for three days straight to get there. (russianmachineneverbreaks.com)

Alexis Normand did apologize for her singing snafu earlier in the 2013 Memorial Cup. Sonia Reid Noble, meanwhile, nailed The Star-Spangled Banner on Tuesday. (upi.com)

Portland’s Nicolas Petan has been flying under the radar for the Winterhawks this postseason. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

OHL

London’s Bo Horvat may hold the interest of the Edmonton Oilers at this year’s upcoming Entry Draft. Also hidden inside: Portland’s Petan might be the next Pavel Datsyuk? (blogs.edmontonjournal.com)

Horvat and his teammate Domi discuss what it’s like to play on the same line, and how that might affect where they are drafted. (tsn.ca)

Talks of a TV series behind-the-scenes with the London Knights as they prepare for the 2014 Memorial Cup are heating up, featuring some tired Jersey Shore jokes! (lfpress.com)

QMJHL

Joe Sakic talked at length about bringing in Patrick Roy as a head coach for the Colorado Avalanche, with a great picture of Patrick behind the bench... (blogs.denverpost.com)

...and Patrick’s brother Stephane, a member of the 1987 Team Canada world junior team from the “Punch-up in Piestany”, said that Patrick will be the Avs next head coach, on the record. Hmmm. (blogs.denverpost.com)

Halifax co-captain Stefan Fournier was not surprised with Saskatoon goalie Andrey Makarov’s 29-save performance in Halifax’s 5-2 loss Sunday. They are former teammates with the Lewiston MAINEiacs, after all. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Never fear Mooseheads fans: Grand Parade will show the Mooseheads tilt with the London Knights Tuesday on the big screen downtown at Halifax City Hall. (metronews.ca)

SASKATOON, Sask. — Taylor Leier is not necessarily a spotlight guy, but he should not have to look far for advice on how to handle it.

The Portland Winterhawks wing, who was named the game's first star in his hometown during the 6-3 win over the London Knights on Monday, can just turn to his brother from another mother, fellow forward Brendan Leipsic. Leipsic went from 30-point scorer to tying for the WHL scoring title with 120 this season. Leier is bound to be highly sought out over the two days, since he's the lone player from Saskatoon on the Winterhawks ahead of their MasterCard Memorial Cup showdown on Wednesday against the host Blades.

As both tell it, seeing — and hearing — the two Prairie boys rib each other is high entertainment among the Winterhawks. The two forwards, roommates of the ice, have uncannily similar personalities.

"He's a loud kid and I'm a pretty loud guy too," says Leier, who had one goal, two assists and was plus-4 on Monday. "We get in a lot of fights, we're exactly like brothers. When he gets loud, I give it to him. I have to bring him down sometimes. The boys love it."

Junior hockey players probably spend as much time together as spouses who work in the same office, and you know what is said about that being a bad idea. Yet the two make it work.

"Sometimes the chirping gets going a little bit," Leipsic says. "We've got each other's kind of flaws or things that I can bring up and bug him about it. The guys like it."

The bond took root almost immediately after the two attended their first Winterhawks rookie camp in 2009, after being taken in the bantam draft. Over lunches with Leipsic's mom, Kathleen, the two found they had a lot in common as two Prairie boys who were far from home.

"We found out that we had played against each other in summer league tournaments," Leipsic said. "We kind of got some stories going back to when we eight, nine, 10. I made the team the first year [in 2010-11 as a 16-year-old] and he didn't, then we were both here last year. This year we got back together."

Leipsic's confluence of skill and grit would probably help him score pretty highly in a poll of the CHL's most respected and most disliked players. He has overcome being viewed as too small for the WHL to become a potential third-round steal for the NHL's Nashville Predators, who drafted him last summer.

Passed on the draft

Leier went 28 picks later to the Philadelphia Flyers in the fourth round, but the 5-foot-11, 178-pound forward was nowhere near the draft floor. While most players are inoculated to treat the draft like major life moment, Leier had opted to play for Canada in the world under-18 ball hockey championship in Slovakia.

"It just didn't seem like the right thing to do unless you're a high draft pick, in my mind," he said. "It was unreal, we were there for two weeks. It was a lot of cool experiences, going to cities such as Prague."

Leier showed some good hands by redirecting a shot for the game's first goal. His line with California-born centre Chase De Leo (1G-1A, +3) and right Danish-born wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (1G-1A, +2) combined for seven points and contributed to steadily eroding the Knights' defensive resistance.

It sets Leier up for a once-a-lifetime experience. For him, being in Saskatoon means the off-season, not a hockey game. The Winterhawks only play one regular-season game there every second year.

"It's a little bit different, from being at home in the summer to being here on the biggest stage in the CHL," he said.

"It's just a honour to be playing in the Memorial Cup at any time."

The pair count on remaining tight. Leipsic managed to convert Leier into a basketball fan over the past season. Their video-game rivalry won't break them apart, although it they get faux-intense.

"We started off a NBA 2K13 series about a month and a half ago," Leier laughed. "It gets pretty competitive. Our billet mom thought we were having a fight once. I'm usually the Knicks, he's usually the Pacers. You're not allowed to be the Miami Heat or the Lakers because it's too cheap with LeBron [James] or Kobe [Bryant]."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — The Portland Winterhawks have a win at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, Dale Hunter has his first career loss, and the tournament has been thrown into a hodgepodge of tiebreaker scenarios.

Everything is happening!

The Winterhawks, led by Ty Rattie (2G-1A) in their 6-3 win over London, once again parted with a multi-goal second-period lead. However, they pounced when Knights centre Ryan Rupert got a closing hand on puck penalty 5:12 into the third period for putting his hand over the disc, which is not an infraction under OHL rules. Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Derrick Pouliot scored on the ensuing power play, then Chase De Leo tallied 23 seconds later to open a two-goal spread.

It's the second year in a row there has been a four-way tie in the standings at 1-1 after four games. Portland could go to the final if London beats Halifax Tuesday and the Winterhawks beat Saskatoon, although Portland

"We kind of let off the gas a bit which we've done a couple times this post-season," Winterhawks star defenceman Seth Jones said. "I'm not sure what's happening there... we may be getting a little lackadaisacal. Our D-zone play is not working that well right now. I think when we get up and we keep wanting to work on offence."

The Rupert penalty was a turning point for London.

"We took a penalty and they scored on it," Hunter said. "The next shift our D ran into the referee and caused a goal. That stopped the momentum."

As a sidebar, Portland coach-GM Mike Johnston, suspended all season under the WHL sanctions against the franchise, was in the stands watching his team play

"We've missed him all year, he hasn't been able to come to the games or talk to us or anything," Pouliot said. "This was for him as it much as it was for us."

On with the post-game questions:

Is there a goaltending controversy with London after Anthony Stolarz (five goals on 31 shots) was pulled for the second time in his last three starts? Hunter has been known to swap 'tenders just to try to stanch the bleeding. Stolarz, who was replaced midway through the OHL final, got the hook in favour of Jake Patterson after those double-whammy Winterhawks goals early in the third.

It sort of worked since Portland didn't get another goal while the contest was still in doubt. Hunter said he hadn't decided on a goalie for Tuesday's game against the Mooseheads, but Patterson suggested he might have just been in to mop up.

"Stolarz had an off-night," Patterson said. "I needed to step up and give the team a chance to come back. I don't think there's any goalie controversy."

It is the Hunters, though. It doesn't take Braden Holtby to know Dale Hunter can pull a surprise with his goalie choices.

"I feel comfortable with whoever's in net and I'm sure all the guys do," centre Bo Horvat said. "I'm sure whoever's in net tomorrow will do a great job."

What adjustment was critical for Portland? The Winterhawks got three of their four goals vs. Halifax from their defence. The Knights made sure to nip a chance of repeating that in the bud, taking away the ability of Jones, Pouliot and captain Troy Rutkowski to chip in with the offence.

That led to the Winterhawks playing more below the dots. It paid big, particularly on their first two goals by the De Leo-Taylor Leier-Oliver Bjorkstand second line, which combined for seven points.

"They were forcing our points when [the puck] went from low to high," Winterhawks coach Travis Green said. "Especially early, we noticed that when it went low to high and D to D they were forcing us, not letting us get pucks to the net. When that happens, you have to put the pucks behind their D and outwork them. I thought the [Taylor] Peters-[Paul] Bittner-[Keegan] Iverson line I thought was fantastic playing heavy hard minutes. The De Leo line was very good."

Green, as you would expect from the coach, was more sanguine than Jones was about the Winterhawks' not locking down the early lead. Portland had a chance to take control after Rattie opened the 3-0 lead during a 4-on-4 sequence midway through the second period. Then its defence parted like the Red Sea and Scott Harrington sniped 15 seconds later to get London back in contact.

"You can't change what's happened, you can only control what's ahead of you," Green said. "We're a pretty relaxed group that plays pretty hard ... Overall I've liked the two games we've played. When you get up with half the game to go, it's not automatic.

"The 4-on-4 goal, we made a small mistake. It wasn't like we were playing bad."

Jones was plus-4 on the night, but indicated a belief that he hasn't performed to expectations through two games.

"Myself, I missed a couple defensive coverages tonight that I should have had and fortunately they didn't score on them," he said.

If London had won, what would have been the turning point? Alex Broadhurst's tying goal 1:48 into the third came after a missed Winterhawks chance. As the puck rolled by the Knights goal, defenceman Tommy Hughes dropped Ty Rattie with either a fist or a stick to face. Rattie was unable to rejoin the play before the Knights scored.

"[The referee] said he didn't really see [Rattie] get punched in the face," Green said. "That's the explanation. I'm not quite sure how he couldn't see it.

What would the Knights like a do-over on from this game? The table remained open, in a matter of speaking, until the second period when Portland got the first three goals. It wasn't a matter of London playing poorly, necessarily, although they seemed passive in the first period.

"It took us a little bit of time to get our legs under us," Horvat acknowledged. "Once we did that, I thought we had a good game, getting pucks in deep, getting scoring chances."

There have been questions about the Knights' energy level after a drawn-out seven-game OHL final with the Barrie Colts. Now they have to turn around and face the Mooseheads on Tuesday, with a berth in at least the semifinal coming to the victor.

"We're not looking to make excuses here," Max Domi said. "Realistically, it's one loss and it's not the end of the world. We'll be ready to battle back against Halifax."

The appraisal was summed up with a classic bit of Hunter-ese.

"If you get chances that means you're playing well," he said. "If you don't get no chances, that means you're not."

How does this work as a prelude to the all-WHL matchup on Wednesday? Very well. Saskatoon has a burgeoning confidence after banking its first win. Portland hasn't reached all eight cylinders yet, but the pre-tournament favourites have scored nine goals (ENG excluded) in two games and seem aware they can still tighten up their defensive play.

"I expect them to come out hard, they're going to come out physical," Jones said. "They're going to try to get to Mac Carruth early, We have to go at them with the same intensity,"

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

For the second consecutive game, the Portland Winterhawks blew a multi-goal lead. Unlike their first game of the tournament when they capitulated in the third against the Halifax Mooseheads, the Winterhawks responded with two quick goals of their own, from Derick Pouliot and Chase De Leo, to regain the lead, and the Hawks would eventually hold on for a 6-3 victory.

The Winterhawks still don't look like the team that ate up the WHL's Western Conference all season long, but they put together an excellent effort against the Knights. They took an early 3-0 lead on goals from Taylor Leier, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Ty Rattie before the Knights struck with two in the second and one early in the third.

From there, the Winterhawks regrouped, took back the momentum and chased goaltender Anthony Stolarz, bringing their record to 1-1 and guaranteeing the tournament a tiebreaking game to take place between the losing team in Wednesday and Thursday's games.

No. 1 Star - Max Domi, London Knights

Normally the No. 1 Star comes from the winning side, but Max Domi was all over the ice tonight. He may even deserve the top honours based on this one assist:

That goal came just two minutes after captain Scott Harrington had made it 3-1 and cut the Portland lead to two. Domi going between-the-legs set Twitter abuzz and provided the most memorable moment of the tournament to date. Domi was credited with the one assist and was a minus-3 on the night but he played much, much better than the boxscore indicates. His speed and skill along with linemate Bo Horvat was on display all night and if it wasn't for a couple of choice missed nets by Horvat, we're looking at a much closer score line.

No. 2 Star - Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks

Hey, speaking of highlight-reel...

Rattie scored a similar-looking goal against Halifax in a losing cause. This one was the 3-0 goal in a winning cause, and like many exceptional efforts, it would have been nice if it held up as the winner. Rattie did provide the empty-net goal for the Winterhawks and had another strong game, getting involved in the offensive zone. On one powerplay in the second period, the Winterhawks got three chances and held the zone for more than 1:20. All three chances came off the stick of Rattie but he just couldn't beat Stolarz.

He also got the primary assist on Pouliot's winner.

No. 3 Star - Chase De Leo, Portland Winterhawks

Chase De Leo scored the insurance marker just :23 seconds after the Pouliot goal, and was a leading checker for the Winterhawks. The team got a lot of scoring from their depth players, despite the good game from Rattie and the goal from Bjorkstrand, guys like Nic Petan and Brendan Leipsic were fairly quiet in the offensive zone.

De Leo also recorded an assist on the Bjorkstrand goal and was leaned on by Winterhawks coach Travis Green in a checking role. An excellent game from a player whose name isn't one of the household names at this tournament, ranking well below the Seth Joneses and the Max Domis of the world.

Game Grade: It was good that London made a game of it, and the second period was a wide open, free-swinging affair that provided many memorable moments. It was too bad that the game wasn't closer in the third, but it was the best of the tournament to date. A.

SASKATOON, Sask. — It's not harvest season, but you might not see a sweeter apple than the one Max Domi created for a London Knights goal on Monday at the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

In the second period against the Portland Winterhawks, two of the Knights' projected NHL first-round choice, Domi and Bo Horvat, scored the nicest goal of the tournament to date. Needing to get the puck by Winterhawks defenceman Troy Rutkowski's stick to a charging Horvat, Domi pulled the disk back and then threaded it over to his teammate, who flicked it out of the air for the beauty goal.

"You really didn't think he would pull that off, but you expect the unexpected with him," Horvat said. "I just had to get my stick on it. "That's the first time I've seen him do that, even in practice. He's a special player. For him to make him that play at that speed is just incredible."

Horvat even popped the water bottle behind Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth, who did get the last laugh for the night since Portland won 6-3.

"I would have liked to have made the save, obviously," Carruth said. "Guess I'm going to see myself on TSN or Sportsnet tonight, that's going to be fun. Me and our captain Rutter [Ottawa Senators free-agent signing Troy Rutkowski] both got fooled by it. It wasn't a normal pass, he had to saucer it over Rutter's stick. You just have to tip your cap."

The Knights actually had a frustrating night around the net, with a Horvat goalpost in the second period being one among a few missed chances. Ironically, the play that connected had the highest degree of difficulty. It also illustrated why although NHL Central Scouting has Domi ranked 19th among North American defenceman and forwards for next month's entry draft, the son of former Toronto Maple Leaf Tie Domi might crack the top 15. If not, there might be some NHL organizations that live to rue passing on him.

"To be honest with you, that's all I had," Domi said. "I got really lucky. You grow up practising stuff like that and just having fun with it. That's part of hockey, just having fun. A lot of luck there, though."

One has to feel a little for Portland's scoring ace, Ty Rattie. The St. Louis Blues prospect once again scored a beauty goal in the second period, but it didn't become a talker because of a bit of brilliance from a younger star. Saturday, that was the Halifax Mooseheads' Nathan MacKinnon scoring a hat trick against Portland; Monday, it was Domi's dish.

Rattie scored off a similar gambit against Halifax.

"The kid's a magician," Winterhawks left wing Taylor Leier said of Rattie. "He's fooled two D-men already this tournament and you never know when he's going to do it again."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (videos: Rogers Sportsnet).

SASKATOON, Sask. — Isn't a pity / isn't it a shame / no one ever told the boys / the Memorial Cup / is an unfair game.

The Saskatoon Blades' win over the Halifax Mooseheads breathed new energy into the MasterCard Memorial Cup, creating the possibility of a second tournament in a row where there could be a four-way tie for first two-thirds of the way through the round-robin. It's great for galvanizing interest of the tournament; there was a bounce in Saskatoon's step on Monday. Yet at the same time, one is under no obligation, other than for the sake of going along to get along, to believe one win confers legitimacy. Buster Douglas kayoed Mike Tyson, too.

It's only relevant, though, when it comes to how the outcome of the event is regarded. For coaches and players, this is the business they have chosen.

"That's something we don't talk about inside," Mooseheads coach Dominique Ducharme said on Monday, after his team lost in regulation time for only the eighth time in 87 games and the world, remarkably, stayed on its axis. "That's for media or fans who talk about who should have won or who's winning, who should be going first or who should be going where in the draft. That's something we don't control. That's the way we've been thinking all year. We lost the game, it was against Saskatoon, and we're looking for a way to improve on the two games we've played.

"As far as I can see, we're still here," Duchame added. "I think maybe Saskatoon, because they lost in the first round [of the WHL playoffs], people make it a big deal. They were out for 51 days or whatever. I don't know what happened. I wasn't here when they lost in the playoffs. They prepared. They had 51 days to get ready. They're here, they're part of the tournament and they can play. If we play them again, it's going to be another battle."

Point being, though, how one evaluates the result should take into account the built-in advantages that come to the hosts. Don't take that as saying the Blades do not belong, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

The Memorial Cup, as greater minds have stated, is a different beast from playing four best-of-7 rounds to win a league championship. It's not necessarily a question about energy. Halifax played only 17 playoff games in the QMJHL. Yet the Blades have had much more time than even the typical to get in tournament mode, never mind the three league champs.

"It's totally different, this tournament," London Knights captain Scott Harrington said. "It's so stressful, going through [league playoffs], when you finally win your league and you celebrate and then you have to regroup. It's definitely different. You have to clear the slate, win or loss, and get ready for the next one."

It might be easier to do that when that's all you've been thinking about for nearly two months. Plus the Blades were built for the short haul — ride two-time Russian world junior goalie Andrey Makarov and try to grind down opponents with a lineup that includes 18 players in their age-19 and overage seasons. That could certainly influence the on-ice product. Would a team that went through three additional rounds of bumps and bruises have been as ready, willing and able to play tough (but clean) with Nathan MacKinnon as the Blades did on Sunday?

"I don't mind that stuff," MacKinnon said Sunday. "They played a physical game.

"We've had good rest," added the 17-year-old who has four goals in two games. "It's the 90th game of the year, it's a little different for both sides."

Point being, the tournament demands an awful lot out of players at the end of their season. One team has so much more in the tank.

"Conditioning level is real important," Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken said. "When you see the pace of these games it's unbelievable. There's something about this tournament that brings out the best in people."

It's not meritocratic, though. The fascinating part is that once the host team banks a win, the consensus opinion rapidly does a 180. One day Saskatoon was suspect. The next it was a contender in full. Again, the truth is probably in the middle. The same probably goes for evaluating the 17-year-old Mooseheads stars MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and goalie Zachary Fucale.

One should not stake an opinion of any of the youngsters on how they play in the tournament, since the prep time is a wild card. That goes for either pumping their tires or being flabbergasted that Halifax actually lost. Talking to a player, even the boilerplate "how do you think they will respond" question seems wrongheaded.

"They've dealt with a lot of attention on the ice," Mooseheads co-captain Stefan Fournier said on Monday. "Yesterday, the whole team came up flat. It wasn't Nathan or Jo or anyone. Not that that's acceptable but what's important is how we move on. They'll do the same things. They have great work ethics and when you work hard, that's when good things happen."

The format is dictated by dollars. Mewl all you like about how the host-team format perpetuates a two-tier league since only a select group of teams play in venues and locations suitable for the tournament. It ain't changin'. For the Mooseheads, they have to learn to work within a format that sets up better for someone else. Not fair, but that is junior hockey.

If the Mooseheads fall short, it will probably be put down to their relative youth. That is fine, although people should not make it the only factor. Their experience rests on how they adjust to a different game.

"You cannot be forcing things that are not there," Ducharme said. "At the same time, you need to remain patient, you need taking things that other teams are giving you. we got sucked into their game a little bit. That's part of experience of being here and facing new teams. We need to take the two games and look at it."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Please join the Buzzing The Net crew of Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Kelly Friesen, Steve McAllister Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager, Scott Sepich and a cast of many at 8 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Saskatchewan time when the action gets underway.

Please remember that all Chatravaganzas are BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — Saturday, Alexis Normand went from regionally known fransaskoise jazz/folk performer with a niche following to breaking the Internet after staking a place aside Carl Lewis and Roseanne Barr for the all-time worst performances of The Star-Spangled Banner prior to a sports event.

There was an instant awareness among the media at the Memorial Cup that they had just witnessed a debacle destined to be replayed more years. Part of being a performer, though, is knowing not everything will go perfectly. It turns out Normand will be an anthem singer again on Tuesday, although she will only need to perform O Canada since it's a Halifax Mooseheads-London Knights game an the Portland Winterhawks are idle.

From Kevin Mitchell:

“I was swearing at myself,” she recalls, "and trying to decide — do I leave, do I stay? I’m like ‘no — you can’t leave now, it would be worse to leave and come back and do it again.’ By the time I was trying to decide what to do and swearing at myself, the crowd started encouraging me, singing along and helping me get through it. I felt supported. I was like, okay, this is embarrassing, but suck it up, buttercup — chug along. Also, there was another anthem after this one. This is just the beginning.” (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

No doubt it's been a rough 24 hrs! Thanks to everyone who has sent supportive messages! I also empathize with victims of cyber-bullying.

— Alexis Normand (@Alex6Normand) May 20, 2013

As for as getting another shot at the U.S. national anthem, Normand told Mitchell she isn't sure when that would happen. Perhaps that's a Tosh 2.0 web redemption waiting to happen. Another way to even it up would be, if Normand is game, perform The Star-Spangled Banner at a Winterhawks home game next season, or before another Portland team's game. People have the capacity to forgive and would no doubt be welcoming, since Normand has shown genuine contrition for what happened.

When I’m singing the national anthem, in some ways, I’m an ambassador for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan and Canada,” she said. “I know I let a lot of people down, and I’m very sorry.”

