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Kitchener Rangers’ John Gibson nears return to ice: Tuesday’s coast-to-coast

Neate Sager

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

WHL

Top draft prospect Seth Jones was recognized twice in Annie Fowler's Best of the West(ern Conference) poll. (Tri-City Herald)

It's almost like the Saskatoon Blades' season actually started in mid-January, writes Patrick King. (Sportsnet, Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

The WHL-to-Winnipeg talk died as soon as it sprouted. (Taking Note)

Check out which contributor to this humble blog was mentioned in a Globe & Mail column that talked about the underuse of advanced hockey stats. (The Globe & Mail)

Fifteen-year-old Minnesotan Alec Baer might get into the Vancouver Giants lineup before the end of the season. (Vancouver Province)

These are the bad times for the Kelowna Rockets: forward Carter Rigby's season is over due to a shoulder injury and so it defenceman Mitch Wheaton's year. (Kelowna Capital News)

Overage forward Jordan DePape, who had major shoulder surgery in the fall, is on schedule to debut with Red Deer by playoff time. (Red Deer Roundup)

OHL

Anaheim Ducks goaltending prospect John Gibson will be back on the ice this week with the Kitchener Rangers in his recovery from a hip/groin injury, but coach Steve Spott will not rush him back into action: "The position that he plays is number one. Number two, the amount of games he could play in the playoffs. It’s almost every second night." (Waterloo Record)

Meantime, the Rangers who are present and accounted for had a bit of a discipline problem during Monday's loss to rival Guelph. (Waterloo Record)

Calgary Flames second-rounder Pat Sieloff's groin injury is lingering and now his Windsor Spitfires are all but out of the playoff chase. (Windsor Star)

The Belleville Bulls have shown they can take the Eastern Conference lead away from Barrie. Now can they keep it, because really, that's the most important part. (Belleville Intelligencer, Barrie Examiner)

Make it six wins in a row for the surging Plymouth Whalers. Sarnia Sting coach-GM Jacques Beaulieu after the 10-2 Whaler wipeout on Monday: "They're probably the best team in our league on paper." (Plymouth Observer & Eccentric)

The London Knights got a little more physical and broke their losing streak, although it was against soft opposition. (London Free Press, Metro London)

Bill Montague calls it "nothing short of a miracle" that Philadelphia Flyers prospect Nick Cousins is leading the OHL scoring race after being charged with sexual assault last August. Maybe you should just stop talking for a while, Bill. (Sault Star)

Defenceman Cameron Wind's two-season iron-man streak is over, but the Brampton Battalion came out of the weekend leading Sudbury in their race to have first-round home-ice advantage. (Brampton Guardian, Sudbury Star)

The three-way Mississauga-Kingston-Peterborough race for the Eastern Conference's last two playoffs berths just got a lot more interesting. (Kingston Whig-Standard, Mississauga News, Peterborough Examiner)

QMJHL

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan and P.E.I. Rocket are not moving anywhere. (Le Nouvelliste)

Along with rookie Brian Lovell's busted jaw, the Halifax Mooseheads are also waiting to see the extent and specificity of the injury veteran defenceman Trey Lewis sustained on Saturday. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)

The Quebec League held a hearing over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's protest over their trade with the Saint John Sea Dogs for currently injured forward Ryan Tesink. Who knows what the ruling might be. (La Presse)

Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts cut a couple contenders, Baie-Comeau and Rimouski, down to size. Does that portend a playoff run? (Le Soleil)

May the Gatineau Olympiques' No. 1 goalie identify himself before the playoffs? Eric Brassard has as much claim as veteran Robert Steeves. (Le Droit)

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.