Flames carry torch for Connor McDavid, Memorial Cup decision due: the coast-to-coast

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

WHL

In a matter of hours, Red Deer Rebels coach, GM and owner Brent Sutter will know if his club will host the 2016 Memorial Cup. (Vancouver Province)

For the Regina Pats, captain Kyle Burroughs getting in fights is the ultimate double-edged sword. (Regina Leader-Post)

Loves me some Troy Ward bon mots. The Vancouver Giants coach, on his team's start: "I had a dad who told me in the 1970s that you can live in a forest or you can live in a garden... People who live in a garden are pretty organized and pretty detailed. Everything is laid out. There are no weeds, no nothing. It’s spotless. Their life is clear. They know what they’re doing. You live in a frickin’ forest, there’s stuff everywhere." (Vancouver Province)

Seeing Portland with a 1-6-0-1 record is just weird and scary, writes Chris Derrick. It's like when they changed what "it" was. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)

Not to be a post-hoc prognosticator, but if Prince Albert Raiders goalie Nick McBride was making his sixth conseuctive start on Tuesday, than that increased the chance of him letting in what coach Cory Clouston called "three goals [that] were stoppable." (Prince Albert Daily Herald)

Former Moose Jaw and Kamloops head coach Dave Hunchak appeared in court Tuesday on charges of drunk driving and dangerous driving. (Castanet, News 1130)

OHL

In the wake of Nikolay Goldobin decamping to Finland, Ryan Pyette asks the question about the value of keeping some of the best 19-year-old Canadian prospects in major junior: "When you're seeing some country's prospects getting advantages your kids don't and you're not winning as many world junior tournaments anymore, it's worth studying if the top end of this development model is still functioning properly." (London Free Press)

Erstwhile London Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov remains with the Buffalo Sabres, for now. (London Free Press)

The Ottawa 67's make their debut at refurbished TD Place on Friday. Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group president of sports Jeff Hunt said Wedneday that the  67's plan to bid for the next Ontario-hosted Memorial Cup.

The Calgary Flames should very much want to be in the Connor McDavid business, writes Randy Sportak. Hey, an endless string of high picks is panning out for the other Alberta NHL team. (Calgary Sun)

Adam Proteau lauds OHL commissioner David Branch for creating a league-wide mental health program. (The Hockey News)

Small sample size, but Eastern-leading Oshawa has won in all four of new starting goalie Ken Applebyès starts. (durhamregion.com)

It is way too soon to press the panic button in Sudbury, where the Wolves are 1-4-0-0 heading into the week. (Sudbury Star)

Kyle Hope, who was a valuable overage in Owen Sound last season, made a tough call to join the University of Windsor Lancers instead of signing a minor-league contract. (Chatham-Kent Sports Network)

QMJHL

Winnipeg Jets first-rounder Nikolaj Ehlers is going to work at the whole lead-by-example thing with the Halifax Mooseheads, who could use the help. (Metro Halifax)

Ivan Barbashev and Vladimir Tkachev could have a big night ahead in the Moncton-Gatineau game, since the Olympiques are missing eight players due to injury. (Le Droit)

A definite should-read: Ryan Cooke on Brandon Bazinet, a 19-year-old Junior A player who has had to quit after sustaining his third brain injury in the last three seasons. (Truro Daily News)

Chicoutimi came out of a six-road game stretfch with several injuries, including one to captain Laurent Dauphin. (Le Quotidien)

Improving Sherbrooke has a big test on Wednesday night vs. high-scoring Cape Breton. (Le Tribune)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.