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London Knights a ‘velvet rope’? Blueliner Morrissey out for Rockets, QMJHL potential draftees shine: the coast-to-coast

Are goalie Michael Giugovaz and the London Knights the OHL's 'velvet rope'? (CP / Mark Spowart)
Are goalie Michael Giugovaz and the London Knights the OHL's 'velvet rope'? (CP / Mark Spowart)

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

WHL

Josh Morrissey is out indefinitely with a leg injury, and that’s some reason to panic if you’re a fan of the Rockets, with Rourke Chartier, Justin Kirkland, Tomas Soustal and Mitch Wheaton also sidelined, but Jackson Whistle looked solid in his return Saturday. (Kelowna Daily Courier)

17-year-old Rykr Cole not only has one of the best names in all the CHL, but he’s climbing up the lineup of the Regina Pats and showing some excellent potential. (Regina Leader-Post)

The Saskatoon Blades might be out of the playoffs this season, but their goaltending future looks bright with both their 17-year-old netminders set to return next year: Nik Amundrud and Brock Hamm. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

The U.S. Division has the potential to go down to the wire for seeding, and the new WHL wild card races are heating up too. (SeattlePI.com)

Interesting look at the breakdown of the anatomy of a junior team, in the first part of a series on the construction of the Seattle Thunderbirds, focusing Tuesday on the 2009 Bantam Draft. (MyNorthwest.com)

WHL named their player of the week: Prince George’s Jansen Harkins, player of the month: Portland’s Oliver Bjorkstrand, and netminder of the month: Red Deer’s Rylan Toth. (WHL.ca)

OHL

The London Knights are among the top five in the OHL, but a 3-11 record against the top four clubs in the league means they could be the divider between the top clubs and the rest. Does that make them a "velvet rope"? (LFPress.com)

Another day, another article on speculation of the name of the new OHL team in Flint next year. Interesting tidbit in there though: “A deadline to submit a team name, logo and colors was extended by the OHL and Reebok-CCM, the league's jersey supplier, to last Friday, Feb. 27.” So it’s likely already been picked. (MLive.com)

Two Barrie Colts are zeroing in on team records: Joseph Blandisi’s 48 goals is five off the team record, while fellow forward Kevin Labanc is one assist shy of the team record of 73. (theBarrieExaminer.com)

Former Greyhound Steve Sullivan was back in the Sault last weekend and so was Rogers’ Hometown Hockey. Fans reminisced of the 1993 Sault Memorial Cup team, of which Sullivan was a member. (Sault Star)

From former Hound to a current one, eight points in two games was enough to earn blueliner Anthony DeAngelo OHL player of the week honours. (OntarioHockeyLeague.com)

QMJHL

The Canada Games wrapped up in Prince George, B.C., and that was a key tournament for QMJHL draftees like Shane Bowers and Maxime Comtois, both vying for the top selection. (ChronicleHerald.ca)

The Foreurs have turned it around with eight wins in a row by embracing their “tannant” nature. “Tannant”, for those who don’t speak French, means annoying. (JournaldeMontreal.com)

The Cataractes dropped two key games in the Abitibi last weekend, but they look to bounce back Tuesday in the hands of Marvin Cüpper, the league’s best goalie by way of save percentage. (LaPresse.ca)

The Q named their three stars of the week, and their three stars of the month. Congrats to Cape Breton forward Evgeni Svechnikov and Moncton forward Conor Garland. Also of note, the league launched their redesigned website over the weekend. (theQMJHL.ca)