It says here the buck doesn't stop with Nornand entirely. There was apparently a lot of reverberation when she performed and that might have rattled her. Also, the event staff at Credit Union Centre might have helped out by displaying the anthem lyrics on the videoboard, as some sports teams do. Hindsight is 20/20, though, so Alexis Normand has to own it.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — The Saskatoon Blades are in the game, so stuff your snarking about the Memorial Cup format in a sack.

True to form, it's now a tournament where based on the records, it shouldn't be. The Blades (1-1), riding star efforts from Matej Stransky (2G, +2) and Andrey Makarov (29 saves) and frustrating Halifax's stars at every turn, won 5-2 to get into contention.

"We had nothing to lose — they had all the pressure," Blades defenceman Duncan Siemens said. "They haven't faced any adversity all year long. We threw it all in getting that first goal and took it to them."

Halifax (1-1) came in confident that it would hold up well in the second of its back-to-back games. Nathan MacKinnon had chances galore early, missing an open net over a prone Makarov in the first period. A Stransky out-of-the-penalty-box breakaway goal with 1:15 left in the second period broke it open.

"They wanted it more than us," Halifax co-captain Trey Lewis, who took two costly third-period penalties, said. "They were playing a do-or-die game and I don't think we were at that intensity. I'm not sure. I guess we weren't prepared the way we should have been.

"We weren't putting them home and we were getting frustrated," the 19-year-old defenceman added. "That got us off our game and they started outplaying us. They came out and they were physical on us and I guess we didn't handle it the way we planned."

The expression "getting a monkey of your back" actually refers to ending a dependency, not breaking a losing streak. Regardless, the Blades broke a 13-game playoff streak. So go ahead and say the 800-pound gorilla can sit wherever he wants now that he's not draped across Saskatoon coach Lorne Molleken's shoulders. The tenor of the tournament has changed, just like it did 364 days ago when Shawinigan got its first win during the Sunday game.

"No question they were an extra man, the energy in both games has been tremendous," Molleken said of the 8,934 clapper-wielding fans who littered the ice with the noisemakers after Saskatoon's empty-netter. "They're great fans in Saskatoon, they're starving for a championship team. We're going to do everything in our power to achieve that."

On with the post-game questions:

What were the defining moments for the Blades, whose last win was some time in March? Even the "robot hockey" — winger Josh Nicholls' phrasing — Saskatoon has to commit to have a shot at the Memorial Cup requires some emotion. The Blades were up 1-0 in the second when Halifax was making rumblings of an outburst.

On one strong Mooseheads push, a 5-on-4 became a 5-on-3 after Lukas Sutter was shaken up. But Montreal Canadiens fifth-rounder Darren Dietz, who's been the Blades' best blueliner all season, came up with a critical clear.

"The biggest play that Darren Dietz made was we were killing a penalty and Lukas Sutter was hurt and he went down and blocked a shot," Molleken said. "He's been one of our leaders all year. He's a hard guy to play against."

Minutes later, the Blades made their own luck. A blocked shot ricocheted high out of the D-zone and went directly to Stransky, who buried on the breakaway.

"It was a huge lift," Siemens said. "I thought our penalty kill was great tonight. They have a really potent power play and we were able to get into lanes. We were able to limit them all over the ice and when they did get through, Mackie was there."

"What we preach is doing the right things," Dietz put in. "If you don't get down to block that shot, who knows what happens."

That, on top of the home-ice advantage provided by 8,934 clapper-wielding fans, is where one sees the favours that come to the host team. The Blades have had so much more practice time to tighten up their penalty kill, although Halifax would have done well to expend more effort trying to break it down.

"We were really able to go over what it would take to win," Siemens added. "It was a big gut check, those five weeks.

"That was a full 60 minutes, you saw guys fighting through pain, diving headfirst. We're going to need that effort Wednesday [on the final night of the round-robin against the Portland Winterhawks] and see where it goes from there."

Did the Mooseheads take the Blades lightly? "I'm not going to say it exactly like that because we knew they were a good team," Halifax co-captain Stefan Fournier said. "The first 40 minutes wasn't what we wanted."

People will point to Saskatoon's layoff, but one could wonder if seasoning came to the fore. Eighteen of the Blades are in their 19-year-old or overage seasons. Halifax is a significantly younger team. Whatever the reason, it didn't respond well.

Plus the Blades simply kept a tight perimeter and relied on Makarov. His 29-save effort evoked memories of how he almost stole a world junior gold medal for Russia 16 months ago in Calgary.

"When there was a save to be made, Andrey made it at key times of the game," Dietz said. "He created momentum, got the fans into it, changed the game."

So that's all it was, Halifax didn't play desperate? From afar, the Mooseheads certainly struggled below the dots at each end of the ice with the older Blades. Saskatoon, which was much more physical than the Portland Winterhawks were against Halifax on Saturday, outworked the Mooseheads.

"You look at their goals, three of them were battles in front of the net for loose pucks and rebounds," Halifax coach Dominique Ducharme said. "Early in the game, we were getting the shots but we weren't getting the second touch. That's a sign of battle level.

"[Saturday] night, everyone said we got those bounces," Ducharme added. "There was a reason why we got those bounces. We were battling, we were on the puck. Tonight, we did not get the bounce because we were not as sharp on the battles."

"The chances were there. Nathan misses an open net [in the first period], a rebound that's just getting by, sometimes when you're not as mentally sharp."

Halifax was alight after two goals in a 1:41 span cut a four-goal Blades in half. A Lewis charging penalty fewer than two minutes after MacKinnon scored stanched the Mooseheads' momentum.

That’s been my game all year is to try to be physical and I was just trying to step up and I guess Nicholls didn’t get the puck in time," Lewis said. "That was my fault. That was a bad play by me."

Will the Blades be able to sidetrack and stymie Portland on Wednesday? Saskatoon has fooled 'em once, which is enough to ensure a place in a tiebreaker game on Thursday. This group has evidently opted in to thinking there is no alternative over the next 4-7 days but to check, defend and hope Makorov, who had issues with inconsistency earlier in his development arc, keeps running at peak level.

In any event, there's a lot more belief in the Blades now that they have their first post-season victory since the first-round series clincher against Prince Albert in 2011.

"Tonight, and obviously the Memorial Cup has been in the back of everyone's mind for a year and a half, it was just playing a simple game, playing to our strengths," Molleken said. "Which is important. If we play an east-west game, that's when we ask for a bunch of trouble. We've got a group that is willing to work in the tough areas. We got two or three goals from the crease area.

"They did a real good job staying above the puck and making sure that they weren't being outnumbered through the neutral zone and they had to go through a couple lines of defence."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — Rule No. 1 of chirping: make sure you have correct spelling.

Exception to the rule: unless you're trying to make someone take the bait. During Sunday's MasterCard Memorial Cup game, one spectator seated next to the Halifax Mooseheads bench tried to distract the Quebec League rep by wearing a crash helmet and pressing a neon-coloured sign up against the glass enclosing the bench area. At first glance, he whiffed on the spelling — one o short in "too much" and "Haifax" instead of "Halifax."

However, evidence shows the spectator was apparently a Saskatoon comedian named Kelly Taylor (@TicTaylor). If this was performance art, was the spelling really that bad or was it a troll, designed to reel in journalists determined to turn a hockey tournament into a grammar rodeo?

Mem cup safety first twitter.com/TicTaylor/stat…

— Kelly Taylor (@TicTaylor) May 20, 2013

The Liquordome is a well-known string of downtown bars located a few hundred metres from the Mooseheads' home arena, the Halifax Metro Centre. That's the brilliance of the bit: coming up with a joke that rewards the audience's Halifax nightlife knowledge, but then doing an apparent self-burn by using spelling you'd expect to see from Ricky on Trailer Park Boys. Who knows what to think, other than to maybe chuckle?

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first upset at the 2013 edition of the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The Saskatoon Blades, who hadn't won a hockey game since March, were able to finally get in the 'W' column against the QMJHL champions on Sunday night, improving their record to 1-1 and deftly defeating the squad that knocked off powerhouse Portland 7-4 a night before.

Nathan MacKinnon, the star attraction of the tournament, was still very, very good, but was shut down by Andrey Makarov in the first half of the game and the Blades' offence went to work. The Blades got four timely goals, and Makarov held off a late rally from the Mooseheads as his team held on for a 5-2 win, with an empty-net goal as time expired.

No. 1 Star - Matej Stransky, Saskatoon Blades

How do you spell "REDEMPTION"? "M-A-T-T-E..." no, wait... "M-A-T-J"... Hang on... Either way, the Dallas Stars prospect was held pointless through Saskatoon's four-game sweep in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs and looked invisible for the Blades in their opener against London.

Stransky opened the scoring for the Blades in the first period, knocking a puck in front past Fucale. The play of the game came at the tail end of a contested offensive zone penalty by Stransky. Coming out of the box, he found another gear to come in alone on Fucale and sniped a goal top cheddar. While that goal gave the Blades a 2-0 lead, a late rally by the Mooseheads meant that it unfortunately didn't hold up as the winner. Too bad, since Stransky was the best player on the ice for either team and noticeably the difference offensively for the Blades between Friday's loss and Sunday's win.

No. 2 Star - Darren Dietz, Saskatoon Blades

One of the ways that MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin beat the Portland Winterhawks was that the Mooseheads top unit turned around in transition effectively and taking advantage of a mobile defence that was just a step slower. Lorne Molleken plays a slower game than Travis Green, meaning that guys like Dietz, Duncan Siemens and Dalton Thrower would be counted on to shut down rushes from that top line when they started.

For the most part they did. While MacKinnon got a lot of chances on the powerplay, he was fairly quiet 5-on-5 and didn't have an awful lot of room in the neutral zone to work his magic. It's fair to give credit to the most important member of the Blades defence—one who also scored a big 4-0 goal that all but sealed it for the Blades.

No. 3 Star - Lukas Sutter, Saskatoon Blades

After going down with an upper body injury in the first, Lukas Sutter returned to become a part of Saskatoon's strongest unit with Collin Valcourt and Nathan Burns. They all clicked on the 3-0 goal for the Blades at the start of the third period, on a play largely set up by Sutter.

They don't track shots on goal in the WHL, but Sutter was probably second to just MacKinnon and Stransky in this one. A very strong two-way game from the Winnipeg Jets prospect.

Game Grade: There was a lot of continuous action in this game, despite the restrictive system of Lorne Molleken's Saskatoon Blades. Halifax's offence buzzed in the third and made it interesting, but the offence from both teams was really lacking through two. C+.

SASKATOON, Sask. — Mac Carruth found another source for his ire.

For the overage goalie, there was no sense in resenting that the Halifax Mooseheads prodigy Nathan MacKinnon ("great players find a way to score from bad angles") made him look bad Saturday when the Portland Winterhawks had a 35-minute meltdown during their 7-4 MasterCard Memorial Cup loss. Nate The Skate will do that to a lot of goalies at the next level in this life. Carruth's response Sunday when asked how he reconciled having an off-night in an all-important first game of the touranment was awfully illuminating.

Instead of wallowing, he watched how the media picked apart the play of his teammate Seth Jones, MacKinnon's NHL draft contemporary,

"I just turned the page, I guess," Carruth said when a reporter asked a question that used that shopworn hockey phrase. "Watched Sportscentre last night — Seth Jones kind of got hung out to dry by you guys. But I thought Seth played great. Goals went in from behind the goal line. That's not his fault. That's mine. Every goalie is going to have one of those nights. That was mine."

It was a unique response. Perhaps it hinted at being outwardly motivated instead of dwelling on the soft goals Carruth allowed Saturday. It ties into a Winterhawks theme from throughout the entire season, finding some distraction, like the WHL sanctions against the team, to be motivated.

"Our team can turn any negative into a positive," said Carruth, who holds several Winterhawks club records. "This is no different.

Coach-GM Travis Green wasn't sure about committing to that trope. It does show the Portland goalie should be expected to be sharper on Monday, when the 0-1 Winterhawks face the 1-0 London Knights (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m., Sportsnet/TVA Sports, BTN livechat).

"If we win the game, it'll be a negative that turns into a positive," Green said. "I don't really think it's worth really thinking in those terms. We're not going to think about the end result, we're going to think about the preparation, our trademarks.

"As a team, every time we had a letdown this year we responded the next time."

Portland's preparation includes letting go of the loss to Halifax. Know this much: Carruth, given a night to sleep on the setback, had a sense of humour about giving up seven goals in a big game.

"They were pretty opportunistic," he said of the Mooseheads. "Theyre a good team up front, good in net — obviously better than us. As a team, we played better than they did. Didn't get the bounces, didn't get the goaltending."

Rest assured, he swears he wasn't being jolted away Saturday night by visions of No. 22 in Mooseheads red and green exulting after another goal.

"I slept fine," Mac Carruth said. "Melatonin helped me a little bit."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Please join the Buzzing The Net crew of Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Kelly Friesen, Steve McAllister Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager, Scott Sepich and a cast of many at 7 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Saskatchewan time when the action gets underway.

[Related: Ex-Lewiston MAINEiacs Stefan Fournier, Andrey Makarov
reunite in Saskatoon-Halifax matchup]

Please remember that all Chatravaganzas are BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — The late and lamented Lewiston MAINEiacs franchise is still imprinted on the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Last spring, the Shawingan Cataractes won the year-end tournament thanks to help from three players from the disbanded franchise, including tourney MVP Michael Chaput. Sunday, former Lewy teammates will go head-to-head when Halifax Mooseheads co-captain Stefan Fournier does his best to be a better door than a window in front of Saskatoon Blades goalie Andrey Makarov.

"I told him that he should have a fun time with me standing in front of him," Fournier, whose role with the Mooseheads is a little like the recently Tomas Holmström's was for many years with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, said of his meet-up with Makarov at the pre-tournament banquet. "He barked some remarks at me in Russian, I barked some inappropriate remarks at him in Russian. One of my very good friends in Lewiston was [New York Islanders prospect Kirill ] Kabanov. Makarov and Kabanov lived together in Lewiston so they taught a few things to say ... when we met here I gave him a little bit of an Urban Dictionary chirp."

In some other alternate timeline, where a torrent of red ink was no object, perhaps the MAINEiacs could have contended in 2011-12 if the franchise had remained solvent or if the financial situation had not made it more expedient for the QMJHL to fold the team and start over with the expansion Sherbrooke Phoenix, who had successful first season. Not knowing the outcome remains a lingering regret in Quebec League circles.

The where-are-they-know with Lewiston is impressive. Chaput, Kabanov and Pier-Oliver Morin helped Shawinigan win it all last season. Fournier set a Mooseheads team record with 16 playoff goals. His brother, Chicago Blackhawks second-rounder Dillon Fournier, helped the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies reach the QMJHL semifinal this spring. The coach, Jean-François Houle, has since guided the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to successive Telus West division titles.

Makarov, then 18, was not picked up in the Lewiston disperal draft. He instead re-entered the CHL import draft and went to Saskatoon. It's worked out well, since he has a contract with the Buffalo Sabres organization and also owns a pair of world junior championship medals, a silver and bronze with Team Russia.

"We had such a good team in Lewiston," he said. "We had a chance the next year to go to the Memorial Cup."

Fournier said it took time for the players on that final Lewiston team to accept their chance to peak was lot.

"The questions, what could have been, they're bothersome when you're 18 or 19 years old," he said. "Obviously now I'm in a different spot because I have a chance to win... I think that we could really have put in a solid fight for it. There's not much else you can do about it. We had our month of sulking, all the boys, because we had a big group from Montreal. Chaput was a childhood friend of mine and he was Memorial Cup MVP last year. [Matthew] Bissonnette was my linemate, also, and put up 40 goals in Bathurst. There was Jess Tanguy with 80 points [for the Armada]. We had a power-packed team, not with the names Saint John had [while winning the QMJHL in 2011-12]. I can't tell you what would have happened, but only theoretically."

Ultimately, it's water under the bridge. Makarov, speaking during the Blades' off-day Saturday, was more alight about facing Mooseheads stars Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon than he is about facing the best team from the league where no one picked him up.

"I like challenging somebody who is at the top of their game," said Makarov, who nearly stole the show Friday during Saskatoon's 3-2 loss to the London Knights. "Playing the QMJHL doesn't matter. I'm pretty happy with the Saskatoon Blades, that's a great experience in my life."

Fournier wouldn't go on the record saying he'll pot a goal against his buddy. It is worth noting the Mooseheads scored seven on Saturday and their leading playoff marksman was shut out. Does that mean Fournier is due?

"I can't guarantee that's going to happen, what's more important is we play our best to win," he said. "The battle between me and Mak is pretty irrelevant."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

After the first two games of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Saskatoon, Halifax Mooseheads star Nathan MacKinnon has stolen the draft spotlight with a three-goal, four-point performance against the Portland Winterhawks.

The 5-foot-11, 179-pound centre was sensational in the 7-4 victory. He used his phenomenal speed and agility to fly past opponents, including Central Scouting Service’s top ranked prospect Seth Jones on his second of the night.

Humble and modest, MacKinnon pointed out his slow start to the game in post-game interviews.

“I thought I had a pretty slow first period,” he said. “Marty [Frk] managed to get on the board and that kind of set the tone for us. The next 40 minutes I thought we controlled most of the play. Portland, they're a dangerous team.”

“I tried to cut to the middle and then fake and go wide,” added MacKinnon on his second goal. “I didn't realize it went in at first.”

MacKinnon feels his club sent a message that Halifax is one of the best teams in the CHL, not just the QMJHL.

“We definitely earned a little more respect I think, obviously coming from the Q, soemtimes we get looked down upon a bit,” he said. “I think we definitely had a good game and sent a message.”

It's too early to suggest MacKinnon hurdled Jones in the draft rankings, though. It is, after all, only one game. One can't forget Jones easily outplayed MacKinnon at the world junior championship.

Scout’s take: “He was going to the net well today,” said Ross MacLean, head scout for International Scouting Services. “He showed a lot of speed and acceleration and was dialed into the puck in the offensive zone. He took advantage of situations more than making things happen.”

Jonathan Drouin also looked sharp for the Mooseheads. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound winger opened up space and created countless scoring chances, adding one marker to his stats sheet.

Scout’s take: “Drouin showcased his silky smooth puck play and vision,” said MacLean. “He made a lot happen from the perimeter. He seemed to earn more space and respect from Portland players as the game went on and took advantage of that.”

Although it was a far cry from one of his best showings, Seth Jones didn’t necessarily have a poor game. His mistakes were just more scrutinized because of MacKinnon’s spectacular performance. Following a strong start to the match, which included a goal, the 6-foot-4, 206-pound defenceman lost a couple of one-on-one battles and was out of position at times.

Scout’s take: “Jones started off strong, playing in both directions, scoring a goal, ad showing his ability to read the plays on either side of the puck,” said MacLean. “He used his size well and was able to steer opponents. But he fell off in the second period and was exposed wide a couple of times by Drouin and Mackinnon for goals and scoring chances. He was good but not spectacular. He didn’t have his best showing.”

Mooseheads puck-stopper Zachary Fucale, who is ranked No. 1 among North American goaltenders by NHL’s Central Scouting Service, held his own, but didn’t standout, stopping 37 of 41 shots for a .902 save percentage. He made some key saves and let a couple past him he could have stopped. But at the end of the day, Fucale did what he had to do to get the win, which was outperform Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth.

Nicolas Petan had a strong game alongside St. Louis Blues second-round pick Ty Rattie and Nashville Predators prospect Brendan Leipsic on the Winterhawks’ top line. The 5-foot-9, 166-pound centre went hard to the net and cycled the puck well with his linemates. On the scoreboard, however, he only mustered one apple.

The Winterhawks Danish sensation Oliver Bjorkstrand had a quiet night. He didn’t make any noticeable mistakes, but also didn’t make any offensive plays that stood out.

London Knights vs. Saskatoon Blades

Despite not registering a point in the Knights' 3-2 win on Friday, May 17, London’s Max Domi shinned the brightest among draft prospects. Domi showcased his outstanding nose for the net and foot speed. The 5-foot-10, 194-pound winger also played with a noticeable edge. He finished his checks and on one occasion rocked Blades winger Shane McColgan, knocking the wind out of him.

Bo Horvat, who is ranked 15^th by NHL’s Central Scouting Service, played a strong two-way game. He helped the Knights keep pucks deep and pressured the Blades to move the puck in his own end. The 6-foot-3, 203-pound forward's top play was a neutral zone turnover that led to the Knights’ second goal of the night. He stripped the puck off Blades defenceman Duncan Siemens and went on to setup Seth Griffith.

Nikita Zadorov used his 6-foot-5, 228-pound stature to his advantage, knocking pucks away with his long stick and forcing opponents to the outside. The Russian defenceman also played hero in the third period by pinching in on the power play to score the game-winning marker.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen

Throwing off the Portland Winterhawks probably takes more than giving up seven goals for the first time all season after arriving at the MasterCard Memorial Cup as the tournament favourite. After the 7-4 setback vs. the Halifax Mooseheads, there was the inevitable casually dropped reminder that the sanctions the Western Hockey League handed down against Portland have only become a motivator to the current players, although it might hamper the club competitively eventually.

"Mike Johnston out for the year, there's a lot that's gone wrong," right wing Ty Rattie said. "A veteran team that's been to the WHL final three years in a row, there's a lot of experience with not getting too high and not getting too low. It's not the be-all, end-all. You let off the pedal against Halifax Mooseheads, you're going to pay. They showed tonight they're the No. 1 team in the CHL."

One can only imagine how much the Winterhawks have built up the Memorial Cup experience in their collective mind's eye after coming sadistically close to realizing it with championship-series losses in 2011 and '12. Then they ended up playing a second period that reminded us why it's good hockey games are not covered the way old media covers election night. The Winterhawks were projected to win after going up 3-1 barely two minutes into that frame, but Halifax ripped off five unanswered goals.

Did the Winterhawks ease off, having seen other teams wilt at the thought of oh no, Portland's rolling? during the WHL season?

"I don't know about overconfidence," said captain Troy Rutkowski, the recent Ottawa Senators signing who scored two goals from his defence spot. "I think they got a couple bounces, it kind of snowballed on us. I thought we got a little bit of a push back with the goal [Rutkowski's second that cut Halifax's lead to 6-4 1:09 into the third]. But give them credit, they answered the bell.

With two potent offences, the game boiled down to who could contain better. Halifax fell down on the job a bit in the first period, when Seth Jones had a slew of open ice to join a rush and wire a goal by Zach Fucale.

