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Draisaitl Rockets into Oil Country: the coast-to-coast

KELOWNA, CANADA - JANUARY 16: Leon Draisaitl #29 of Kelowna Rockets checks Turner Ottenbreit #4 of Seattle Thunderbirds during third period on January 16, 2015 at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)
KELOWNA, CANADA - JANUARY 16: Leon Draisaitl #29 of Kelowna Rockets checks Turner Ottenbreit #4 of Seattle Thunderbirds during third period on January 16, 2015 at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)

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

WHL

Leon Draisaitl is making his return to Rexall Place in Kelowna's red and blue. (Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun)

Can the Saskatoon Blades actually get into a playoff race? They are 19 points behind eighth-place Edmonton with 26 games left. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

A U.S. Division team is really going to get hosed by the new playoff format, writes Andy Eide. (Sportsnet)

Overage defenceman Reid Gow, who joined Brandon at midseason, is getting back up to speed with the Western League after a half-season in university. (Luber's Lounge)

Where have you gone, Shane Danyluk? The one-time alternate captain in Prince Albert is enjoying playing out his overage season with the Salmon Arm (B.C.) Silverbacks. (Prince Albert Daily Herald)

OHL

The would-be owners in Flint, Mich., plan to billet high school-aged players in the community of Grand Blanc, which might allay some concerns. (Flint Journal)

Depending on the length of the London Knights' playoff run, Max Domi could get "a cup of coffee" with the Arizona Coyotes. Domi can only be called up as an emergency injury replacement until the Knights' season ends. (Arizona Sports)

Goalie Brandon Halverson has been on the hotseat in Sault Ste. Marie, but Brad Coccimiglio is defending the New York Rangers prospects. Judging by the shots-against totals, there has not been a lot of defending in the Soo lately. (Soo Today)

Ottawa coach Jeff Brown, on losing 5-4 in overtime to top-ranked Oshawa: "That’s the number one team in the country and we took them to overtime and we could have beat them. We’re going to build on this in a positive way, not in a negative way." (Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun)

Momentum has eluded the Peterborough Petes throughout the season, writes Matt Campbell. (Peterborough Examiner)

QMJHL

Weren't the Quebec Remparts too big to fail? Frédéric Aubé did them in with two goals in Drummondville's 5-2 win on Tuesday night. (Le Soleil)

Blainville-Boisbriand forward Nikita Jevpalovs has signed with the San Jose Sharks. (Golden Gate Sports)

Via the excellent Steve Turcotte, the Shawinigan Cataractes will no longer have a veto over a team moving to nearby Trois-Rivières. Instead, the league might be putting in a proviso that might actually make it easier to block such a move. (Le Nouvelliste)

How did the Sherbrooke Phoenix pay to stage last spring's midget draft? Very, uh, creatively. (La Tribune)

Youngsters such as Julien Pelletier are trying to make the most of what's left of Rouyn-Noranda's season. (Parlons Junior)

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