Championship series shift for Game 3s: Monday’s coast-to-coast

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

WHL

That's rich: Portland Winterhawks coach Travis Green says the storyline about the team being in the final after being dinged by the Dub for improper player benefits is "a twist in a story that the media likes to talk about, the whole evil empire thing." Think the Portland franchise and fanbase likes talking it up, too. (Edmonton Journal)

The Edmonton Oil Kings had a two-shot third period on Saturday. Will they be recharged for Game 3 on home ice on Tuesday? And what about that 0-for-24 power play? (Oregon Live, Edmonton Journal)

Should Winterhawks star Ty Rattie being on the cusp of the league record for career playoff goals be a bigger deal? Most scoring records from the 1980s, the decade where hockey was played like defence is only something that goes around da backyard, are unbreakable. (The Columbian)

Terry Jones, as only Terry Jones can, flashes back to how the Portland Winterhawks once had a playoff run that literally saved the Oregon franchise. (Edmonton Sun)

Forgive Portland fans for being a bit haughty after that Game 2 win. (Oregon Live)

Kelowna Rockets personnel man Lorne Frey is not wild about any 15-year-old jumping directly from bantam to major junior as an exceptional-status player. There was talk during the winter about Vancouver Giants first overall pick Tyler Benson doing so. (Kelowna Daily Courier)

OHL

TSN commentator Craig Button ("first overall, if he was eligible") and Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast say Connor McDavid could be a top pick in this NHL draft. The 16-year-old centre still has two more years of junior hockey. (Edmonton Journal)

Beat writer extraordinaire Ryan Pyette notes the start of the championship series between the Barrie Colts and London Knights is eerily reminiscent of the first two games of last spring's Niagara-London final. (London Free Press)

Knights wing Brett Welcyhka's goal in London's series-tying win Sunday was his first since he sustained a brain injury in a collision six weeks ago. (Knights Outright)

Incoming Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds first-rounder Blake Speers knows that being the local boy taken in the first round will bring scrutiny: "You have to take pressure for what it is." (Sault Star)

Brock Otten pores over the 18- and 19-year-old 're-entries' who have a shot at being selected in the NHL draft on June 30. (OHL Prospects)

QMJHL

Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman is guarded about whether he would use his No. 3 overall pick on a particular Halifax Moosehead, depending on whether Jonathan Drouin or Nathan MacKinnon is available: "There's probably more than a top three." (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Can Baie-Comeau chip away at the Mooseheads' "block of five" defence when the President's Cup final resumes Tuesday? (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

Fred MacDonald argues P.E.I.'s junior team can draw from throughout the island while being named the Charlottetown Islanders. (Charlottetown Guardian)

For Drakkar coach Éric Veilleux, those two goals Baie-Comeau bagged in the final 90 seconds to pare the final score to 4-3 were not window dressing: "We come home knowing we can score." (Le Soleil)

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.