Portland slipped in that area in the second. The Jones-Tyler Wotherspoon pair got outworked by Luca Ciampini on Halifax's go-ahead power-play tally 11:17 into the second. Then came the goal of the night, MacKinnon's second, as the right-shot centre gathered speed through the neutral zone, slalomed around Jones' right flank and went shortside on Carruth.

"He's a great offensive player, very dynamic," Jones said of his buddy MacKinnon. "He's got great foot speed. You saw on his second goal coming down against me — a quick inside outside move — it's tough to contain.

"I think we gave them opportunities that we shouldn't have and they capitalized."

A pertinent factoid might be that Portland twice lost series openers during the playoffs, which seems out of the ordinary with a team so talented. They dropped their very first playoff game to the eighth-seeded Everett Silvertips when young goalie Austin Lotz made 55 saves in a 4-3 contest and also lost Game 1 in the WHL final to Edmonton. Sometimes all the gears in machinery aren't so finely meshed.

Ultimately, Halifax has greater control of its destiny in terms of winning the round-robin and having the bye through to Sunday is concerned. But one would regard Saturday's result much differently if they were playing a best-of-7. Halifax got the first strike but it's a long way until someone gets the last laugh.

"We'd love having another shot at these guys," Winterhawks defenceman Derrick Pouliot said. "I thought we were pretty good and then we got a few bad penalties and they scored on some power plays."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — What Nathan MacKinnon and the Halifax Mooseheads did Saturday seemed pretty big, although it might not look so big to them tomorrow.

MacKinnon had the hat trick plus an apple and the Mooseheads became the first team all season to roll a seven vs. Seth Jones and the Portland Winterhawks, prevailing 7-4 in both league champions' MasterCard Memorial Cup opener. MacKinnon kept the debate over who is the most likely future NHL superstar in clover with a first-star effort. However, it's only the second night of a 10-day tournament, plus Portland accumulated an 11-4 edge in even-strength scoring chances and 18-12 overall. The sharpness of Halifax's power play and shakiness of Winterhawks overage goalie Mac Carruth forestall labelling it a statement win. One can still go so far to say the Mooseheads indicated they didn't grow large by devouring Baie-Comeau bonbons and Rouyn-Noranda raisinettes, as some from the west have intimated about the QMJHL's representative.

"We definitely earned a little more respect I think," MacKinnon said. "Obviously coming from the Q, sometimes we get looked down upon a bit. I think we definitely had a good game and sent a message."

"We got a lot more comfortable," the 17-year-old said of the sea change from the first period to the second. "This is a big stage and there were some butterflies to chase away after the first period. If we face them again we're going to have to be a lot sharper."

It was hardly a perfect Mooseheads performance. Halifax coach Dominque Ducharme said his players were well-aware they had more puck luck.

"I don't have much worries about that, we've been doing that all year," he said. "Even after the game tonight, nobody was overexcited, everybody was happy with the win. We've been working and having that philosophy that it is one day at time since Day 1 in August. We're confident our guys can be better tomorrow."

And oh yes, Nate 1, Seth 0.

"He's a great offensive player, very dynamic," said Jones, who scored the first Winterhawks goal. "He's got great foot speed. You saw on his second goal coming down against me — a quick inside outside move — it's tough to contain."

"I think we gave them opportunities that we shouldn't have and they capitalized."

Halifax (1-0) faces host Saskatoon (0-1) on Sunday (7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT, Sportsnet/TVA Sports, BTN livechat). Portland (0-1) faces London on Monday. On with the post-game questions:

What caused the Winterhawks to unravel? The Winterhawks briefly had a two-goal lead after Troy Rutkowski and Ty Rattie scored 82 seconds apart in the first three minutes of the second period. Then it turned into a Very Special Episode of The Nate and Jo Show entitled "Saskatoon Surprise," with MacKinnon (3G-1A, +1) and Jonathan Drouin (1G, +1) doing all of their damage before the end of the fame.

"I thought we played real well about 25-27 minutes and the game got away from us for about 10 minutes," Winterhawks coach Travis Green said. "The momentum went to their side and they got rolling. A couple lucky bounces ended up in the back of our net.

"I thought our D-zone coverage wasn't great, we had some wingers down low and we mismanaged the puck and they got point shots, clear shots, with guys behind our defence," Green added.

"Give them credit. They pushed back."

Normally a two-goal lead is money in the bank for the Winterhawks. Halifax was able to control the neutral zone somewhat better in the second, but it four consecutive Winterhawks penalties tilted the ice significantly.

"We had a great backcheck in the first and in the second we got away from it," Rutkowski said. "You can't give those guys time and space. You give them an inch, they'll take a mile."

What lessons did Halifax take out of the game, notwithstanding that it won? The Mooseheads, for that portion of the game Green alluded to, were a little taken aback by Portland's pace. Both Rattie and Oliver Bjorkstrand hit posts over that stretch; an inch the other way and the Winterhawks might have wrested control. Ultimately, Halifax ratcheted it up to that level, realizing that while they have some credible competition back east, this is still a cut higher.

"We were not skating as well we were able to skate," Ducharme said of the first. "We were not applying pressure. We were watching. We were not as active as we want to be. When we started doing this, we started performing better. We were doing a lot of puck watching, leaving a lot of space for them to attack our zone."

MacKinnon admitted he also took a while to realize what he was up against.

"I thought I had a pretty slow first period," the centre added "Marty [Frk] managed to get on the board and that kind of set the tone for us. The next 40 minutes I thought we controlled most of the play. Portland, they're a dangerous team."

The Mooseheads were 2-for-6 on the power play to Portland's 2-for-8. MacKinnon also got a short-handed goal.

"We don't want to rely on our special teams too much, we want to be good 5-on-5," he said.

Mac Carruth (seven goals against on 35 shots) struggled in the Winterhawks net. Did Green give any thought to giving him a breather? In a word from the coach, "No." There was no follow-up.

Portland has been fiercely loyal to Carruth, who was not made available to the media following the game. The overage goalie was off on a couple goals, leaving room for MacKinnon to score short side on Halifax's 5-3 goal and getting beaten from behind the net on the sixth Mooseheads marker.

"We're not worried about him," Rattie said. "He's a world class goalie and he's going to bounce back with a huge game. You guys wait and see."

Halifax's Zach Fucale made 37 saves, including a glove stop on Adam de Champlain in the first period that kept Halifax even at 1-1 through 20 minutes.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

This was the most-anticipated game going into the MasterCard Memorial Cup. Never had the top three ranked prospects ever met each other on the same ice for a meaningful game. After Nathan MacKinnon set up Martin Frk to open the scoring, the projected No. 1 pick Seth Jones tied it up, cutting to the net on a brilliant rush and making the score 1-1.

The Winterhawks took a 3-1 lead, and for a top defensive team like Portland, they could have expected to hold it. But Jonathan Drouin made it 3-2 and then MacKinnon came alive, scoring three goals in the second period and getting the Mooseheads all the way to 6-3. The team's exchanged goals early in the third and it finished at 7-4 for the Mooseheads in an excellent display of offensive hockey.

No. 1 Star - Nathan MacKinnon, Halifax Mooseheads

Rival top prospects Jones and Drouin had already counted before Cole Harbour's Nathan MacKinnon exploded for three goals on his own in the second. He got fortunate on a couple of the goals—the first was a deflection off a Brendan Duke shot and the third was a bank shot off of Portland goaltender Carruth, but the second was a gorgeous skill and power move around Central Scouting's No. 1 prospect:

Storywise, there's the angle that MacKinnon took over the Jones-Drouin-MacKinnon showcase. He did so early on, setting up linemate Martin Frk for a goal that opened the scoring, all while being Halifax's most prominent player on the puck in the neutral and offensive zones. The Portland Winterhawks hadn't given up more than six all season, but the QMJHL champions had little trouble turning on the red light in their opener.

No. 2 Star - Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks

While the Winterhawks may have dropped their first game of the tournament, it wasn't because they had trouble generating offence of their own. Led by the former St. Louis first round selection, the Winterhawks scored three goals through two periods and put up a fourth early on in the third. Ty Rattie had a goal and two assists, and was the most involved Winterhawk player on the team's 18 scoring chances. Four of those chances came off of Rattie's stick, and he also set up a Brendan Leipsic chance early in the second, forcing the Halifax goaltender into making a big stop when the game was still 3-2 for Portland.

No. 3 Star - Stephen MacAulay, Halifax Mooseheads

When the Winterhawks made it 6-4 early in the second, reducing the Mooseheads lead to just two, it looked like there was a very realistic shot of Portland scoring a quick goal or two to make it a game again. But MacAulay, who had been Buzzing The Net all night, took a pass from teammate Andrew Ryan and made a power move of his own against Seth Jones, managing to bank the puck in off of Central Scouting's top-ranked prospect.

Bit of a weird bounce, and a lucky goal, but that made the score 7-4 and quelled some of the doubt of the Mooseheads' ability to hold a lead against a powerful offence like the Winterhawks.

Game Grade: Lots of goals is good. Seth Jones, Jonathan Drouin, and Nathan MacKinnon all scoring goals is good. But results that aren't in doubt midway through the third are bad. That said, there was lots of good hockey and two good teams on the ice that we will hopefully get to see for a rematch later in the tournament. A-.

Alexis Normand, who performed, in a matter of speaking, the national anthems prior to Saturday's Portland Winterhawks-Halifax Mooseheads game, will probably be appearing on blooper reels for the next 10 years.

The Saskatoon singer, who performs folk and jazz music, started falteringly in front of the large crowd and a Portland team which is not only based in the United States, but also has 10 Americans in its lineup. The rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner seemed to unravel once Normand got to the third line. Then the "whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight" was bowdlerized into "those broad stripes and bright stars... at the dawn's early light." The Credit Union Centre crowd seemed amused initially. Eventually, thousands of Canadians came to the rescue and completed the lyrics.

Normand promptly tweeted an apology.

I'm embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I'd had more time to learn the American anthem. Thanks so much for the crowd's help! #memorialcup

— Alexis Normand (@Alex6Normand) May 19, 2013

It's probably for the best that this happened in Canada. Who knows how a crowd in the U.S. would have reacted.

Normand's explanation of "I wish I'd more time to learn the American anthem" might raise an eyebrow. It might be plausible that the fransaskoise performer was not used to performing it, let alone in front of crowd. The Blades only face the U.S. Division teams in the WHL every other season, so it's not like there's a big market in Saskatoon for people who sing The Star-Spangled Banner before a hockey game. Still, someone in Saskatoon was in charge of making sure a perform wouldn't embarrass herself and a city by extension. Perhaps that is who should be sorry for the blunder.

It is the second year in a row the Memorial Cup has had an anthem incident. In 2012 in Shawinigan, performer Jean-François Bastien opened his blazer to reveal a message protesting the environmental policies of Canada's Harper government after completing O Canada. Bastien did not perform again during the tournament.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (video: Sportsnet).

[Sunaya Sapurji: Seth Jones and Nathan MacKinnon
were friends before becoming foes]

Please join the Buzzing The Net crew of Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Kelly Friesen, Steve McAllister Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager, Scott Sepich and a cast of many at 7 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Saskatchewan time when the action gets underway.

Please remember that all Chatravaganzas are BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Portland preview | Halifax preview

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — Being at the Memorial Cup means downtime isn't just a catchphrase, it's a philosophy.

There is a tendency for the tournament to slow down once the first-day rush passes; hey, the Canadian Hockey League might want to study playing a doubleheader on one of the weekend dates, just throwin' that out there. For the London Knights, though, have two days to spend in a quiet city that is not too small and not too big kind of agrees with their tired bodies. London had only a day and a half to go from winning the OHL title on Monday to flying to the Memorial Cup, although each player apparently got a row to himself on the plane.

"It's a good rest for us," checker Tyler Ferry said Saturday. "We went to seven games against Barrie. If you look at Edmonton last year, they went through the same thing [seven-game leading final] and we have the same schedule as them. Even if you look back to our Plymouth series, they're a big strong team and they like to hit. Lots of guys were banged up from that series and then the Barrie series on top of that kind of took its toll. These two days, it's important."

Ferry grinned — and defenceman Olli Määttä, a few feet away conducting interviews, looked over impishly — when asked what the Knights have planned to entertain themselves. Coach-GM Mark Hunter took the Knights sightseeing in Quebec City during the 2012 Cup in Shawinigan. In 2011 at Mississauga, Saint John Sea Dogs coaches Gerald Gallant and Mike Kelly took their charges to a Toronto Blue Jays game. Hockey players are people of action, so they need stimuli, but the Knights are also bone-weary.

"We're definitely going to watch the game tonight," Ferry added. "Go lounge in our rooms and go play cards tonight.

"Last year we had a bye to the final to so we had four days and went to Quebec City and saw the sights. Two days, you can kind of manage that. Four days, that's when it starts to get you, when you stay in the hotel that long."

"It's a nice city here, for the most part guys are resting and the coaches are going to take us to a nice steak dinner tonight," wing Seth Griffith added. "Always good to get a break."

Every junior team is worn down by the middle of May. Part of the reason the Memorial Cup, in any season, is such a scouting tool is because it offers a chance to see how someone can perform while being "rundown" — Griffith's term — mentally and physically.

London is the only one of the three league champions who played a seven-game series, but a team from Southern Ontario travels so much less than a Maritime QMJHL team or U.S.-based WHL team that there is no point of comparison. It's all about how teams manage with playing tired.

The Knights will be trying to get by while basically running only four defencemen — Pittsburgh Penguins prospects Scott Harrington and Olli Määttä, overage New York Rangers signing Tommy Hughes and 17-year-old draft prospect Nikita Zadorv.

"You got to play smart, it's hard week a half here," Määttä, 18, said. "Players can't overskate because you can't get tired."

London's showing in its 3-2 win Friday over Saskatoon was hardly overwhelming, but it hardly seemed to be in discomfort. Like the perennial contender who doesn't get excited at winning a first-round playoff series, they were also muted after their goal celebrations.

"You see in the Barrie series, we'd get excited, go up four goals, then it would just go to show how quick a lead can slip away," Griffith said. "It's good that we're keeping our emotions in check.

"Overall we held the lead in the third," Griffith added. "So that's a major plus right now."

Meantime, what to do for fun in Toon Town? Even the Blue Jays afternoon games come on at 11 a.m.

"They're breaking my little heart right now, but I still haven't lost faith," Ferry said.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — One trait in sports commentary is to always quote a cherry-picked statistics that have an air of inviolability.

Commentators on National Football League broadcasts, for many years, loved to quote that no dome team had ever won a Super Bowl. That worked, until it actually happened. Or that the warm-weather Tampa Bay Buccaneers had never won a game when the temperature at opening kickoff was below X degrees, or something like that. That sort of thing sounds good, but there's probably another reason for why it was the case. That seems germane at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. Since the four-team format was created in 1983, no Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team has won at the 10 tournaments held in the west, with only three advancing to the final.

When one considers that the tournament is a big-budget operation and that the QMJHL champion Halifax Mooseheads are awfully good, maybe it's time to consider that factoid's days might be numbered. Teams are bit more up to speed on the sport science.

"Coming out here Wednesday gave us time to get acclimated with the time change," Mooseheads forward Stephen MacAulay, who has previously played in Memorial Cups held in Ontario and Quebec, said on Saturday ahead of the Halifax-Portland Winterhawks contest (7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet/TVA Sports, BTN livechat). "Three hours [the time zone difference between Halifax and Saskatoon] is significant enough. They’ve done a good job getting us to bed at the right times and getting us up at the right times. The jet lag is out now."

The Quebec League champ gets a double-edged gift when the tournament is out west. It does not have to face the host on opening night, but then plays back-to-back games against the two WHL teams and has Monday off before facing the OHL champ, who will be in the second of back-to-backs. (The out-of-region teams are always scheduled for Tuesday night, typically bleh for attendance, although that might be relative.

Halifax ended up with a seven-day break after winning the President's Cup on May 10. Macaulay noted that compares favourably with the playoffs-to-tournament transition of both Saint John Sea Dogs teams he helped win the league. The 2011 Sea Dogs, who won the Memorial Cup, had a tight four-day break after a championship series that included two double-overtime games. In 2012, they swept the QMJHL final.

"I don’t think that’ll be excuse," Macaulay says of the travel. "If we had played Friday, it might have different. Emotionally it is different [than it was two seasons ago for Saint John], we went to six games and then opened the tournament against Mississauga [on the Friday]. Emotionally, you have to celebrate a bit and then refocus on the big prize."

One adjustment for the Mooseheads is going from the amped-up atmosphere peculiar to the QMJHL to the more sedate Saskatoon crowd. Ten thousand people in the Halifax Metro Centre sound much louder than they do at Credit Union Centre, which can hold 16,000.

"We’ve had 10,000 strong all year," Mooseheads forward Luca Ciampini said. "It doesn’t matter if it’s Cape Breton or if it’s Baie-Comeau and it’s the last game of the final, it’s still a crazy time. We had our time that night with the fans. We just want to relive that moment."

Halifax is facing questions over whether its 58-6-3-1 regular season and 16-1 playoff run was fashioned against soft competition. Many QMJHL teams have encountered similar stereotyping.

"To the point of being tested, we’ve played a few overtime games, we’ve played in three of the toughest barns in the Q with Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda, and Baie-Comeau," Macaulay said. "I think we’ve been tested. We’ve played in a lot of tough games. Just because we won them all it doesn’t mean that we weren’t tested."

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions' results at a WHL-hosted Memorial Cup since 1983:

— 2010 Moncton Wildcats: 0-3
— 2007 Lewiston MAINEiacs: 1-2, lost tiebreaker game
— 2004 Gatineau Olympiques: 2-1, lost final
— 2001 Val-d'Or Foreurs: 2-1, lost final in overtime
— 1998 Val-d'Or Foreurs: 0-3
— 1995 Hull Olympiques: 0-3
— 1992 Verdun Collège Français: 0-3
— 1989 Laval Titan: 1-2, lost tiebreaker game
— 1986 Hull Olympiques: 2-1, lost final
— 1983 Verdun Juniors: 1-2, lost semifinal

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

WHL

Anticipation is through the roof for the Halifax-Portland matchup. What more can one say to gild the lily? (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

A crowd of 10,000 at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, unless it's in a building that has more seating capacity than the home rink of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. (rodpedersen.com)

Ty Rattie, the only player with 50 career Western League playoff goals, is finally playing in the big year-end touranment. Yeah, that could be enjoyable to watch. (Regina Leader-Post)

Why the Memorial Cup is, in fact, better than college basketball's Final Four. (The Columbian)

The Blades' one-goal loss to London is not a huge faith-shaker for the hometown fans, writes Kevin Mitchell. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Saskatoon's Josh Nicholls got a vibe that the London Knights "escaped with one." (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

OHL

Ryan Pyette describes the arc of London wing Brett Welychka's past 12 months, from being a healthy scratch in the OHL final in 2012 to scoring the Knights' first goal in the Memorial Cup. (London Free Press)

The London Knights played just well enough to win Friday, that is all. (London Free Press)

Erie Otters managing partner Sherry Bassin has shot down rumours of a move to Chatham, Ont.; but is he hard at work trying to re-up his lease at Erie Insurance Arena? Not exactly: "We'll look at that. We'll see how things go." (Erie Times-News)

The Barrie Colts' near-championship season will not soon be forgotten in the York-Simcoe region. By the way, for the last time, York-Simcoe and the small town of Simcoe, Ont., are two completely different places. (Simcoe.com)

QMJHL

Patrick King tees up the Halifax-Portland matchup. (Sportsnet)

It's oft-told, but one could use the reminder of the unlikely path Halifax defenceman MacKenzie Weegar took to the QMJHL. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)—

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON, Sask. — The next person to say Max Domi does not play like his father, celebrated former NHL tough guy Tie Domi, will get two minutes for being trite.

The younger Domi is a point-producing playmaker who is listed at 5-foot-10, but he can't be easily classified as a finesse player. That came across loud and clear in the third period on Friday at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, when Domi lined up Saskatoon Blades forward Shane McColgan and dropped him with a solid shoulder-to-sternum bodycheck.

"There was no real momentum for either team at that point in the game," Domi said following the Knights' 3-2 victory over the Blades. "Whatever it takes, a hit, a scoring chance, a big save. I was in the right place at the right time and was able to get the boys going."

Coincidentally, Tie Domi played for the Peterborough Petes in the 1989 Memorial Cup that was also held in Saskatoon. Domi was in his final season of junior that year; the Petes came up short when their star centre, Mike Ricci, contracted chicken pox during the tournament. The Petes lost in the semifinal to the Swift Current Broncos, who then beat Saskatoon in overtime to win an all-Saskatchewan final.

"It's very cool to be back here where he played," Max Domi said. "He didn't win it, obviously, so I've been trying to win my own Cup here, We haven't talked about [the coincidence]. He just kind of brought up the whole thing with Mike Ricci and getting chicken pox and he was a CHL player of the year. It was a big blow for that [Peterborough] team."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (video: Sportsnet).

SASKATOON, Sask. — May 17 is way too late to count moral victories.

Friday stacked up as an good chance for the Saskatoon Blades, whose place at the MasterCard Memorial Cup has been pooh-poohed since they were swept in the first of the WHL playoffs, to steal a win. The London Knights were not exactly recharged after winning a dramatic Game 7 in the OHL final three days earlier and two time zones away. For two periods, the Blades, thanks to a pair of goals from Josh Nicholls and some superlative 'tending by Andrey Makarov (30 saves on the night, including seven during a 5-on-3 penalty kill), stayed with the Knights, despite being on their way to being outchanced 22-11 and 14-8 at even strength.

"Some people really wrote us off coming into this, but we showed that we're a good contender," defenceman Duncan Siemens said. "We had a hell of a performance for not playing for 51 days and playing a league champion and giving them a good game. If we eliminate some mistakes and that game goes to overtime or we win.

Was it enough of an indicator that the Blades, who face the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday and Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, can avoid a three-and-out? On with the post-game questions:

In hindsight, where would the Blades like a do-over? Knights No. 1 goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 27-of-29 shots, but very few of the Philadelphia Flyers prospect's stops contained serious memory burn. He was good, not outstanding. The Blades didn't take enough advantage of a goalie who was last seen allowing five goals in back-to-back starts during the OHL championship series.

"We should have done a better job of getting pucks to the net," Blades forward Lukas Sutter said. "He's a big guy, doesn't move well. You can say a lot of things now.

"They've gone through a tough run in playoffs and are playing four D-men [Scott Harrington, Tommy Hughes, Olli Määttä and Nikita Zadorov] pretty consistently," Sutter added. "We really did a good job wearing them down early and taking advantage of opportunities and we didn't do that in the third period."

Stolarz was back in the barrel since his netminding partner, Jake Patterson, was not fully clear from a touch of the flu earlier in the week.

"We decided to go with the guy wasn't sick 3-4 days ago," Knights coach Dale Hunter said.

London has a two-day break before it faces a Portland Winterhawks-Halifax Mooseheads gauntlet on Monday and Tuesday. The next 48 hours should be able about Stolarz channeling that performance into confidence.

"He was our MVP tonight," Knights forward Max Domi said. "It's tough to jump in after not playing for that many days and he showed how he can play and keep us in hockey games."

Where did the effect of the Blades' 51-day layoff rear its head? It might have factored in on Seth Griffith's first-period goal that gave the Knights their first lead at 2-1. Saskatoon had been regularly dropping the puck back to its defencemen when moving up through the neutral zone. But the fine-tuning was a touch off. London centre Bo Horvat intuited what the Blades were doing and nicked the puck from Siemens, making it look like a September mistake. Off the ensuing 2-on-1, Griffith scored.

"It was a bunch of things," Siemens said of the play in question. "Not realizing how bad the ice was. Just kind of overhandling the puck. The time off does take a toll, especially when you've only done it in practice with only token pressure."

What accounted for the Knights' 6-2 advantage in power plays, the Blades' rust or a lack of discipline? Penalties were a huge part of Saskatoon's downfall during their sweep against Medicine Hat in March. Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken said it boiled down to effort.

"The penalties that were called were all penalties, we just have to be better," he said.

What positives can Saskatoon wring out from their performance? The skepticism about the Blades' chances against three league champs who all won at least 52 regular-season games is so ingrained that it's not surprising that you could have heard a cotton ball touching a piece of felt five minutes before faceoff at the Credit Union Centre. By the end of the night, the announced crowd of 10,203 was loud and into it.

Makarov was outstanding, while 19-year-old Montreal Canadiens-drafted defenceman Darren Dietz also had his typical inspired effort. The all-overage line with Nicholls playing with Michael Ferland and Brenden Walker, who were also with Brandon when it hosted the 2010 Cup, was Saskatoon's best trio by far.

"Stransky had been playing with those guys and we weren't happy with how it ended [against Medicine Hat]," Molleken said. "We decided they complemented each other. We didn't generate enough offensive opportunities but the compete was there."

"We just have work through this and get ready for our next challenge."

Nicholls added that the trio wanted to be linemates in their last grab at the brass ring. "We wanted to finish this together. We're three guys in our last year, two of us are already 21, we're practically too old for junior hockey."

It was kind of the expected outcome, with London playing just well enough to win, so what do the Knights take out of this? Do remember that the Knights allowed 19 third-period goals during the seven-game series against the Barrie Colts and twice coughed up four-goal leads during their final two series. Once Zadorov stealthily moved in from the point to bury the go-ahead goal on a power play with 14:15 left, London limited Saskatoon's chances.

Hunter had the prerogative to point out this shows the no-lead-is-safe-with-London line is off-base, at least for one night.

"Everyone thinks you can't hold a lead, they forget these are kids playing," he said. "Tonight they did a good job of blocking shots."

That included a big block by Ryan Rupert on a point shot in the final 90 seconds. It nearly led to an empty-net clincher. Domi, with a man on, tried for the empty-netter from his own side of centre ice and committed an icing by missing the yawning cage. London got away with it, though.

"It's no secret we let some leads slip away against Barrie," Griffith said. "We talked about it in the room before the third period about how important it is to avoid that. Especially in this tournament, one game can essentially put you out."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Friday Night's 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup opener between the Saskatoon Blades and the London Knights certainly looked like a contest between the Ontario Hockey League's "Evil Empire" and a team that hadn't played a game in 51 days. Not to say that the Knights ran up the score early on, because about the only player "ring rust" hadn't affected was Saskatoon goaltender Andrey Makarov, who held the Blades in it despite the team getting just four of the game's first 21 chances before the host team settled in.

Josh Nicholls opened the scoring midway through the first on a goal that went against the general flow of play, but London struck twice before the end of the period. THey got goals from Brett Welychka and Seth Griffith before the period was out. Despite Nicholls scoring again in the second, Nikita Zadorov tapped in a powerplay goal early in the third period that stood up as the winner as London shut the door in the third period. That score held as the Knights took the 3-2 final in the opener.

No. 1 Star - Seth Griffith, London Knights

The most noticeable player in the debut game was likely the Boston Bruins' prospect Seth Griffith. He was all over the ice in the first two periods, scoring a goal late in the first period off of a Bo Horvat-created turnover and set up a couple of nice chances.

Griffith also assisted on Nikita Zadorov's winning goal. Zadorov had all kinds of room in front of the net, but it was the work of Griffith and the remainder of the London powerplay keeping the puck to one side so Saskatoon gradually shifted over... leaving Zadorov open a couple of times on Makarov's right side. The second time was the charm.

No. 2 Star - Josh Nicholls, Saskatoon Blades

For what it's worth, the right winger of the home team's first line was one of the top players on the ice, scoring Saskatoon's first two goals of the game while sticking with plays around the net. His first, he found a loose puck off of a Michael Ferland shot. His second, he made a power move around London defenceman Tommy Hughes after being sprung by Ferland. With Anthony Stolarz making the first save, Nicholls bought himself room and banged in the rebound.

No. 3 Star - Andrey Makarov, Saskatoon Blades

As unlikely as it seems that the losing side, one that got so thoroughly dominated at five-on-five play, would get two of the game's Three Stars, it was really Nicholls and the goaltender Makarov that showed up for Saskatoon while London had a more complete, team effort. Makarov made seven saves off of an extended London powerplay in the second period, a stretch that included a five-on-three, and made saves off of, my count, 14 of the 17 quality Knights scoring chances around his net. If he had played as sloppy as the Blades' defence, this game is 4-1 or 5-1 before the first period is out.

Game Grade: It was a fairly one-sided affair, but the score was close in the end and the Blades got a few chances and nervous moments. Makarov kept it tight and the result was in doubt right up until the very end. B-.

Please join the Buzzing The Net crew of Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Kelly Friesen, Steve McAllister Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager, Scott Sepich and a cast of many at 8 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Saskatchewan time when the action gets underway. Ideally, it will be a rousing start to a memorable 10 days of major hockey.

Knights preview | Blades preview

Please remember that all Chatravaganzas are BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

SASKATOON — Halifax Mooseheads star Nathan MacKinnon has a message for Jay-Z: Holla at ya boy.

The rap impresario’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, has recently ventured in the sporting world and joined with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) – the agency that represents both MacKinnon and fellow top prospect Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks.

“There’s a partnership between them,” said Jones. “I’ve obviously talked to my agent Pat (Brisson) about that and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Jay-Z and Roc Nation are reportedly very interested to work with Jones, who is ranked No. 1 by the NHL’s central scouting service. Jones, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, could become the first African-American player selected with the NHL’s top pick. Popeye Jones is the assistant coach of the Brooklyn Nets, the team that until recently had Jay-Z as part owner.

The younger Jones could be the kind of cross-over star the NHL has been dreaming of, and who better to market him to the masses beyond the rink, than the hip-hop mogul?

“We’ll see how that goes,” said Jones. “We might try to set something up [like a meeting] this summer, but I’m not 100 per cent sure.”

But MacKinnon, ranked No.2  for the NHL draft, is a huge fan of hip-hop and says Jay-Z is free to give him a call anytime.

“Tell him (to call),” said MacKinnon, of the self-proclaimed greatest rapper alive. “I’d appreciate that.”

And even if things don’t work out on the marketing front, MacKinnon would love to, at very least, shake the Hova’s hand.

“That would be pretty cool, even just to meet Jay-Z and say that I work with him a little bit,” said MacKinnon after Friday’s morning skate at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon. “I’m sure he could at least hook me up with some concert tickets or something. I’ll have to use that to my advantage.”

Both MacKinnon and Jones – who room together every summer at CAA’s elite athlete camp – share the same taste in music. Though, MacKinnon admits he’s been listening to a lot of country music of late thanks to some of his Halifax Mooseheads teammates.

“I listen to a bunch of different stuff,” said MacKinnon. “I’m starting to listen to a lot of country because I’m hangin’ with Brent Andrews and Darcy (Ashley) – they’re a couple of P.E.I. boys – so I like it.”

SASKATOON BLADES (host)

No playoff wins, no problem for the Blades’ road to the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup. That’s the beauty about being the host team.

Saskatoon’s season has been full of highs and lows, but mostly lows. After a poor 3-7 start to the year, the Blades went on an 18-game win streak in the latter half of the season. This incredible run, however, was later deemed “a tease” by Blades fan. With them hoping to see their team go on a playoff run and make it past the second round for the first time in 18 years, Saskatoon took a face plant in the second season. The seventh-place Medicine Hat Tigers quickly swept them in the first round.

Blades fans practically parked a U-Haul on GM-head coach Lorne Molleken’s driveway. But team owner Jack Brodsky didn’t make a radical move after the playoffs. He stuck by his architect through a very rough patch in his franchise’s history.

Saskatoon can’t be written off in the Memorial Cup, though. They not only have had more time to rest and regroup for the tournament than their opponents, but they also will have the crowd behind them. The stats show these two factors can be huge beneficiaries as 70 per cent of the host teams have made it to the final.

Their season so far, expressed through the majesty of '80s rock anthems

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, "The Waiting." The Blades have not played a game since March, so their fans have to take it on faith that they will be competitive in the tournament.

Don't get bitter, Blades fans. It was either the above or Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer."

That fierce urgency of now thing - The Blades got a 51-day break from their last playoff game until the Memorial Cup. In some ways, their break worked to their benefit. It gave them time to focus on their game plan for the tournament and heal any bumps and bruises. In other ways, however, it seems it could have worked against them. Since they haven’t played a meaningful game in over a month, it’s possible the Blades aren’t in game shape anymore. It might also be tough for them to get into a do-or-die mindset.

This is the last kick at the can for this group of players. None of their five leading scorers should be returning next year. In addition, six of their seven blueliners and No. 1 puck-stopper Andrey Makarov are 19-year-olds. This should help give these veterans extra motivation to end their major junior careers on a bright note.

Up front — Saskatoon doesn’t have “thee guy” that they count on to score them clutch goals. Throughout the year, New York Rangers prospects Josh Nicholls and Shane McColgan, Dallas Stars prospect Matej Stransky, and team captain Brenden Walker carried the offense. At the trade deadline, they added to that offensive core by acquiring Calgary Flames prospect Michael Ferland, who scored 31 points in 30 games, from the Brandon Wheat Kings. Winnipeg Jets second-round pick Lukas Sutter was expected to be one of their top scorers after his 28-goal, 59-point season last year, but he had an off year to say the least, only mustering 11 goals and 24 points in 72 games.

In the post-season, Saskatoon’s big guns didn’t show up. Nicholls, McColgan, Stranksy, Walker, and Ferland only combined for two apples. This is obviously a major concern heading to the Memorial Cup. If they play as they did against the Tigers, the scores could get ugly.

On the blueline - The Blades’ back end disappointed in more ways than one this year. Of their big three – Colorado Avalanche first-rounder Duncan Siemens, Montreal Canadiens second-rounder Dalton Thrower, and Canadiens fifth-rounder Darren Dietz – only Dietz lived up to expectations, playing a positional sound game while racking up 24 goals and 58 points in 72 games. Siemens and Thrower, meanwhile, took their fair share of dumb penalties and didn’t contribute enough on the score sheet.

The Blades are desperately counting on Siemens and Thrower to pull up their socks for the Memorial Cup. They need Siemens to keep things simple and play physical while keeping the slashes and illegal checks to a minimum. Thrower, meanwhile, needs to tap into the offensive talent that he showcased in 2011-12 when he racked up 18 goals and 54 points in 66 games.

In goal - Andrey Makarov is a wildcard in between the pipes. There is no denying he can singlehandedly win a game. He proved that on numerous occasions for Russia at the world juniors and in the Credit Union Centre for the Blades. But the 6-foot-1, 193-pounder has struggled with consistency. After posting his best month stats wise in February with a 1.72 average and a .948 save percentage in 15 games, he followed it up with a 4.45 average and a .877 save percentage in seven contests throughout March. The reason for this particular off month could have been he was simply worn out from carrying the Blades to an 18-game win streak. The incident, however, is far from isolated. In November, the Buffalo Sabres prospect let in four goals on 10 shots against the Kelowna Rockets following stopping 41 of 43 shots against the Kamloops Blazers; there are several other instances throughout the year similar to this. Not to mention, the 20-year-old has a 0-8 record in the WHL playoffs.

For the Blades to have a shot at making some noise in the tournament, Makarov has to be their best player. When he’s at the top of his game, so are the Blades as a whole. Moreover, when he’s down in the dumps, his teammates follow suit.

Outlook – Molleken’s Blades haven’t shown up at crunch time in recent years, so it would be shocking to see Saskatoon pull off the upset of all upsets on the big stage. But this is the Memorial Cup, anything is possible.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen

It's only 10 days long, yet the MasterCard Memorial Cup often seems like a hockey marathon. Over the course of two weekends, young hockey players, some destined for bigger and brighter glories in the NHL, others for whom the experience will represent the zenith of their careers, lay in on the line to win what is sometimes describes as the toughest trophy to capture in all of North American sports.

This time around, some of the storylines are strong enough to sell the event on their own. Can Portland's Seth Jones continue work on his unofficial Grand Slam of a league championship, a world junior gold medal, leading his team to the Memorial Cup and then going No. 1 in the NHL draft? Will the Winterhawks go from being resented Western Hockey League-wide to being a league darling if they bring the Dub its first victory in a half-decade? How will the unprecedented crop of NHL draft prospects fare in the harsh spotlight?

Buzzing The Net will host a livechat of each game, beginning with Friday's London Knights-Saskatoon Blades opener (8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT, Sportsnet). Here's a survey of what to keep an eye peeled for over the next 10 days.

1. The big three go head-to-head, but don't call it a "rivalry" — In January, the anticipation for a Seth Jones vs. Nathan MacKinnon/Jonathan Drouin showdown at the CHL Top Prospects Game was off the charts, and that was only for a one-off showcase game. Now that they are playing with their regular teams four months later, Saturday's Portland-Halifax game is "one of the more anticipated games early in the event" in recent memory.

The trio are tight off the ice, probably since very few of their peers can comprehend the fishbowl existence of a elite prospect. The only way it could get richer was Drouin, MacKinnon and Jones faked a feud, but they save their creativity for the ice.

Jones might be in the best position to impress, since he is already a pro-ready 18-year-old whereas the Mooseheads mates are still boys, relatively, as precocious 17-year-olds.

2. America's game — The Memorial Cup doesn't angry up the nationalist blood like that other 10-day tournament that begins the day after Christmas. A U.S.-based team in the tournament is nothing new and the Winterhawks are bankrolled by a Canadian owner, Bill Gallacher. Yet the Winterhawks' composition reflects where the game has gone south of the border. Jones is projected as the NHL's potential first African-American star, while Portland's 10-American contingent is spread across seven states from Alaska to Arizona.

In contrast, the last U.S. team to win the tournament, the 2008 Spokane Chiefs, had three American players.

3. Portland, the one with a D in their name and the most D in their game — The tournament will ask questions of a team's defence corps that it typically was not asked during league playoffs. By virtue of their top four of Jones, Calgary Flames prospect Tyler Wotherspoon, Pittsburgh Penguins first-rounder Derrick Pouliot and recent Ottawa Senators signing Troy Rutkowski, Portland can transition from defence to offence faster than any major junior team in captivity.

[Related: Portland Winterhawks preview]

4. Redemption song — Five star players in the tournament — Portland's Wotherspoon and their finisher nonpareil Ty Rattie, London's blueline linchpin Scott Harrington and Drouin and MacKinnon — were on Team Canada in January when it missed the world junior championship medal podium for the first team this millennium. One suspects that for a player, just getting to be part of a big-ticket tournament is a thrill in itself. But the notion of winning a Memorial Cup after coming home empty-handed from Ufa is an easy media framing device.

5. London has only one place to go — Season 5 of Friday Night Lights had more plausible plotlines than the Knights have had across the last 12 months. They have lost the Memorial Cup on an overtime goal, blown four-goal leads in big playoff games and pulled it together to win OT and won the OHL championship on a goal with 0.1 second left in Game 7. As Clark Duke said in Hot Tub Time Machine, "That just sounds... exhausting." Yet London has shown that it is a resilient outfit, although three days to recharge for a tournament halfway across Canada seems like a lot to ask of a team of teenagers.

There is no discounting the memory burn from Anton Zlobin's goal going in at Centre Bionest last May 27. “As long as I live, I’ll never forget losing in overtime,” Knights captain Scott Harrington told Sportsnet's Patrick King. “We learned a lot and I think that really helped us all season.”

[Related: London Knights preview]

6. Much ado about Max — Let's be real, the hockey hero machinery whirs into overdrive when it can attach hope to a prospect from the Centre of the Universe such as London's Max Domi — not that he doesn't rate the hype — instead of a Maritimer, Quebecer or a Westerner. On top of that, Domi arrives at the tournament with Sportsnet's junior hockey expert Damien Cox wondering out loud if the centre's father Tie Domi might have some sway over his playmaking progeny being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs next month.

7. Dale Hunter will want you to look over there — The odds are about 1:2 the Knights coach will get into some verbal jousting with one of his bench-boss brethren during the series. It's all theatre. Hunter is the master of drawing the focus to himself and taking the weight of the world off his team. It worked in the OHL final, when Hunter accused the Barrie Colts of diving after London was pushed to the brink of elimination following a Game 4 loss. It worked, since the Knights are still playing after winning three consecutive elimination games.

8. Zach Fucale, made for Malmö? — Halifax's star 17-year-old goalie is the fulcrum of a up-and-coming cohort of cord-cottagers who could eventually assuage the endless brow-furrowing over the state of Canadian goaltending, albeit not in time for the 2014 Olympics. (Maybe 2018, at the outside.) The tournament will be a chance to see the top-ranked North American goalie for the NHL draft play high-stakes games, which could be a harbinger for his readiness to wear the Maple Leaf at the world junior in either of the next two seasons.

Fucale is the lone Canadian among the four No. 1 goalies in the tournament. Portland's overage Mac Carruth is a Minnesotan. The host Saskatoon Blades have two-time Russian world junior goalie Andrey Makarov in the crease. London counted on Philadelphia Flyers second-rounder Anthony Stolarz, a Jersey boy, for most of the playoffs, although backup Jake Patterson is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

[Related: Halifax Mooseheads preview]

9. Will the mighty Moose Q up a three-peat — Time was, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was the oddball red-haired left-handed kid in the major junior hockey family — quirky and amusing, but often not considered a serious threat to win the Memorial Cup time. Yet the league has a two-year run going thanks to the 2011 Saint John Sea Dogs and 2012 Cataractes and Halifax winged its way west this week having won 32 of their last 34 games in the Q and 74-of-85 across the entire season.

The Mooseheads' big question might be on the blueline. Their group was good enough to secure a President's Cup, but while the other teams have high NHL picks on the blueline, the Herd has only one NHL-drafted defenceman, San Jose Sharks signee Konrad Abeltshauser. They also face a tougher field than the Sea Dogs encountered two years ago in Mississauga, seeing as the other two league champions also finished first overall during regular-season play.

When the tournament heads west, the QMJHL champion gets the play-3-in-4 short straw. Three years ago in Brandon, the Moncton Wildcats lost a late lead on the second day against Calgary, then couldn't regroup the following day in a loss to the host Wheat Kings. Just like that, their tournament was basically over.

10. Rusty Blades, not just a clever name for an old-timers' team — Host Saskatoon is the blank slate, since they had enough time to go back to the drawing board during their seven-week layoff after being swept 4-0 in the opening round of the playoffs. The last two host teams which failed to reach their league final, the 2012 Cataractes and 2010 Brandon Wheat Kings, each lost the Friday-night opener after turning in a not-ready-for-prime-time performance.

In each case, it was understandable since it is tough to simulate actual game play. Yet one wonders how a Blades loss on Friday would go over with thousands of doubting Thomases in Toon Town.

[Related: Saskatoon Blades preview]

The Blades have a lengthy history of being the bridesmaids. So did Shawinigan at the outset of the 2012 Cup.

11. Molleken in a maelstrom — Saskatoon coach-GM Lorne Molleken has 603 career WHL wins to his credit. His distinction of having presided over two first-round faceplants by Memorial Cup host teams with these Blades and the '01 Regina Pats, well, that's pretty tempting piñata swaying back and forth.

Yet over the years, many coaches have used long layoffs to get their teams to opt in to that "no one believes in you but you" fortress mentality. The Blades likely will not out-talent anyone, but could still be a tough out. Their mid-season retooling where they added gritty forwards Michael Ferland and Collin Valcourt was designed to toughen them up for their only four truly meaningful games of the season. How Saskatoon represents itself in the tournament could be legacy-defining for their coach.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS (QMJHL champion)

Forgive any fan of the Mastercard Memorial Cup if they’ve seen this picture before: a QMJHL team finishing no.1 overall in Canada with 58 wins and a top-3 prospect in the world for the upcoming entry draft.

2011 Saint John Sea Dogs, meet the 2013 Halifax Mooseheads.

The Sea Dogs that season steamrolled over their competition, winning their first of two President’s Cups and winning the 2011 Memorial Cup in Mississauga, Ont. The Mooseheads would love to repeat that ending to their storybook season.

Saint John that season had several great prospects that season, led by current Florida Panther Jonathan Huberdeau, Minnesota prospect Zach Phillips, Detroit prospect Tomas Jurco and Montreal Canadiens prospect Nathan Beaulieu. Halifax this year has been led by superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, both expected to go top-3 at this year’s NHL Entry Draft, along with goaltender Zachary Fucale.

This will be the first time the Mooseheads enter the Memorial Cup as QMJHL champions, though they did host the tournament in 2000.

Their season so far, expressed through the majesty of '80s rock anthems

INXS, “New Sensation. Three things: the iconic Michael Hutchence’s fifth verse of “You're only human / What can you do / It'll soon be over / Don't let your pain take over you” describes the way the Mooseheads dominated their QMJHL competition; this is the first time since 2010 the QMJHL weren’t represented by the Saint John Sea Dogs; and draft-eligible prospects MacKinnon, Drouin and Fucale are the newest big things for NHL scouts in the Atlantic Provinces.

Alas, the east coast music explosion of the mid-1990s falls outside the parameters. Now give it up for Sandbox.

That fierce urgency of now thing — This tournament will be the first time the Mooseheads are legitimately tested this season. The 58-6-3-1 Halifax squad breezed through the QMJHL playoffs, finishing 16-1 and only losing Game 3 of the President’s Cup final to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to get into the Memorial Cup. They stormed through the QMJHL season and playoffs without so much as a blink or a hesitation. They merely flexed their muscles whenever they were down and that won them most of their games this year. Certainly, they have the talent to make a big splash, and they are well coached with Dominique Ducharme behind the bench, but other than a stretch when they missed their top five players over Christmas, they haven’t had to face any adversity all year. A lack of urgency or pressure might shellshock them a bit at the beginning of the tournament.

Up front – The two super-phenoms Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin lead a deep and talented forward group. Both players will go top-3 in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, and big Memorial Cup tournaments could place the cherries on top of their pre-draft resumes. Looking past these two, there is a good mix of youth and experience, offense and defence, finesse and toughness.

Detroit prospect Martin Frk and co-captain Stefan Fournier both had excellent playoffs, each in the top-6 in playoff scoring. Former Saint John Sea Dog Stephen MacAulay brings the experience of two Memorial Cup tournaments and four QMJHL President’s Cup finals, winning three of them and the 2011 Memorial Cup. Pesky forwards Brent Andrews and Darcy Ashley provide grit and toughness, while Matthew Boudreau and Luca Campini bring secondary scoring and finesse to the lower lines.

On the blueline – If the Mooseheads have a weakness, it would be on the blue line, where they have no noticeable studs, but a good steady group. The group is led by San Jose Shark prospect Konrad Abeltshauser, who makes a good first pass and is reliable in both ends, but not a superstar by any means. Austyn Hardie and co-captain Trey Lewis are the physical foot soldiers every team needs, and Brendan Duke, MacKenzie Weegar and Matt Murphy provide some offense, but the offensive game of the Mooseheads mostly starts and finishes up front. The defencemen as a group play well positionally and are well-coached, but they aren’t spectacular.

In goal – Zachary Fucale is no. 1 on the North American goalies list from Central Scouting, and he had great numbers this season to go with a great QMJHL pedigree. Only 17, Fucale went 45-5-2-1 this season, and 16-1 in the playoffs. Like the rest of the team, Fucale has been very good when called upon, but will be tested to the highest level of his career.

He is a typical Quebec-style butterfly goaltender, with the strengths and weaknesses expected with that style. His positioning and ability to “get big” in the net are the best in the QMJHL, and he has an unflappable demeanor, allowing the Mooseheads to calm down and keep it cool. His biggest weakness may be that he is at his most effective when facing a lot of shots, and can fall asleep or get cold if kept waiting alone in his own zone for too long.

Outlook – The Mooseheads come into the tournament having finished as the no. 1 team in Canada, and will expect to play that way. They haven’t met a team as deep as London or as tough as Portland, though. With that, it’s tough to say how they’ll respond, but they can’t be taken lightly.

PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS (WHL champion)

There's no doubt that Calgary billionaire Bill Gallacher saved the Portland Winterhawks when he purchased the team in late 2008. From 11 wins five seasons ago to 57 in 2012-13, Portland would be considered major junior's most heartwarming story of resurrection if not for the November sanctions that marred their impressive franchise turnaround.

Yet here we are, months later, still wondering if the Hawks really were docked $200,000, nine draft picks and head coach-GM Mike Johnston for buying some plane tickets and paying a cell phone bill. And now, though most in Portland have long ago thrown their hands up and given up trying to figure it all out, the matter is now front and centre as Canada's national media gets its hands on the Hawks for the first time. Expect acting head coach Travis Green to act as a shield as much as possible to keep the distraction away from his players.

Even without the compelling storyline of the "Evil Empire," the Winterhawks are a bit of a novelty in the Memorial Cup. The WHL's U.S.-based teams are used to being the outsiders of the CHL, and Portland fans are still very much aware that the Canadian hockey establishment didn't handle it well when original Hawks owner Brian Shaw took major junior from Edmonton and moved it to the States in 1976. When Portland became the first American team to qualify for the Memorial Cup in 1982, Canadian newspapers were outraged that the "national championship" included a team from Oregon. When the Hawks won the Cup in 1983 — as the host team, no less — the "C" in CHL was forever destined to be merely a suggestion, not a requirement. Still, whether it's sponsorship (WHL finals sponsors Husky and Kal Tire have no outlets in the U.S.) or some sort of intangible relationship with the game itself, the American teams don't quite "fit in" with the rest of the CHL — something that motivates them to crash the party on occasion.

Their season so far, expressed through the majesty of '80s rock anthems

The Clash, "Police On My Back." Johnston, like the late great Joe Strummer, was wondering "what have I done?" after the WHL suspended him for the season and sanctioned the franchise for violating the league's player benefit policy.

Then Green took over, helped Portland stay hungry, and the WHL's punishment became a rallying cry. Take it away, Twisted Sister: We'll fight the powers that be / don't pick on destiny.

That fierce urgency of now thing — After two trips to the WHL finals that ended in heartbreak, the Winterhawks finally got experience the joy (and relief) of being a league champion, including a rally in downtown Portland that drew a couple thousand loyal fans. But the celebration was so emotional (with the exiled Johnston being included) that there might be some worry of a letdown. That might have been the case in the normal year, but there's nothing normal about what the Winterhawks have been through this season. The "us against the world" mentality endures, and that can be a powerful motivation in the hands of teenage kids.

Up front — Brendan Leipsic, Nicolas Petan and Ty Rattie combined for 350 points in the regular season and 88 in the WHL playoffs, and the Hawks won't win this tournament without that top line continuing to be a terror. The second line of Oliver Bjorkstrand, Chase De Leo and Taylor Leier has been outstanding in the playoffs, as much for its defensive play (they were often the unit sent out by Green to shut down Edmonton's top line) as for its offensive contributions, which have been consistent in the playoffs after an up-and-down regular season. Third line center Taylor Peters is Portland's top faceoff man, and the Hawks have increasingly relied on his line to play big minutes in key spots despite Peters being flanked by 16-year-old Minnesota natives Paul Bittner and Keegan Iverson.

On the blueline — With super-prospect Seth Jones, first-round NHL pick Derrick Pouliot, second-rounder and Canada world junior team member Tyler Wotherspoon, and overage captain Troy Rutkowski, Portland's top four might be one of the best defensive corps in major junior history. And these four will continue to be worked hard, with Jones paired with Wotherspoon and Pouliot with Rutkowski. Wotherspoon is the only true stay-at-home guy in the mix, but his ability with the puck has developed enough to fit in with the tremendous, forward-like skill shown by his blueline mates.

In goal — For a goaltender who's played a key role in getting his team to three straight WHL finals and now a Memorial Cup, Chicago Blackhawks draftee Mac Carruth often takes as much of a verbal beating from Hawks fans as he does from the opposition.

Whether it's for his brash attitude that occasionally boils over to outright cockiness, or his overzealous desire to stray from his crease to play the puck (A Carruth turnover leading to a goal was a key moment in a Game 5 WHL finals loss to Edmonton), the overager quickly goes from hero to villain to goat, sometimes within minutes.

Never one to back down from a verbal confrontation (and often the instigator of such conversations), Carruth took his play to a new level this season, posting a 2.06 GAA and .929 save pct. in the regular season. He followed that up with 1.63, .937 in the playoffs, forcing detractors to begrudgingly give him credit after he previously developed a reputation for getting a little shaky at inopportune times.

If Carruth is at the top of his game, the Winterhawks are nearly unbeatable. And since it's become harder over time to truly get into his head, expect his play to continue to be solid, if not necessarily acrobatically flashy.

Outlook — The Winterhawks don't have to play on back-to-back days in the round robin, which should help for regrouping and refocusing between games. And while they hope a ticket into at least the semifinal is punched ahead of time, the Hawks get the Blades last, allowing them to perhaps control their own destiny against the weakest team on paper.

LONDON KNIGHTS (OHL champion)

Experience is on the Knights' side, history perhaps not so much.

It has been 23 seasons since an Ontario league team went through a seven-game championship series and won the Memorial Cup; the 1990 Oshawa Generals of Eric Lindros fame did not even have to leave the Golden Horseshoe to do so. The Knights are the only returnee in Saskatoon, but also had the tightest turnaround after winning three do-or-done games in four days against the Barrie Colts.

Still, since these are the New York Yankees of the OHL, they can't be written off. The other skate never seems to drop in Dale and Mark Hunter's hockey fiefdom. London was put through the ringer by both the Barrie Colts and Plymouth Whalers in their final two series, where their defence and goaltending was occasionally leaky.

Their season so far, expressed through the majesty of '80s rock anthems

U2, "Desire." The Knights exude will and skill and it's hard to argue with their accomplishments, but like Bono and his bandmates, they have got so big that it's off-putting. Of course you would say that, hipster.

Since the Knights are back for the second of three-year stint at the tournament, some Whitesnake is apropos.

That fierce urgency of now thing — No one can really know what the psychological impact of London being at this Memorial Cup while having a ticket to next year's tourney in its home environment firmly tucked away. The Knights do have the motivation of having lost the 2012 Memorial Cup final in overtime to the Shawinigan Cataractes. Thirteen current players were part of that loss, including captain Scott Harrington, defenceman Tommy Hughes, checker Tyler Ferry and right wing Seth Griffith, who are coming to the end of their runs in junior. London certainly has designs on this being the first of back-to-back Memorial Cup wins, although getting the first will be tough enough.

Up front — It all starts with the two super sophomores, tireless two-way centre Bo Horvat and playmaker Max Domi, the club's leading point-getter in both the regular season and playoffs. Hunter had to shuffle his lines midway through the OHL final after pesky Matt Rupert returned from a long injury layoff for Game 4 vs. Barrie. It paid off as both Domi and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Ryan Rupert registering more offensively toward the series' climax. Overall, London has a good mix up front; 18-year-olds such as centre Chris Tierney, complementary scorer Brett Welychka and physical winger Josh Anderson have all carved out distinct niches. Horvat's ability on faceoffs will be critical.

On the blueline — The savvy Harrington gets a lot of publicity for being quietly efficient, and all of it merited. London is fairly skilled on the back end, which includes Pittsburgh Penguins first-rounder Olli Määttä and hulking 6-foot-5, 230-pound Russian Nikita Zadorov, whose upside might make him a top-10 NHL pick.

Poor puck luck might have factored in slightly, but London's defending was not especially airtight against either Barrie or Plymouth. Not every team can have a 6-foot-7 shutdown defender like the 2012 Knights did with Jarred Tinordi. Zadorov might be that soon, but he's only 17. This London crew, which also includes San Jose Sharks draft pick Justin Sefton and 18-year-old Dakota Mermis, is a little bit more about positioning and puck movement.

In goal — London's netminding picture is by far the murkiest at this Memorial Cup. Eighteen-year-old Jake Patterson rates a chance to start Friday against Saskatoon since he was the goalie of record during the rally from a 3-1 deficit vs. the Barrie Colts. Patterson was held out practice on Thursday, which might indicate he'll start. The netminder had only (small sample size warning) an .886 save percentage in those three starts but managed not to lose, which makes him the 2013 junior hockey answer to Jack Morris. It would not be a shock if the Knights are quick to turn to Philadelphia Flyers second-rounder Anthony Stolarz, who started their first 18 playoff games.

Outlook — Remember, it's London. They likely stack up as the second favourite after Portland in spite of all the nits one can pick. It's like Vernon Wells already having 10 home runs for the Yankees.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

WHL

It is fair to say Seth Jones has had a bigger spotlight than any WHL player in recent times. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

The vibe in the Memorial Cup is somewhat similar to the world junior, according to Portland Winterhawks star Ty Rattie. (Portland Tribune)

Be on the watch for Portland's "lethal" speed. (Portland Tribune, The Associated Press)

Darren Zary has a should-read retrospective on the 1989 Saskatoon Blades and their GM Daryl Lubiniecki. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Growing up in Crookston, Minn., Portland rookie Paul Bittner didn't hear much about the Memorial Cup. (Portland Tribune)

OHL

And so it begins: coach Dale Hunter demurred to immediately name a starting goalie for Friday's London-Saskatoon opener. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

History does not favour OHL teams who played a seven-game final series going on to win the Memorial Cup. (London Free Press)

As one might have suspected, Winnipeg Jets first-rounder Mark Scheifele did not play Game 7 of the OHL final due to a brain injury. (HockeyBuzz)

Could London's 6-foot-5 defenceman Nikita Zadorov break into the top 10 of the NHL draft? (Edmonton Journal)

The Ontario Junior Hockey League will allow teams to charge players $3,000 to $4,000 to play next season. (Mississauga News)

QMJHL

Commissioner Gilles Courteau tells Steve Turcotte nothing is happening with Trois-Rivières, Que., returning to the league. There's no team to move and two, the league is not considering expansion. (Le Nouvelliste)

Stat of the day: the Halifax Mooseheads are 32-1-0-1 in their last 34 games. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Members of Parliament from the Halifax and London, Ont., areas have made a bet on the tournament. It would be better if the loser had to give a loan to Senator Mike Duffy. (Metro Halifax)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Please join Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Neate Sager and a cast of many for the blogetariat's most wide-ranging approximately one-hour-long weekly discussion dedicated to all things junior hockey. Sunaya Sapurji is winging her way to Saskatoon for the MasterCard Memorial Cup, which is sure to be the main topic of discussion since the tournament between the host Blades and respective league champion Halifax Mooseheads, London Knights and Portland Winterhawks commences Friday.

Please remember the Chatravaganza is BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

The 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup is the new precedent for the most talented group of draft prospects taking part in the CHL’s Big Dance.

Saskatoon hosting the consensus top-3 prospects of the draft, Portland Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones and Halifax Mooseheads snipers Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, is only the tip of the iceberg. Six other young guns are also in the running to have their names called in the first round: Mooseheads puck-stopper Zachary Fuacale, the Winterhawks’ Nicolas Petan and Oliver Bjorkstrand, and the London Knights’ Bo Horvat, Max Domi, and Nikita Zadorov.

Here is a look at BTN’s top-10 ranking of the best draft prospects headed to The City of Bridges. This ranking was put together based on insight from scouts and several different independent scouting services’ projections.

1. Seth Jones, defence, Portland Winterhawks – All signs point to the Colorado Avalanche selecting Jones with the first pick of the draft. Not only is the 6-foot-4, 206-pounder regarded as the top prospect of the draft by nearly every scouting service, but the Avalanche also desperately needs to improve their blue line and Jones would be somewhat of a hometown pick as he was introduced to hockey while growing up in Denver.

What separates Jones from other elite defencemen in recent drafts is his ability to take over a game. He can dominate the play and dictate the speed of the game at both ends of the ice. He showcased this uncanny talent in his rookie season in Portland and when he led USA to a gold medal at the 2013 world junior championship.

“I really think Jones has separated himself as the top prospect,” says Ross MacLean, head scout of International Scouting Services. “There is just so much to like in his game. He projects so well and already has an NHL ready skill set. He has performed very well on the biggest stages so far this year and outshone the others who could challenge his top ranking at every turn and in every head-to-head meeting.”

2. Nathan MacKinnon, centre, Halifax Mooseheads – As pointed out by BTN’s Cam Charron, it’s a back-and-forth debate on whether MacKinnon has the edge on Drouin or vice versa. Most scouting services, including Central Scouting and ISS, have MacKinnon ahead of his teammate, but at the end of the day, the Florida Panthers, assuming they don’t trade down, will decide who goes ahead of whom with the second pick in the draft.

MacKinnon fought through injuries this year, but when healthy, he averaged over 1.7 points per game, racking up 32 goals and 75 points in 44 games. In addition, he slightly improved his scoring average in the playoffs, potting 11 goals and 33 points in 17 matches.

The Sidney Crosby comparisons to MacKinnon have become extinct. And rightfully so since the Pittsburgh Penguins star posted much better numbers in his draft year than the Halifax, NS., native. That isn’t, however, to say scouts don’t believe MacKinnon will develop into a franchise player. The consensus is still that he projects to be a first-line centre capable of scoring 80-plus points a season at the next level.

3. Jonathan Drouin, wing, Halifax Mooseheads – Drouin has done everything in his power to leapfrog his star teammate in the draft rankings. Although MacKinnon didn’t receive as much opportunity, Drouin clearly outshined him for Canada at the world juniors. The 5-foot-11, 176-pounder also bested his stats in Halifax, scoring 41 goals and 105 points in 49 games, averaging 2.14 points per game.

Scouts have been drooling over Drouin’s uncanny hockey smarts. The consensus is he can read a play as well as anyone in the draft and it goes without saying that he has a real knack for being at the right place at the right time.

The Huberdeaux, Que., native has been compared to a handful of different current and former NHL stars such as the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner, the Tamp Bay Lightning’s Martin St. Louis and retired legend Mats Naslund.

4. Bo Horvat, centre, London Knights – It’s believed Horvat leads the way of the Knights’ handful of highly-regarded draft prospects. He, however, isn’t too far ahead of Domi and Zadorov in most rankings.

The 6-foot, 203-pounder, who is ranked 15^th by NHL's Central Scouting, doubled his point total this year, notching 33 goals and 61 points in 67 games. He also made a name for himself in the dot, typically winning 60 to 70 per cent of his faceoffs on any given night.

"I've always taken a lot of pride in my draws," said Horvat to BTN’s Neate Sager. "Last year I got put on the wing to learn that position. I work on that a lot with [Knights assistant coach] Dylan [Hunter]. He's been a really big help with the little things in the [faceoff] circle."

Horvat’s real coming out party came in the second season. After scoring 16 goals and 23 points in 21 games, he was named the Ontario Hockey League’s Playoff MVP.

5. Max Domi, wing, London Knights – Domi’s nose for the net and first-class first two steps has put him on the map as one of the top forwards of the draft.

"Just sniffing around the net, being hungry to help your team out, that's something that is always in the back of my mind," Domi said to Neate Sager of BTN. "Not giving up on plays, trying to make something out of a nothing play, is something I've been working on a lot this year with the coaching staff and my teammates. I take pride in being tight around the net.

The Toronto native led London in scoring in both seasons, netting 39 goals and 87 points in 64 games in the regular-season and 11 goals and 32 points in 21 games in the playoffs.

Even though he was ranked 19th by NHL’s Central Scouting, there is a lot of chatter that the 5-foot-10, 194-pounder, who is the son of former NHL tough guy Tie Domi, could be one of the first 10 players to have his name called in New Jersey on June 30.

6. Nikita Zadorov, defence, London Knights – Standing 6-foot-5, 228-pounds, it’s practically impossible to overlook Zadorov on the ice. He, however, stands out for a lot more reasons than his towering stature. The Russian native is a smooth skater, plays the body hard and often, and can contribute in the offensive zone as he scored six goals and 25 points in 63 games.

"Nikita is a big man who skates very well," Central Scouting's Chris Edwards told NHL.com. "He has very good mobility and his backwards skating is about the best in this year's draft. He will take the body and battles hard along the boards. He uses his long reach well and is an effective pokechecker."

7. Nicolas Petan, centre, Portland Winterhawks – One would think a 46-goal, 120-point season would easily be enough for a top-3 draft prospect ranking, but here sits Petan in seventh spot.

The main reason for Petan’s low ranking is his small frame, standing 5-foot-9, 166-pounds. But despite his short stature, the 18-year-old, who was ranked 33^rd by Central Scouting, plays with grit and isn’t afraid to go into the dirty areas of the game.

After not registering a single point in 22 playoff games last year, Petan had no problem lighting the lamp in the post-season the second time around. On a line with St. Louis Blues second round pick Ty Rattie and Nashville Predators prospect Brendan Leipsic, the Delta, B.C., native netted nine goals and 28 points in 21 games.

8. Oliver Bjorkstrand, wing, Portland Winterhawks – Although he isn’t as highly regarded as Nino Niederreiter, the New York Islanders’ fifth overall pick in 2010, or Sven Baertshi, the Calgary Flames’ 13^th overall pick in 2011, Bjorkstrand is the Winterhawks’ latest import draft star.

Bjorkstrand’s transition to the North American game from the pro Denmark league he played in last year has been smooth. The 5-foot-11, 163-pounder, who is ranked 36th by Central Scouting, quickly found success finding the back of the net in Portland, going on to almost maintain a point-per-game ratio with 31 goals and 63 points in 65 games.

"There's just some small, small stuff that you have to get used to when you come over," Bjorkstrand told BTN on his adjustment to the Dub. "Over here the game is more direct, you go more to the goal. In Denmark it's more about making plays and setups."

9. Zachary Fucale, goaltender, Halifax Mooseheads – The 6-foot-1, 176-pounder is considered the clear-cut top netminder of the draft class after posting a 2.35 average and a .909 save percentage in 55 games in his second major junior season.

“Not only has Zach been perceived as the top goalie available all season long, but he's playing better for Halifax in the QMJHL playoffs,” says the director of goalie scouting for McKeen's Hockey, Justin Goldman. “He allowed just one goal in each of the first four games against the Saint John Sea Dogs, and then posted back-to-back shutouts in the first two games of the series against Gatineau. In my mind, there is no question he'll be the first goalie selected in this summer's draft.”

10. Remi Elie, wing, London Knights – After scoring seven goals and 17 points in 65 games, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound rookie raised his level of play for the Knights in the playoffs. He potted four goals and eight points in 21 contests, improving his points-per-game ratio by roughly 45 per cent.

Elie, who is ranked 71st among North American skaters by Central Scouting, is known for playing a simple meat-and-potatoes style. He finishes every check and plays a 200-foot game.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen

Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon are a rare breed of prospects. It's not often that two players from the same CHL team get selected in the first round, and particularly not two forwards on the same line.

Raffi Torres and Rostistalv Klesla were selected at No. 4 and No. 5 from the Brampton Battalion in 2000, but Klesla is a defenceman. Oleg Saprykin went No. 11 in 1999 and Seattle Thunderbird teammate Scott Kelman went No. 15 in 1999.

You could count Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov, selected No. 1 and No. 3 at the 2012 NHL Draft, but Galchenyuk missed all but eight games due to injury and the Sarnia Sting finished fourth in the Western Conference and won two playoff games. The Halifax Mooseheads not only boast top prospects Drouin and MacKinnon, but they (and prospect goaltender Zachary Fucale) are big parts on a team that's going to the Memorial Cup.

There's some debate over whether MacKinnon or Drouin is the "better" player. Drouin showed Canada a little more than MacKinnon at the World Juniors, but Team Canada coach Steve Spott restricted MacKinnon's usage in a move that cost Canada a medal. Last season, TSN's Bob MacKenzie suggested on air that some scouts thought that MacKinnon would be selected higher than Yakupov, that the head of the 2013 draft class was higher than the 2012 class.

But things change. Corey Pronman put Drouin ahead of MacKinnon in his final prospect rankings. Central Scouting Services ranked Portland rookie defenceman Seth Jones No. 1 in its final rankings. Jones, introduced to hockey in the Denver area, is almost a cinch to go to the Colorado Avalanche, desperate for both marketable players and defencemen.

So who does Florida pick No. 2? They ought to have made their decisions by now. The three-to-six games the Mooseheads play at the Memorial Cup shouldn't be enough to change opinions that sharply.

Drouin came second in the league in scoring: 105 points and 41 goals, to MacKinnon's 75 points and 32 goals. Those were in 49, and 45, games respectively. Drouin led the team in playoff scoring.

However, I looked a couple of columns over at "shooting percentage" and compared them over two seasons. In the NHL, typically you can spot an outlying shooting percentage season for a player:

There is *such* limited data available for the CHL. The QMJHL is the only league that publishes the shot statistics it records, and cross-referencing highly-ranked prospects from single QMJHL seasons to see if it can predict the future is a useless exercise. There are only two or three such prospects a season.

MacKinnon takes about 4.5 shots per game, and Drouin takes 3.5. This means MacKinnon also fires more "dangerous shots" which the Q records as "lancers dangereux" and generally counts as a hard shot between the circles.

MacKinnon's shooting prowess on the surface seems better than Drouin, but I was impressed by Drouin's tendency at the World Junior's to gain the zone with control and play-making ability is such a difficult skill to analyze since simple "assists" hinge on the ability of your linemates to put the puck in the net. I will be checking Memorial Cup games to see if he is indeed proficient at this skill, moreso than MacKinnon.

There's another issue you run into with junior hockey statistics: sample size issues. We have just 102 regular season games available for MacKinnon and just 82 for Drouin. We have even less from when the players were separated due to extenuating circumstances.

I checked to see if either player scored remarkably less when the other was out of the lineup (Drouin missed time in October, MacKinnon in February and March) and, well:

While I like to use data to compare players at the NHL level, it's quite clear it's just not possible to look at it at the CHL level, even in the QMJHL where they record shots.

If I were an NHL team, however, I would probably be cautious ahead of taking Drouin and making sure the pick isn't being made based on sleek-looking point totals in the draft year.

(stats and game logs via the QMJHL)

Junior hockey players who pretty much live together for eight months tend to be comfortable with each other in ways that might weird out adults who are happily repressed, thankyouverymuch. Sometimes that gets out into the public realm.

Last Friday, after the Halifax Mooseheads' scored what turned out to be the series-winning goal in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final, co-captain Stefan Fournier decided the stand hug-your-brothers celebration was not enough. It's been done before in the testosterone-fuelled world of male team sports, but the 21-year-old Fournier decided teammate and top NHL draft prospect Jonathan Drouin deserved a little more congratulations.

From Andrew Rankin (@MetroMooseheads):

What better time to share a congratulatory peck than after scoring in the QMJHL title-clinching game, just like Fournier did on Friday?

After notching a beauty, the game’s second goal, the troops swooped in as usual for a post goal embrace. Except this time the six-foot-two, 210-pound Fournier planted one right on sniper Jonathan Drouin’s lips.

... “It was in the moment and I’m going to kiss my brother,” said an animated Fournier after Tuesday’s practice at the Halifax Forum. “By the way, for all the ladies out there, Jo’s a great kisser.”

Truth be told the smooch came as a little bit of a surprise for Drouin. But, hey, it was OK in the moment. After all, who’s Drouin to rain on anyone’s parade?

“(Fournier) likes to kiss all the time and at the time it was alright we were in mid-celebration, but right now, maybe not,” said Drouin with a chuckle on Friday night, just after he was through hoisting the President’s Cup.

... Fournier couldn’t care less that his actions have brought about Twitter chirps galore, and enough teasing since the smooch to last a lifetime.

“They’re all asking ‘what was that?’;‘What were you doing?’ (Metro Halifax, May 14)

For all the ladies out there ... you see what Fournier did there. On one level, he's looking out for Drouin by playing wingman, reciprocating for all the times the younger player set him up while Fournier was scoring a team-record 16 playoff goals.

On another level, it's also pre-emptive counter-chirping; anyone who taunts him over this is just betraying that they are not comfortable in their own skin. It's like how people who are put off by Sidney Crosby say more about themselves than they do about the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar. It's like the Mooseheads decided they would rather have the mien of Kramer on Seinfeld instead of projecting hangups every which way like Jerry and George.

Athletes have a lot of downtime, a sometimes middlebrow amusement quotient and a love for physical comedy. German defenceman Konrad Abeltshauser affirmed to Rankin that this is a thing among the Quebec League powerhouse.

Abeltshauser wasn’t going to deny ever getting into the action, either.

“Then again there aren’t many guys on our team who haven’t gotten a kiss from one of us yet, and that’s OK,” he said.

Halifax plays its first game in the MasterCard Memorial Cup against the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet). By sheer kissincidence, Winterhawks coach Travis Green once smooched with Zigmund Palffy during their playing days with the New York Islanders.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (photo: Jeff Harper/Metro Halifax).

WHL

Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo might use first overall pick Tyler Benson as a wedge to loosen limits on how many games a 15-year-old call-up can play: "With the demands of the world juniors and the world under-17 challenge and these tournaments that go on at Christmastime, a lot of teams are running two or three players under the limit. So we think we should be able to bring guys up for more than just five games." (Vancouver Sun)

Coaching shuffle in Kamloops: Dave Hunchak moves one spot over to head coach, with Guy Charron staying on as a consultant.

Dave Hunchak named head coach of Kamloops Blazers. Former h/c Guy Charron now advisor to hockey operations.

— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) May 15, 2013

Banished Portland Winterhawks coach-GM Mike Johnston reckons that if right-hand man Travis Green leaves after the Memorial Cup, it would be for a pro job. (Oregon Live)

Host Saskatoon's trump card is that goalie Andrey Makarov has sterling (silver, and a bronze) experience in short tournaments from his two world juniors with Russia. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Seventy-two-year-old Regina Pats owner Russ Parker insists he's not selling the long-struggling club in the wake of son Brent Parker's resignation as team president. (Regina Leader-Post)

From the younger Parker's emotional goodbye: "When I stepped down as GM (in 2010) and went to president that wasn't enough for some people because I'm still around." (Regina Leader-Post)

Adding 18-year-old defenceman Clint Filabrandt shores up the Kootenay Ice's back-end depth. (Between The Lines)

OHL

Gene Pereira held nohing back about the Barrie Colts not winning the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup bid. (Barrie Examiner, Metro London)

Knights management got the news ahead of Game 7 on Monday even though the OHL had put off the announcement until after the final. But players were apparently kept out of the loop. (London Free Press)

Likely NHL first-rounder Bo Horvat left an indelible mark on the OHL's second season. (London Free Press)

Exceptional player Sean Day has signed on with the Mississauga Steelheads. (Mississauga News)

The Knights' win makes London a veritable "City of Champions" despite "sky-high unemployment, an uncertain future, ongoing political turmoil." Plus university football's Western Mustangs have not won a Vanier Cup this century. (London Free Press)

How did a Floridian like incoming Kitchener Rangers netminder Max Greenfield get started playing goal? And when will the OHL have a buzz-cut Alabaman? (Waterloo Record)

QMJHL

In case Stéphane Matteau going scorched earth recently was not enough of a tip-off, the father of New Jersey Devils first-rounder Stefan Matteau will definitely not stay on with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada coaching staff. (La Presse)

Halifax Mooseheads co-captain Stefan Fournier is to the QMJHL what The Kissing Bandit, D-lineman Adriano Belli, is to the CFL. (Metro Halifax)

Meantime, no one is kissing off Halifax's chance at the Big Dance, which is a change from how it used to be for teams from the Q. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Remember when The Office — don't act like you're hip and stopped watching after Season 3 — teased by having an endless line of guest stars audition to replace Steve Carell? I like to imagine Shawinigan's coaching searching unfolding much the same way. (Le Nouvelliste)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

You already know the Portland Winterhawks' Seth Jones and Halifax Mooseheads' duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin are ranked 1-2-3 among North American prospects by NHL Central Scouting, and that they are all bound for the Memorial Cup.

Drouin and MacKinnon's friend in the goalie fraternity, Zach Fucale, is the top-rated netminder. Jones' teammate, centre Nic Petan, is a possible sleeper after tying for the Western Hockey League regular-season scoring title. Among the London Knights, centre Bo Horvat is coming off being the Ontario Hockey League's playoff MVP while fellow first-round possibility Max Domi was the club's leading point-getter in both the regular season and playoffs. On and on it goes: London's 6-foot-5 Russian defenceman Nikita Zadorov is a beast; Portland's second-line right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand should also hear his name sooner rather than later at the draft at June 30.

With three players whom — conservatively guesstimating — could all go in the top five of the draft and another four potential first-rounders, the Memorial Cup has probably never offered such a bevy of draft-year talent since the NHL adopted an 18-year-old draft in 1981. Time will tell who each player pans out at the next level. A scour of year-by-year draft results show it's been a good long while since there were so many players projected to be drafted so highly following the tournament. In fact, one has to really go back to the early 1980s, when the U.S. was only beginning to become a factor in the first round and taking Europeans that early was off the radar. Here's a look at some tournaments which were laden with high picks.

(Please keep in mind, this only accounts for players who had not come up for the draft at the time of the tournament.)

2011 — Would you believe a certain Toronto Star columnist wrote that the tournament in Mississauga, in the wake of Taylor Hall leading the Windsor Spitfires to back-to-back victories, lacked star power? All the best prospects must have belonged to a team from the Maritimes. Five of the top 35 picks played, including tourney MVP Jonathan Huberdeau (No. 3 overall to the Florida Panthers) and his Saint John Sea Dogs teammates Nathan Beaulieu (No. 17 to the Montreal Canadiens), Zack Phillips (No. 28 to the Minnesota Wild) and Tomas Jurco (No. 35 to the Detroit Red Wings). Mississauga defenceman Stuart Percy was also taken No. 25 by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's only been two years, so it's too early to judge that group's impact in the NHL. Huberdeau is a Calder Trophy finalist this season, while Beaulieu got in some NHL games this winter with the Habs.

2009 — Take your pick from either year when Windsor made its run. In 2009, the victorious Spitfires went on to have five players drafted, four of whom have broken into the NHL, starting with defenceman Ryan Ellis, who went No. 11 to the Nashville Predators. The 17-year-old Hall was a season away from being the No. 1 overall pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2010. Austin Watson, a rookie whose draft year was also 2010, also had a six-game call-up to Nashville this season.

Four other underagers from that tournament are now in The Show: Drummondville defenceman Dmitri Kulikov (No. 14 to the Panthers), centre Sean Couturier (No. 8 to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011), Rimouski Océanic centre Jordan Caron (No. 25 to the Boston Bruins) and Kelowna Rockets defenceman Tyson Barrie (No. 64 to the Colorado Avalanche).

2003 — The tournament from a decade ago gets the not for quality more than quantity. Mike Richards, who helped the Kitchener Rangers win the Memorial Cup, went No. 24 overall to the Los Angeles Kings amid a deep draft year. The Kelowna Rockets, who finished third, boasted a sophomore defenceman named Shea Weber, who was still on the board when Nashville nabbed him at No. 49 overall.

1995 — Hindsight being 20/20, this one is complicated to set up. Bryan Berard and Wade Redden, the defenceman who were selected 1-2 in the '95 draft (and then traded for one another), were in the tournament with the Detroit Jr. Red Wings and the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The tournament itself, though, was all about the Kamloops Blazers completing a run where they won both the WHL and the Memorial Cup three times in four seasons. Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla were youngsters on that Blazers team and went on to be drafted No. 7 and No. 11 overall by Winnipeg and Dallas before going on to greater fame in different NHL markets. Doan's had a Hall of Very Good career, while Iginla is headed to the Hall of Fame.

The runner-up Jr. Red Wings and the Wheat Kings each had six players drafted following that tournament.

1981 through '84, take your pick — Amateur scouting was obviously much different 30 years ago. So it makes sense there was a run of Memorial Cups in the early part of the '80s were a who's-who of future greats.

In 1984 at Kitchener, Mario Lemieux led the Laval Voisins into the tournament. That would be an enough-said, although one should mention that Gary Roberts was part of the Ottawa 67's winning effort before going No. 12 to the Calgary Flames. Two other long-time NHLers, Shawn Burr and Doug Shedden, were also part of the '84 tournament before becoming top-10 picks that summer.

Nineteen eighty-three? Wearing No. 21 for Portland, Cam Neely helped the Winter Hawks become the first U.S. team and non-league champion to win, then was drafted No. 9 overall by the Vancouver Canucks. He was not even the highest-drafted future Hall of Famer playing that spring, since the Verdun Juniors' Pat LaFontaine was the No. 3 pick by the New York Islanders.

(That's right, Neely only took No. 8 with the Bruins. Ty Rattie seems to have a done a half-decent job distinguishing that single digit in Portland.)

Five first-round selections in 1982 were also fresh off playing in the Memorial Cup. That draft class included Scott Stevens, who helped the OHL Rangers win their first Memorial Cup before the Washington Capitals took him No. 5 overall with the intention of letting him level some NHL Rangers.

In '81, Dale Hawerchuk led the Cornwall Royals to victory before going on to be the original Winnipeg Jets' No. 1 overall pick and fashioning a Hall of Fame career. Doug Gilmour was also in his 17-year-old season for the Royals, although he was not taken until the following summer. Cornwall's competition included the Victoria Cougars with Grant Fuhr (No. 8 to the Oilers) in goal and Kitchener with Al MacInnis (No. 15 to the Flames) on the blueline.

How different was the hockey world back then? Well, consider that Gilmour and Hawerchuk were Ontario boys playing for the QMJHL team and MacInnis was a Nova Scotian playing in Ontario. It would be reversed nowadays. That was, as alluded to up top, a different era, years before Teemu Selanne and Mats Sundin broke the draft's glass ceiling for Europeans. Having to revisit it for comparison purposes, though, shows how much potential is descending on Saskatoon this week. That's not meant to put Hall of Fame expectations on a teenager. Just let it play out.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

The Trois-Rivières group is hoping they will all sing Kumbaya when the time comes, though right now would seem unlikely.

Montreal Canadiens legend Serge Savard, a recent former owner of the P.E.I. Rocket, said on Monday that, so long as a new arena is built in the city, Trois-Rivières is an obvious choice for a QMJHL team, expansion or otherwise.

“Other than Shawinigan, there are no other new arenas in Quebec,” Savard said. “How can the league pass up a new arena that seats 5,000?

“There are steps in place that have to be worked out. There must be a new arena, and they must negotiate for the territorial rights with [the] Shawinigan [Cataractes].

“If they can do that, there’s no way the league can ignore the Trois-Rivières market.”

The Cataractes have no plans to play ball. The team, 27 km away as the crow flies, maintain that they can’t thrive in a market cut in two. The team does have a veto, as all QMJHL teams do, barring a new franchise to set up shop within 40km of another team. The Cataractes plan to exercise that veto should the vote be taken.

The Trois-Rivières group will have to call on Breton, a former president of the Cataractes, and his merry men, including Montreal Canadiens’ owner Geoff Molson, to negotiate with the Cataractes and work out a deal for both franchises to co-exist in the Mauricie region. Breton left the Cataractes in 2012, after they won the Memorial Cup.

Trois-Rivières mayor Yvon Lévesque is eager to talk about the situation, but you can almost hear him squirm in his chair as he just barely maintains his composure.

“I can’t say anything for now,” he said. “I don’t want to ruin anything, so I can’t comment on the project, for now.

“There is an announcement coming soon involving the government on a strategic and political decision, but it’s in their hands and I can’t comment on it yet.”

Either way, having a Canadiens legend on the side of the return of the Draveurs excites the mayor.

“If there’s anyone who knows hockey, it’s him,” Lévesque said. “He has reason to believe what he does.”

Savard was the owner of the Rocket franchise with his son and other investors since the franchise’s inception in 2000 in Montreal. He oversaw the move of the team to Prince Edward Island and recently sold the team to local investors in April.

After spending 18 years with the Regina Pats, including 15 as general manager, the Brent Parker era ended today when he announced his resignation as the club’s president and governor at an emotional press conference.

“I am honoured and humbled to have been a part of this storied franchise,” says Parker. “While we did not achieve all our goals over the past 18 years, we have done a lot of good things in this community and I am proud of our many accomplishments.”

Parker became the Pats' general manager and president in 1995 when his parents, Russ and Diane Parker, bought the organization. He later relinquished his GM duties in 2010 to Chad Lang, but stayed on as the team's president.

Throughout the years with Parker as the Pats’ architect, the media, especially local, constantly scrutinized him. This critical reporting was warranted, though. Regina missed the playoffs four times and never made it past the second round under him.

Parker admits he made mistakes, but believes he put his best effort forward.

“I regret we were not able to win the championship that the hockey fans of Regina so desperately want and deserve, but it was not for lack of trying,” says Parker. “I leave knowing that while not all my decisions were correct, every decision I made regarding this franchise was done with sole purpose of doing what I felt was going to give us the best chance to succeed on and off the ice.”

Parker has no immediate plans for the future. He just knows he’s happy he will no longer have to tough out the cold winters in Regina.

As a result of Parker stepping down, the Pats promoted Chad Lang, adding vice-president and governor to his GM title. He also signed a three-year deal (two plus a club option) contract extension.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Russ and Diane Parker for the confidence they have shown in trusting me with the operation of their family’s business,” says Lang. “I’m thankful to Brent for the opportunity to join this organization and appreciate his cooperation and support during my three years with the team. I’m very excited about the opportunities that lay ahead in the future for this franchise.”

“Chad is considered a young star among WHL general managers,” adds Pats Owner Russ Parker. “He has past experience in all facets of a WHL franchise and we are confident he has the wherewithal to oversee the Regina Pats organization going forward.”

Lang’s three-year deal is in line with recently named head coach Malcolm Cameron, who took over Pat Conacher's duties just last week after he stepped down.

For the past couple of years, rumours have swirled about the Parker family looking to sell their WHL club. Now with the owners' son no longer in the picture, it seems the possibility of a new ownership group taking over the Pats has significantly heightened.

Russ Parker admitted that his family talked about selling after Brent told them he was stepping down. The club’s owner added he’s “not getting any younger” and made no promises he wouldn’t sell the team in the near future.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen

WHL

Off the ice, the Saskatoon Blades pulled out all the stops to get a place in the MasterCard Memorial Cup. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Seventy per cent of of host teams reach the tournament final, so the Blades do have a big advantage. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Portland Winterhawks coach Travis Green was "expecting maybe 20 people, or 50 people" to greet the Ed Chynoweth Cup champs when they arrived home. Instead there were an estimated 800. (The Oregonian)

What does Portland centre Taylor Leier have in store for a tournament in his hometown? (Oregon Live)

While scouts gush over Seth Jones, his D partner on the Winterhawks, Calgary Flames prospect Tyler Wotherspoon, is thriving as the quiet one on that shutdown pairing. (Calgary Herald)

Chances are, Edmonton Oil Kings assistant coach Steve Hamilton will be running someone's bench next season. (Edmonton Journal)

The dethroned Oil Kings have a decent enough nucleus to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference pack next season, writes John MacKinnon. (Edmonton Journal)

OHL

What Steve Clark said: "For the Memorial Cup committee to award a tournament to the same city for the second time in four bid processes is not exactly sharing the wealth and likely makes cities a little hesitant to exhaust their resources in a process with a low guarantee of success." (Thoughts From The Broadcast Booth, London Free Press)

London will be called champions, but there might be more enduring memory of how Barrie fought tooth and nail before losing two last-shot-wins games. (Barrie Examiner)

What's next for Winnipeg Jets prospect Mark Scheifele after leading the Barrie Colts to precipice of a Memorial Cup berth? (Arctic Ice Hockey)

As far as the London Knights rallying from 3-1 down goes, remember that Scott Harrington foreshadowed it. Smart guys, those guys from Kingston. (Knights Outright, London Free Press)

Erie Otters lease talks have stalled, reigniting rumours of a move to Chatham, Ont. (Chatham-Kent Sports Network)

Greg Gilbert, who was coach of the year in 2012, has a new deal with the Saginaw Spirit. (Saginaw News)

Guelph Storm first-rounder Garrett McFadden, of Kincardine, Ont., has signed on for his rookie season. (Bayshore Broadcasting)

QMJHL

No reason for Nathan MacKinnon to hide his feelings about playing against Jones on Saturday: "I'm a competitor and I want to prove I can be No. 1." (Metro Halifax)

Building a league champion in his hometown means the world to Halifax Mooseheads GM Cam Russell: "I’ve got to live in this town. When the season’s over, I’m not jumping in my car and heading to the States or Quebec." (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Trekking west means the Mooseheads get the dreaded 3-in-4 schedule: vs. Portland on Saturday, Saskatoon on Sunday and London on Tuesday. (CBC)

Monty Mosher has a should-read about former high school defenceman Benjamin Gray, who had to give up hockey after suffering three distinct brain injuries. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Too soon? Of course it is. The London Knights cannot be blamed, though, for putting together a successful bid for the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup. There is no statute that bars a team from hosting the tournament twice within four three-year cycles.

Judging by the reaction, though, London winning the bid for next season over the Barrie Colts — double whammy — and Windsor Spitfires after the franchise previously hosted in 2005 is not sitting it well. It's not as if anyone expected anything differently. The Knights' confluence of having the 9,000-seat Budweiser Gardens, know-how from their previous turn as host and a returning core of talent from their freshly minted championship team screams surefire winner for the Ontario Hockey League and the CHL.

So London's not the problem. The problem is the growing perception that, at least when it's the OHL's turn to host, the tournament often has the same metamorphosis that has moved the world junior championship beyond midsized Canadian cities. The Colts, whose Barrie Molson Centre seats 4,195, have bid for the tournament five times and come up empty-handed.

The OHL, based on its actions, seems less willing than its CHL brethren in the Quebec and Western leagues to go into a smaller city that takes the tournament into its warm embrace for 10 days and make it feel like a little hockey village. Based on the seating capacities of the teams which have hosted when it is the OHL's turn, no wonder the small markets other than Barrie have stepped out of the bid process. The other leagues are just as market-driven, but still make room to let a smaller city with a more modestly sized arena take a turn now and then.

OHL

2014, London: 9,100
2011, Mississauga: 5,800
2008, Kitchener: 6,268
2005, London: 9,100
2002, Guelph: 5,195

QMJHL
2012, Shawinigan: 4,125
2009, Rimouski: 4,285
2006, Moncton: 6,554
2003, Quebec: 15,176
2000, Halifax: 10,595

WHL
2013, Saskatoon: 15,190
2010, Brandon: 5,102
2007, Vancouver: 16,281
2004, Kelowna: 6,007 (6,886 with standing room)
2001, Regina: 6,136

This is just a quick, back of a napkin way of looking at it. Please keep in mind that generally speaking, the WHL has more venues where crowds of 5,000 to 7,000 are both lawful (and likely). One has to go back to 1996 at Peterborough to see the last time the OHL went with a smaller venue.

You wouldn't blame Barrie, after having invested a lot of money and humanpower into bidding so often, if it decided not to do so again. Just like the OHL final itself, where they fought tooth and nail while star players Anthony Camara and Mark Scheifele were taken away from them and lost twice on the last shot of the night, what more is Barrie supposed to do?

Bottom line, the might-is-right of the Knights isn't the problem, it's the OHL business model it thrives within.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

The London Knights will return to the MasterCard Memorial Cup, deal with it.

A bajillion variables that affect the outcome of a best-of-7 championship series. Yet you knew it would end that way for the green-clad Knights and the Barrie Colts, playing the black knight in Monty Python And The Holy Grail, with a dramatic goal that London pulled from parts unknown for a 3-2 Game 7 win. You also knew that Bo Horvat, who outreached Barrie's Jonathan Laser to tap in a skittering puck for the championship-winning goal with fewer than one second to play in Game 7 on Monday, would have something to do with it.

It could have gone either way, but victors rewrite the history. London beating Barrie — just like it might do at the league-office level when the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup host site is announced Tuesday — illustrates how the Knights are well worth the animus fans of about 18 OHL teams have stored up for all things green and gold. Respect and/or revile them. . Highlight the extenuating circumstances that befell Barrie, who made third-period comebacks in each of the final two games with Mark Scheifele injured and Anthony Camara suspended. Don't deny the Dale Hunter-coached Knights made enough plays both big and little to surmount a 3-1 series deficit and retain the J. Ross Robertson Cup.

The series might grow in the retelling as an epic London comeback and/or Barrie collapse for the ages. In reality, it was neither. Barrie, which lost on the last shot twice in a row, were comeback kids.

The only rule of thumb is the cliché that it takes four wins to put a team away. Even when Barrie opened a 3-1 lead, there was still a sense it was far from over. London simply had more in reserve than the typical team, whereas the Colts were beset by bad breaks:

— Hunter switched his goalies, inserting Jake Patterson for the Anthony Stolarz. Patterson, over a short stretch, was adequate over the final three games and removed the distraction of having a goalie who was scuffling.

The irony for next fall is whether the Knights will press ahead with two 19-year-old goalies who likely each believe they deserve to be a No. 1 'tender in the OHL. Patterson might have saved the village, but who knows if he sticks around

— Hunter tweaked his lines, putting Toronto Maple Leafs pick Ryan Rupert (five points over the final three games, including the Game 6 OT winner) alongside Max Domi and Seth Griffith instead of their usual left wing Alex Broadhurst. Domi also had five points in the three wins after getting just two points through the first four.

Checking-line forward Josh Anderson also returned from an injury to have an impact physically.

— Horvat, Horvat, Horvat. Along with two goals in Game 7 and his second buzzer-beater of the playoffs, The Big Quintessential also saved a goal in the third period on Friday after Patterson was pulled out of the net. Who knew he could also play goal.

— London loathers might obsess a little about whether the whistles were put away and whether that played into London's favour. Following Hunter's decrying of the Colts "diving" in Game 4, the Colts received only six power plays in games 5 through 7. London received a dozen, including four consecutive in the second of Game 5, when it tallied three times to put Barrie in a 4-0 crevasse.

The relative amount of fatigue on each side certainly played a part, but the extra energy spent killing penalties and shortening the bench certainly exacted a toll on Barrie. (Of course, it's about what a team does with its opportunities; Barrie gave up a short-handed goal to Horvat in Game 5.)

The Colts converted on their only power play in Game 7 while London was 1-for-2.

— Niederberger and the penultimate line of defence in front of him were truly superlative in the bookend games, the first two games at London and Monday's finale. In between, London had a 11.9 shooting percentage (21-for-176) against Niederberger and understudy Alex Fotinos

— Injuries and bad breaks. By series' end, Mark Scheifele was unable to play after being drilled by Josh Anderson in Game 6. Rugged left wing Anthony Camara was suspended, while he and Scheifele's linemate, playmaking right wing Zach Hall, played hurt throughout much of the last two rounds. Colts defenceman Michael Webster was out with a broken collarbone. Of course, London has injuries, too, that are likely under wraps since their season is still a going a concern.

Ultimately, it was a helluva series. London will go to Saskatoon as a much more tested team than the 2012 iteration, which lost only one game in the final two rounds of the OHL playoffs. It certainly learned enough lessons the hard way against Barrie and Plymouth.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Game of inches, indeed. The London Knights are OHL champions by the literal thinnest of margins after Bo Horvat, completing a playoff MVP campaign, scored with one second left in regulation time to give London a 3-2 win over the Barrie Colts on Monday.

London is the champion, but one could pass through many parallel universes without seeing two junior hockey teams lay it on the line the way each team did on Monday. Horvat's goal was initially waved off on the ice and one had to squint to see the white ice between the goal line and the puck before Barrie goalie Mathias Niederberger could swipe it away. It was good — both officially and as the climax to a series that was more dramatic than the pundits expected.

It was just the last cliffhanger. Barrie forged on without first-line centre Mark Scheifele and left wing Anthony Camara and nearly wrested away the lead in the final three minutes. After Mitchell Theoret collected the puck off a faceoff and tied the game 2-2 with 2:53 left, Josh MacDonald came thisclose to putting the Colts into an unlikely lead.

One can only imagine how the Colts felt to have some so sadistically close to dethroning London with its entire first line either hobbled or out of action. Niederberger made 45 saves to keep Barrie in the hunt for 59 minutes 59 seconds, including one on Alex Broadhurst that should not be forgotten.

All part of a rich tapestry. London is the champs and deservedly so but no one really lost, eh.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (videos: Rogers Television).

It's gone from Mark Scheifele scoring four goals in the third period to feeling like a foregone conclusion for the Barrie Colts.

On Saturday in Game 6 of the OHL final, the Colts' complementary scorers authored an all-the-stops rally to force overtime even though Mark Scheifele was ailing after taking a stiff bodycheck from the London Knights' Josh Anderson in the third period. His only shift afterward came in the final 90 seconds, when he was on the ice for Mitchell Theoret's tying goal that presaged Ryan Rupert's overtime winner. Now, in the hours ahead of the decider, Barrie's worst fears have come to pass. Scheifele, who has 14 points in the series, was not even able to make the trip to Budweiser Gardens to be with the team.

Anderson was not penalized on the play, nor was it reviewed by the OHL. Colts left wing Anthony Camara is also suspended for Game 7 after getting a charging major/game misconduct in Game 5 for a check on London's Seth Griffith; the play was over the line although Griffith played the following game.

Scheifele took a hard, awkward check from Josh Anderson in Game 6 and only played a shift or two more while in obvious discomfort.

— Stephen Sweet (@stephen_sweet) May 13, 2013

For those wondering about severity of Scheifele injury, he didn't make the trip to London. That says a lot. #Colts

— Craig Ripley (@Craig_Ripley) May 13, 2013

Anthony Camara AND Mark Scheifele out for the Barrie Colts' OHL Final Game 7? Ouch.

— Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming) May 13, 2013

No Scheifele tonight.Rest will have to step up for the biggest game of their lives.Go @ohlbarriecolts Go! #barrie is cheering for you

— John Brassard (@CouncillorWard7) May 13, 2013

Expect Colts to play a much more defensive style tonight with Scheifele & Camara out of lineup.

— Gene Pereira (@GenePereira1) May 13, 2013

All hope is not lost for Barrie since, well, #JuniorHockey. The sport makes a mockery of prognostication.

There is only so much a team can overcome and still win. Since taking their 3-1 series lead, the Colts have (a) potentially lost their entire top line with Camara and Scheifele out and right wing Zach Hall hobbling; (b) lost defenceman Michael Webster to a broken collarbone and (c) had their linchpin goalie, Mathias Niederberger, regress in his play. Niederberger improved his post-season stats to a 2.07 average and .941 save percentage after he had a 42-save first-star performance in the open. He's now at a more human 2.59 and .927, in part since it's hard to maintain that standard and in part since the Colts' defence corps, counting on 17-year-old Aaron Ekblad as a main pillar, has allowed more chances.

It certainly takes some zazz out of Game 7, except London Knights fans. Scheifele should receive the Wayne Gretzky 99 Trophy as the most valuable player of the post-season regardless of the outcome, since his five-point nights in games 3 and 4 made the series. Only Marc Staal, with the 2007 Sudbury Wolves, has been honoured while playing for the runner-up.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Where once their situation couldn't be direr, now the Portland Winterhawks could not be much higher. Paced by Ty Rattie scoring a hat trick to in his final Western Hockey League game to set a new league record for career playoff goals, the Winterhawks beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-1 on Sunday to wrap up a six-game Ed Chynoweth Cup victory.

It's a long time coming for the Winterhawks, not solely by virtue of having lost the two prior finals to the Oil Kings (in seven games in 2012) and Kootenay Ice (in five in 2011). Portland is not the most popular team in WHL circles these days, yet no so long ago it was the most pitiable. Less than five years ago, it was at such a low ebb competitively and commercially that it was considered "a rescue operation" which could have ended up being the team that fulfilled the Dub's desire to put a team in Victoria.

Instead, in what should be viewed as one of junior hockey's great — and certainly its most complicated, thanks to the WHL sanctions which will come due for the team some time in the next few seasons — rebirth stories, the Winterhawks were resurrected after being bought by Calgary billionaire Bill Gallacher. Some of the right people, such as super scout Matt Bardsley, were already in place before the sale, but it was essentially a double-lung transplant for a franchise that was barely breathing.

Mentioning that might seem like running over some well-trod ground, but when any team wins the league, there's more to it than what the coaches and players did inside the glass. There's what it signifies to the people who were there for the lean years. Plus so many hands are ultimately on the blueprint exclusive of the 20 players who ultimately saw it through to the fourth victory in the final.

Continuing on a theme Scott Sepich advanced two years ago, Portland's ascension takes in so much more than benefiting from a bumper crop of high bantam draft picks. Having a high draft slot to land Rattie, defencemen Derrick Pouliot and Tyler Wotherspoon and second-line centre Taylor Leier in the 2008 and '09 drafts provided a strong leg up, of course. The same goes for suspended coach-GM Mike Johnston and assistant Travis Green making Portland an attractive place for star D-man Seth Jones, among other ambitious American talents, to showcase his game during his NHL draft season.

There is that, and so much more. Now one sits back to see what Portland, having won the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the first since 1998, can do at the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon. They will be going to Saskatoon as both the WHL's Evil Empire and as its new hope.

Portland will face Halifax on Day 2 on the Memorial Cup on Saturday. The host Saskatoon Blades open the tourney Friday vs. the OHL champion, either Barrie or London.

Ty Rattie becomes the first player in WHL history to score 50 career playoff goals and he does it with a hat-trick in Game 6. Remarkable.

— Evan Daum (@evandaum) May 12, 2013

Ty Rattie makes it a hat trick. He'll be WHL Playoff MVP. And pretty sure I won't be catching a plane to Portland in the morning for Game 7.

— Terry Jones (@sunterryjones) May 12, 2013

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

For a hockey parent, little is so affirming as seeing a son debut in the National Hockey League, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Plymouth Whalers wing Tom Wilson has only seen spot duty in his two games with the Washington Capitals during their first-round series with the New York Rangers.

However, it's a fair bet his father Keven Wilson's memory of the 19-year-old's first game has been enriched by a random act of kindness.

From Dan Steinberg:

Keven wore a nondescript black pullover to Verizon Center. His eldest son Peter, though, wore one of Tom’s jerseys from the Plymouth Whalers, a previous stop. And with that, their cover was blown.

“It was tough to be anonymous,” the father joked. “People were recognizing us all over the place.”

... The Wilsons went out to stretch their legs before the extra session.

“Next thing I know, this fellow shows up and throws a jersey at me,” Keven recalled. “He said ‘You’re in Washington, you have to have a Washington jersey.’ ”

When Wilson unfolded the red sweater, he realized it had been personalized with his son’s name and number.
“I can’t take this from you, are you kidding me?” he said.

“This is a great day for you and your family,” the stranger said. “I want you to have it.” (DC Sports Bog)

Probably a better story for Father's Day than Mother's Day, eh? Perhaps it's not for nothing that the Capitals ended up winning that game in overtime. It's also likely a better memory than what happened to Wilson in his second NHL game on Sunday, when he lost the blade on his right skate after banging up against the boards.

Chances are, with the bashing style of play Tom Wilson employs, his jersey could be a much more popular seller at the Verizon Center in a few years. It's also a fair bet that he might get some more traditional digits than the No. 43 he's sporting as a mid-series plug-in.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Wilson was picked No. 16 overall in the 2012 draft by the Capitals and blossomed in an expanded offensive role with Plymouth. His third-year stats (23 goals, 58 points) were double his sophomore output (nine and 27). He made it to the final cut with Team Canada prior to the world junior championship. So for next season, it's just a question of which red jersey he'll be wearing.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

As anticipated, the Barrie Colts will have to try to finish off the London Knights without star forward Anthony Camara. Following the Boston Bruins prospect's second charging major/game misconduct of the championship series for a check on London's Seth Griffith, which was also his third ejection in the past two rounds, the Ontario Hockey League suspended Camara for the balance of the championship series after a blindside collision with London's Seth Griffith. This comes with London seemingly have put the pressure back on Barrie after fighting off the first match point with their win Friday, although the Colts won convincingly in both of their home games of the series.

The OHL rationale:

— Unsuspecting player
— Vulnerable opponent
— Blindside hit
— Player not in possession of the puck

Seth Griffith's status for Saturday is not yet known. The Knights said Griffith, a high-scoring 20-year-old right wing, was examined by doctors following the game. In any event, the suspension was a clear-cut call for the OHL when the previous infractions are taken into account, although the ruling should be primarily on the latest act itself.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (video: Sportsnet One).

No. 1 star: Michael St. Croix, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

Who but the Oil Kings' career scoring leader to extend the defending champions' season for another 48 hours? St. Croix (2G-1A, +3) scored twice on broken plays, the second 7:24 into overtime to give Edmonton a 3-2 Game 5 win and deprive the Portland Winterhawks of a chance to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice.

The Oil Kings, who got 49 saves from star goalie Laurent Brossoit, dug in like the championship team that they are in front of a raucous Rose Garden crowd of 10,947. They were dead even at 1-1 in the third period when Portland goalie Mac Carruth (27 saves on 30 shots) got caught out of his net playing the puck. Overage Dylan Wruck(3A, +3) pounced and centred to St. Croix, who made a backhand move to avoid being blocked by a defenceman and gave the Oil Kings the lead. Brendan Leipsic forced overtime with 5:55 left when his backhand hit an Edmonton stick and deflected over Brossoit.

On they went to a wide-open overtime. Just past the seven-minute mark, St. Croix tried a centring pass to T.J. Foster, but it hit a stick and ricocheted back to him. The Winnipegger reacted quickly, firing a shot past Carruth. The gamesheet credited St. Croix with all three goals. There was some indication the first Oil Kings goal might be changed to Foster.

No. 2 star: Bo Horvat, London Knights (OHL)

Horvat (2G-1A, -1) was named first star as the Knights looked tuned into the moment for the first time in the OHL final, beating the Barrie Colts 6-3 to force a Game 6 on Saturday on the Colts' ice. The 18-year-old delivered the decisive goal in the third period to extinguish the Colts' flickering comeback choices. The Colts got a power play and a chance to pull within a goal. However, Horvat intercepted a pass in his own zone and went zero to 60 for the breakaway before deking goalie Mathias Niederberger to restore a three-goal Knights cushion. The performance transferred the pressure from the Knights to Barrie, who needed three cracks to close out the Belleville Bulls in the Eastern final and also couldn't finish off Ottawa in the 2012 Eastern semi after being up 3-1.

In the second period, when London took control of the contest, Horvat assisted on a goal by a reinvigorated Max Domi (1G-1A, +2) and buried one himself. London also kept Mark Scheifele relatively in check; the Winnipeg Jets pick was 'held' to two assists on the night.

No. 3 stars: Konrad Abeltshauser, Stefan Fournier and Stephen MacAulay, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

The Mooseheads, as many teams do in their final home game, gave the stars to their overages during their President's Cup-clinching 5-1 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. It was apropos, considering the impact all three had Friday and their routes they have charted across their time in the Q. Abeltshauser (2A, +2), a towering defenceman, is one of the few holdovers from a 13-win Mooseheads team from three seasons ago ("It was four tough years for me and 19 for this city and this franchise.")

Fournier (1G, +1), who scored his club-record 16th goal of the playoffs during the first period on Friday, became Halifax's captain and leader after struggling to find a good fit with three other teams. Moreover, MacAulay (2G, +2) got the bookend goals to earn his third QMJHL title to go with a pair from the Saint John Sea Dogs. The Cole Harbour, N.S., native, whose mother died shortly before the playoffs began, was a the voice of experience throughout all four rounds.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

In a perfectly Maritime moment few could have imagined when they were in the cellar three years ago, the Halifax Mooseheads have become the first team to qualify for the upcoming Mastercard Memorial Cup, joining the host Saskatoon Blades.

With their emphatic 5-1 win that sealed a 4-1 President's Cup final win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, the Mooseheads matched the 2012 Saint John Sea Dogs' fate of nearly running the table in the playoffs. With their 16-1 post-season, they became the ninth team to go through the QMJHL post-season with only one loss.

Halifax hit hard times from 2008-09 through 2010-11 when it missed the playoffs twice in a row and also finished fourth-last in the 18-team QMJHL. But a rebuilding program centred around 17-year-old top prospects Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon and Czech scorer Martin Frk changed the culture in the Nova Scotia, leading to a dominant season and Friday's celebration at a sold-out Halifax Metro Centre.

From Willy Palov:

"It's amazing," said veteran defenceman Konrad Abeltshauser. "In front of this crowd, my last junior game in the Metro Centre - if there was a movie it couldn't have been written any better.

"It was four tough years for me and 19 for this city and this franchise. We all did it together. It just feels amazing to get rewarded for all this hard work we've put in over the years. It's finally paid off."

... "It's been a long time coming for everybody," said centre Nathan MacKinnon, who grew up in Cole Harbour as a hard-core fan of the team. "It's definitely one of the best feelings of my life and I can guarantee it's the same for every one of my teammates." (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Drouin received the Guy Lafleur Trophy as playoff MVP after winning the scoring race with 35 points in 17 games. MacKinnon and Frk tied for second with 33.

The Mooseheads will hope to fare better in the Memorial Cup than Saint John did 12 months ago. The Sea Dogs bowed out in the Memorial Cup semi-final to the eventual champion Shawinigan Cataractes.

Halifax, whose regular-season win totals have increased from 13 in '09-10 to 20 to 39 to a record-tying 58, began the playoffs by sweeping the Sea Dogs 4-0. The other sweeps were the Gatineau Olympiques and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. They took 4-of-5 from the Drakkar, the only team to take a game from the Mooseheads in the post-season.

Their rebuilding began in earnest in 2011, when GM Cam Russell scouted Drouin and MacKinnon at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax. MacKinnon declined to report to Baie-Comeau after being chosen No. 1 overall in the QMJHL entry draft. Russell acquired MacKinnon from the Drakkar in exchange for two players, Francis Turbide and Carl Gélinas, and three first round draft picks. Halifax took Drouin with its No. 2 overall choice and used the No. 11 pick, which it had acquired in the Lewiston MAINEiacs dispersal draft, to choose starting goalie Zach Fucale.

Halifax's captain, Stefan Fournier, who had 29 points in the playoffs, is one of the former MAINEiacs still in the QMJHL. Fucale, also up for the 2013 NHL draft, went 16-1, playing all but 24 seconds of the 2013 playoffs. He had a 2.02 GAA and a save percentage of .918.

Halifax will start their Memorial Cup tournament on Saturday, playing the winner of the WHL final series between the Portland Winterhawks and the Edmonton Oil Kings. Saskatoon opens the tournament against the OHL representative; Barrie leads London 3-2 in that championship series.

(s/t for the video to Halifax author Stephen Kimber, @skimber.)

Anthony Camara might tempted fate once too often, which could mean the Barrie Colts lost lost more than their first chance to oust the London Knights on Friday.

The rough-hewn future Boston Bruin has already been suspended once for a over-the-line play during Barrie's playoff run; Camara also eluded suspension after a charging major/game misconduct earlier in the OHL final. During the third period of the Knights' Game 5 win in the OHL final, Colts left wing Anthony Camara, the collaborator on many Mark Scheifiele-authored bits of brilliance during the playoffs, received his second charging major/game misconduct of the series. After coming out of the penalty box, Camara flattered an apparently unsuspecting Seth Griffith, a fellow Boston Bruins prospect.

Sportsnet's John Shannon reported on-air that the OHL will rule Saturday morning on Camara's status for Game 6 back in Barrie. It doesn't seem that bad when taken on its own, especially since Griffith's head does not appear to be targeted. Granted, saying that might be muddying the waters. The possible impact on Griffith, the Knights' best 19-year-old scorer, and the depth of Camara's file at the OHL office will be viewed as factors.

From Ryan Pyette:

[Knights coach Dale] Hunter said Griffith was being evaluated by team doctors.

“He [Camara] hits like that always when we’re up three goals,” Hunter said. “It’s a cheap shot. He wasn’t even looking for it and he hit him. He knew what he was doing. He went after Max (Domi in London’s Game 2 win) and now, he went after Seth to try to hurt him and put him out of the series.”

Camara wasn’t suspended for the Domi hit.

Barrie coach Dale Hawerchuk doesn’t think his top-line forward should be disciplined for this one, either.

“He wasn’t trying to hit [Griffith] at all,” Hawerchuk said. “He was going for the puck [straight from getting out of the penalty box]. He tried to get out of the way actually and go around him. Griffith turned right into him. I think he got tossed pretty quick. I was surprised. Obviously, Griffith didn’t see him and there was a head-on collision.” (London Free Press)

Dale Hunter says doctors are looking at Seth Griffith. Called Camara hit a “cheap shot”.

— John Matisz (@Metro_JMatisz) May 11, 2013

@lazyboyy in fairness, Hunter said he'd know best because he got suspended for similar hits during his playing days.

— John Matisz (@Metro_JMatisz) May 11, 2013

Oddly enough, Camara has got a major/game misconduct in Game 5 of each of the Colts' past two series. In each case, it was around the same point of the game, just outside the five-minute mark of the third period. Each was also on national TV, with the Colts due to host Game 6 the following evening.

Colts running short

This latest instance, in the words of Sportsnet analyst Sam Cosentino, could be "a series-changing play" if the OHL shelves Camara. His fellow wing on Scheifele's line, Zach Hall, also appears to be playing hurt; the 20-year-old right wing only played on the power play in the third period on Friday when the Colts were facing a multi-goal deficit. On the blueline, the Colts have also lost young defenceman Michael Webster for the rest of the series.

It appears Barrie Colts defenceman Mike Webster is done for season after breaking his collarbone in tonight's game.

— Gene Pereira (@GenePereira1) May 11, 2013

Meantime, London, with new starting goalie Jake Patterson replacing Anthony Stolarz, played its most self-possessed game of the series, with Bo Horvat scoring a pair of goals.

Getting back to Camara, getting ejected for the same infraction twice in six days might not go over well, but that's not the basis for the decision. For a refresher, here is the collision between Camara and the Knights' Max Domi last Sunday.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (videos: Rogers Television, Sportsnet One).

Please join Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager and a cast of many at 7 ET, when Game 5 of the Barrie Colts-London Knights OHL final series begins on Sportsnet One. The Colts have the Knights in an unexpected 3-1 series deficit. To the east, the Halifax Mooseheads have their first opportunity to close out the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and bring Nova Scotia its first President's Cup title. Out west, the Portland Winterhawks also have a chance to wrap it up on home ice against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

See you tonight. Bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

In a season where junior hockey operators faced unique circumstances due to the lockout-delayed NHL season, perhaps it's fitting the OHL's top performer is Vince Trocheck, who had to change on fly midway through the year.

Cats have nine lives; the Florida Panthers centre-ice prospect led three during his player-of-the-year campaign. Veteran leading the young Saginaw Spirit by example in the first half of the season. Energy guy for gold-medal-winning Team USA at the world junior championship in far-flung Ufa, Russia over the New Year. Last but not least, offensive catalyst for the Plymouth Whalers while making a successful push to lead the Ontario league in both points (109) and plus-minus rating (+49) while leading Plymouth to the West Division title. That made the case for the 19-year-old centre to be a landslide winner in media balloting for the OHL's Red Tilson Trophy as the league's outstanding player. It is the second year in a row the honour has gone to a Florida prospect from the Pittsburgh region. London Knights goalie Michael Houser won in 2012.

"It's been hectic, it was a long season," said Trocheck on Thursday. "Starting off in Saginaw with the group of guys I've been with for three years. Going to world juniors in Russia and being able to have that experience, just being able to be on that team was a honour. To win a gold medal was an unbelievable experience helped me develop a lot. And then getting traded to Plymouth and having a new team for the first time in four years in the OHL.

"I didn't really know what to expect. That team welcomed me with open arms. Mike Vellucci was a great coach for me. All three teams I was on this year, Saginaw, USA and Plymouth, it helped me a lot."

Trocheck received 298 voting points, far ahead of the runner-up, Belleville Bulls goalie Malcolm Subban, with 78. Anaheim Ducks prospect Charlie Sarault, whom Trocheck nudged out for the scoring title on the final day of the regular season, was third with 75. Sarault, who captained the Sarnia Sting, was previously named the OHL's top overage player.

'Points come because Vinny works so hard'

The 6-foot, 190-pound Trocheck, whom Florida drafted 64th overall in the 2011 draft, could be considered the OHL's poster boy for steady but sure progress. Across his four seasons, his filled out his body and all-around game while steadily upping his point totals — 43 as a fresh-faced 16-year-old, 62 in his draft season in 2010-11, 85 in Year 3 and finally the 109 this winter. In his 18-year-old year, USA Hockey did not include him in their selection camp prior to the 2012 world junior, but he was indispensable the next time around.

"I don't think we envisioned how many points he would have, but we knew he was a good kid and a character kid," Panthers assistant GM Mike Santos said by way of revisiting Florida's decision to draft Trocheck in 2011, when they also took Calder Trophy finalist Jonathan Huberdeau No. 3 overall from the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs. "That's the most important thing to us in Florida. The points come because Vinny works so hard. You can see that throughout his OHL career. Statistically, he increased by about 20 points every year that he was in league. I'm not surprised by what he did offensively, but I'm more proud of the kind of kid he is."

Trocheck averaged more than two points per game after his Jan. 10 move across Michigan from the Spirit to the Whalers, racking up 59 in 28 games. Plymouth was 23-5 while he was in the lineup.

"It was an easy transition, from the staff welcoming me to a good billet home to a really tight group of guys who welcomed me," he said.

Since Trocheck had spent 3½ seasons with the rival Spirit, Whalers coach-GM Mike Vellucci had a very firm grasp of the pivot's game. Being part of the same organization gave Vellucci a new appreciation for Trocheck's comportment.

"He's a complete player and we were fortunate enough to be to make a move with Saginaw and I credit them for making a move to allow Vince a chance to win a championship," Vellucci said. "We saw his compete level and the way he competes at both ends of the ice. When you get a chance to coach him and see the intangibles that he brings at both ends of the ice, the will to want to win, wanting to win every draw, work on his game, he's a completely player. Saginaw did a great job developing him and we were fortunate to reap the benefits down the stretch.

"It was a pleasure to coach Vince," added Vellucci, who was recently chosen the OHL's coach of the year for the second time in his career. "He came to the rink every day with a smile on his face. He and I were able to have some great dialogues about hockey and things off the ice."

Next up for Trocheck on his path from prospect to pro is the Panthers' development camp in July, following the June 30 NHL draft. Meantime, he's touched to be among a wave of Pittsburghers who have left a mark on the OHL. The roll call includes Houser, his former Saginaw teammate and current Chicago Blackhawks rookie Brandon Saad and his Team USA teammate, Anaheim Ducks goaltending prospect John Gibson. Gibson was runner-up for the OHL goaltender of the year award even though he was limited to 27 regular-season games with the Kitchener Rangers thanks to injuries, international play and a mid-season NHL call-up.

"It's really cool to see all the guys from Pittsburgh who are growing into great hockey players. It's not just Saad. There's [New York Rangers prospect] J.T. Miller [who played in Plymouth in 2011-12] and John Gibson. I grew up playing with all those guys. It's really cool to see and it's really helping the city of Pittsburgh in hockey. That comes out of the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins."

Trocheck is the fourth member of the Plymouth franchise to win the Red Tilson. he joines Boston Bruins centre Tyler Seguin (2010), Nashville Predators centre David Legwand (1998) and former Washington Capital Pat Peake (1993, when the team was the Detroit Jr. Red Wings).

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

During the 2012 President's Cup playoffs, the Halifax Mooseheads lost then-captain Cameron Critchlow for a crucial playoff game after he received an automatic ban for removing a foe's helmet during a fight even thought it was debatable he did so. History has repeated itself with Halifax team leaders receiving penalties that call for automatic suspensions.

In the final minute of Game 4 of the President's Cup final, Baie-Comeau's Alec Jon Banville touched off a skirmish by bumping Mooseheads goalie Zachary Fucale after a whistle. Fucale retreated to a neutral corner, only to get bumped by the Drakkar's Charles Poulin. That led Lewis to intervene; after all that he got the aggressor penalty after standing up for his goalie. So Banville gets two games for precipitating the fracas while somehow Lewis gets one for doing something any player in his skates would have done. Perhaps the judgment was 'eye for an eye' and each team should lose a player for the potentially decisive Game 5 in Halifax on Friday, but common sense might suggest that Lewis was no aggressor. Besides, does the Q really want a goalie fighting a skater, which is usually a mismatch?

It's still worth sharing just for the bizarre scene of the defenceman having to tussle with both Poulin and Drakkar defenceman Gabriel Verplaest at the same time. Who knew Three To Tango was no longer just a bad late 1990s romcom?

The suspension was reviewable.

Trey Lewis was assessed an aggressor penalty for that late scrum. That carries an automatic one-game suspension but...

— Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) May 9, 2013

That kind of penalty can be reviewed by the league. I wouldn't be surprised to see it overturned because of what preceded the fight.

— Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) May 9, 2013

Suspensions are supposed to punish players for doing something malicious, reckless or uncouth, like trying to deliberately injure an opponent with a dirty play. Standing up for your goaltender ain't that. The QMJHL's aggressor rule, which is intended to cut down on late-game silliness, is a good one. Fights in the last five minutes of an already decided game are often nonsensical. But any rule needs to be applied appropriately to be good.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (video: John Moore).

Oliver Bjorkstrand's two experiences playing in Edmonton were a world of difference.

This week, the Portland Winterhawks' dashing Dane helped his team win twice on Edmonton Oil Kings' ice to move within a single win of winning the Western Hockey League title. It's quite the opposite from the 18-year-old's experience playing for Denmark in the 2012 world junior championship at Rexall Place, when Bjorkstrand, his brother Patrick and their coach-father Todd were just trying to keep a newly promoted team from getting overwhelmed.

"It's just a little better than losing by seven goals each game," Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is NHL Central Scouting's 36th-ranked North American skater, quipped during an interview this week. "No, it feels pretty good. It's a good place to play. I like it a lot.

"Maybe a little bit," Bjorkstrand, who hails from Herning, Denmark, added when asked if he has drawn on those superficially disparate experiences. "When I played here for Denmark I knew we were underdogs and we had to work really hard. It's the same thing here. It's the finals and if you don't work hard, you won't have a chance to win. So yes, I guess I took a little bit from the national team."

As it happened, the mere fact that the then 16-year-old Bjorkstrand was playing in that 2012 WJC put him on the Winterhawks' radar. The WHL powerhouse, thanks to the Calgary Flames' Sven Baertschi and New York Islanders' Nino Niederreiter blossoming into NHL first-round picks, has had an excellent track record with imports. Baertschi came to Portland for his 18-year-old season, while Niederreiter profiled more as a power winger. Bjorkstrand, a dual American-Danish citizen, is thriving while being an undersized 17-year-old who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 164 pounds ("I need to gain some weight and build some muscle so I need to work really hard in the off-season").

The Herning, Denmark, native, who emulates Zach Parise, had 31 goals and 63 points in 65 regular-season games while playing second-line minutes. He's produced at a similar rate in the playoffs while skating with Taylor Leier and 17-year-old Chase De Leo, as his seven goals and 18 points in 19 games is tops among WHL rookies.

"I'm happy about it," Bjorkstrand said. "The coach [Travis Green] is giving me a lot of ice time when I get on the ice I just have to do my best, work hard and score some goals for the team."

Ultimately, Bjorkstrand has been a quick study in his first North American season. That should make him one to watch next season, when the Winterhawks will need a new first-line finisher after St. Louis Blues prospect Ty Rattie turns ago.

"There's just some small, small stuff that you have to get used to when you come over," Bjorkstrand said of his adjustment from playing for Herning in the Danish pro league to playing in the Dub. "Over here the game is more direct, you go more to the goal. In Denmark it's more about making plays and setups."

1. Travis Green told TSN recently he thinks you could develop into a 50-goal scorer in the next two seasons. Without dwelling on statistics, when he says that, how do you take?

"It's always good that the coach thinks you're going to be a good player. At this point, I'm just trying to focus on the rest of the season and winning the finals."

2. A handful of Danish players such as the Ottawa Senators' Peter Regin have made the big time; how personally significant is to you to carry the banner for a small hockey nation?

"It's good. Denmark isn't really a big hockey country so it's good that we get some guys who are in the NHL and play outside of Denmark so we get some more attention. I'm glad to be part of it."

3. Your father's been your coach, what did he say specifically about what to expect in the WHL?

"He told me there's a lot of competition. Everyone wants to get drafted high and everyone fights for it. He told be to be ready for it. It's not the same in Denmark. We have only 3,000 hockey players and in Canada you have I don't know how many.

"I want to show that even though I'm not a bigger guy, I can play a hard-working game, go in the corners."

4. With your background, have to ask: what's your favourite sport outside of hockey?

"I like soccer, coming from Europe, I watch a lot of soccer. I like American football and baseball. I've been to some baseball games — Minnesota Twins."

5. You have former Portland star Sven Baertschi's old No. 27 and you scored a goal last Saturday while he was back watching his old team. Is that significant to you — he was the high-scoring European and you end up with the same digits?

"No, actually the numbers I would have wanted to pick weren't available. I just picked 27. I didn't know it was his number or how big a deal it was. When the guys told me, I was like, 'maybe there's a little pressure on me now.' It's worked out." (What would have you picked?) "Probably number 22 or number 10."

(Editor's note: this Q&A is a composite of two interviews conducted during the season.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

There are six teams in the Canadian Hockey League waiting for the opportunity to get their tickets punched to the 2013 Memorial Cup in Saskatoon. But for fans of the Portland Winterhawks and Halifax Moosheads -- who have the opportunity to see their teams clinch league titles at home -- tickets to Game 5 might be tougher to get.

How far would you go to see your favourite team win a championship?

The Portland Winterhawks have been to two straight WHL finals, but twice they've come up short. On Friday night, however, they have the chance to win their first league title since 1997-98 on home ice when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Winterhawks, with a 3-1 series lead, have already sold the 10,947 tickets available at the Rose Garden. People are getting desperate.

One woman took to Craigslist to say she'll delay the birth of her child if she's able to get a ticket to Game 5. And, you never know, the excitement of a Winterhawks victory might send her into labour anyway.

Another Portland fan, Paul, is offering to pay asking price plus, "as much bakery stuff as you can eat," since he works at a bakery.

That's a lot of dough for a pair of junior hockey tickets.

Fans in Halifax are in the same boat for Game 5 of the President’s Cup final on Friday night against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. One more victory will give the Mooseheads their first QMJHL league title.

If you want the chance to potentially witness to Mooseheads history, it’s going to cost you.

According to the team, tickets for Game 5 at the Metro Convention Centre sold out officially in 15 minutes. Fans, some who had been watching Game 4 of the series broadcast live from Baie-Comeau in Halifax’s Grand Parade Square, went directly to the box office to camp out overnight.

“By the time the (ticket) windows opened we had about 60 to 70 people,” said Erin Esiyok-Prime, the acting Manager of Marketing and Communications at the Ticket Atlantic box office. “People have been lined up because it’s just a hot ticket and they want to make sure they get them. We’ve had lineups for the last several games. This was definitely the most.

“I saw some blankets, but lots of lawn chairs and fold-up chairs and things like that. It’s Moose fever for sure."

If you weren’t among the brave souls who crashed in the lobby of the box office, there’s still the opportunity to pay a premium online for tickets. On Thursday afternoon, people were peddling Mooseheads playoff tickets – which usually sell around $21 (with tax) -- for $100 a piece on average.

Fans like Melissa Richards, who have been going to games all year, are trying to see if there's a way to still support the team in person without declaring bankruptcy.

"People are telling me that I can have tickets for $250 or more," said Richards, who was up at 7 a.m. to see if she could buy tickets online from the box office when it opened at 10 a.m. "That's just not going to happen for me."

One seller on Kijiji was offering up two tickets behind the Halifax bench for $400 with the pitch that the buyer could “be a part of the potential President’s Cup celebration.” Another offered to trade a “PS3 for free with controllers and games plus $50" for tickets. A third seller was offering two lower bowl tickets for $600 for anyone crazy, desperate, or rich enough to pay that price to “be a part of history.”

Potentially.

"I am certainly surprised that people would fork-over upwards of $100 for an upper bowl nosebleed ticket," wrote Cody Spence, who is looking for a single ticket, via email. "It's junior hockey. It's the Mooseheads. There are over 10,000 seats in that rink and people will pay $100 for the worst one in the house? Good U2 tickets didn't even cost $100 when they played the Maritimes."

The Metro Centre, which accommodates 10,595 for hockey, has faced a run on Mooseheads tickets since their semi-final against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Everyone wants to see the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League make a push for their first Memorial Cup appearance. The city is full of Moose mania.

"It's pretty darn crazy," said Richards. "The atmosphere is getting pumped-up. It's definitely a bigger draw than the NHL playoffs right now for us."

Richards says she'll go down to the rink for Game 5 in a last ditch attempt to see if she can land a ticket. If not, like Spence, she'll stay home and watch the game -- for free -- on TV.

"People (are) capitalizing on the collective hunger of the fans," wrote Spence. "I won't give any more than the ticket is worth. I have a lovely couch and my own refreshments, and could have a pretty good time watching the game on TV, or I could hit up a sports bar and enjoy the game with everyone else who couldn't get a ticket."

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas

WHL

With the Portland Winterhawks one win from the Ed Chynoweth Cup, Kerry Eggers plumbs the depths the franchise had sunk to before Bill Gallacher bought it in late 2008. (Portland Tribune)

Edmonton Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal did a little soft-shoe routine to get around calling out centre Henrik Samuelsson for his late high-sticking penalty that essentially ended Game 4 against Portland. (Edmonton Journal)

New Regina Pats coach Malcolm Cameron has inked a two-year contract as the club's new bench boss after the departure of Pat Conacher. (Regina Leader-Post)

Hey, a trade: veteran forward Joel Hamilton heads to Vancouver, with a third-round bantam selection going to Red Deer. (Vancouver Province)

No two ways about it, Alberta is now the biggest player-producing province in the Dub. (Coming Down The Pipe!)

OHL

Beastly Plymouth Whalers wing Tom Wilson has been called up by the Washington Capitals for their Stanley Cup playoff series. Is there a chance he might draw into the lineup? (Russian Machine Never Breaks)

Windsor Spitfires part-owner Peter Dobrich has sold his stake to Stephen Savage, John Savage and Brian Schwab, who own two other lower-division junior clubs in southwest Ontario. Anyone else find it curious that this is announced during the OHL final? (Windsor Star)

#OHL Windsor #Spitfires says more than six months of discussions has gone into this deal.

— Jim Parker (@winstarparker) May 9, 2013

The London Knights aren't licked yet, but here you were thinking the only "reeling" they would do in May would be if Matt and Ryan Rupert went fishing on an off-day at the Memorial Cup. (London Free Press)

Max Domi did not have much jump in his step until late in the 3rd and it was too little too late. Knights looked tired and lacked effort.

— Kevin Thacker HP (@KThackerHP) May 9, 2013

Will be interesting to see what changes Dale Hunter brings to the game plan. Knights need to pressure and not sit back and let Barrie work.

— Kevin Thacker HP (@KThackerHP) May 9, 2013

Barrie notoriously has trouble closing series out and by no means is this series over if the Knights can put it together #OHLPlayoffs

— Kevin Thacker HP (@KThackerHP) May 9, 2013

Barrie Colts GM Jason Ford explains why he didn't fold his hand at the trade deadline when there was a possibility of losing Mark Scheifele to the Winnipeg Jets, even though the Colts are bidding for the 2014 Memorial Cup: "It would have been disappointing to the rest of the team if we said, 'well, we’re not getting Scheifele back so we’re going to trade everybody else and go for next year.' " (Sportsnet)

Not OHL, but Jack Todd probes what some hockey fans really don't like about Belleville Bulls alumnus and Norris Trophy finalist P.K. Subban. (Montreal Gazette)

QMJHL

The Halifax Mooseheads have a 3-1 lead on Baie-Comeau, but the main off-day story is whether captain Trey Lewis will be cleared to play after taking an aggressor penalty late in Game 4. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Le Soleil)

Trey Lewis was assessed an aggressor penalty for that late scrum. That carries an automatic one-game suspension but...

— Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) May 9, 2013

That kind of penalty can be reviewed by the league. I wouldn't be surprised to see it overturned because of what preceded the fight.

— Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) May 9, 2013

Probably not until tomorrow morning. RT “@moosehabs: When will we know about if trey is suspended”

— Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) May 9, 2013

Jonathan Drouin didn't do too badly after being banged-up by a knee-on-knee collision in Game 3, eh?

People lined up overnight in Halifax to get tickets for Game 5 of the President's Cup final. (Metro Halifax)

Today's should-read en français: Mikaël Lalancette on incoming QMJHL draft prospect Alain Alexandre, the "miracle player" who returned to the ice just three months after a tumor was found along his spinal cord. (TVA Sports)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.

Please join Cam Charron, Terry Doyle, Sunaya Sapurji, Neate Sager and a cast of many for the blogetariat's most wide-ranging approximately one-hour-long weekly discussion dedicated to all things junior hockey. All three championship series are at 3-1, London Knights coach Dale Hunter believes his team is playing the Divin' Barrie Colts and one provincial hockey association is banning body checking for peewees.

Please remember the Chatravaganza is BYOP — bring your own peanuts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.