Otters eye 3-0 lead: the coast-to-coast

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

WHL

The captain helped 'Valk' Medicine Hat over Kootenay in a series-tying win. (Medicine Hat News)

Seattle captain Justin Hickman is facing his hometown Kelowna Rockets, but the Thunderbirds need to get cracking in order to guarantee him another game in his old stamping ground. (Kelowna Capital News)

Vancouver Canucks prospect Hunter Shinkaruk is finally back skating after having season-ending surgery. (Medicine Hat News)

Portland is up 2-0 as its series shifts to Victoria, but will the Royals pounce on the "counter-punch opportunities" that it got in the first two games? (Portland Tribune)

Coaching against Brandon is a homecoming for Edmonton skipper Derek Laxdal, who played for the Wheat Kings 30 years ago. (Brandon Sun)

OHL

The London Knights' in with top pick Max Jones? His brother Mitch Jones was with the Plymouth Whalers when it played in the opulent Budweiser Gardens during the 2013 playoffs. (London Free Press)

London defenceman Dakota Mermis on the leg ailment that he sustained on Sunday: "My whole leg kind of went dead and I knew there was no point getting up and trying to skate, because I was going nowhere. But it’ll take quite a bit to hold me out." (Guelph Mercury, London Free Press)

Erie coach Kris Knoblauch is well-aware of the prospect of scoring a quick knockout of Sault Ste. Marie and then kicking back to watch Guelph and London whale on each other for 6-7 games. At the same time, though, the Soo isn't whipped: "They've got a lot of fight left. It's not like we went in there and dominated. It's not like they couldn't have won either game." (Erie Times-News)

Is there any way No. 2 overall pick Adam Mascherin won't be compared to Michael Dal Colle? It's a Vaughan Kings thing. (Waterloo Record)

Twenty-two players from the Hamilton area were taken in the priority selection, eight more than in any previous year. (Hamilton Spectator)

Because there wasn't an initiative to streamline Junior A, now the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League wants Junior A status. (Waterloo Region Record)

Wait, Windsor isn't claiming Aaron Ekblad as its own? That means Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds top pick Anthony Salintri is the city's first first-rounder since 2010. (Windsor Star, Sault Star, Soo Today)

Kingston Frontenacs grad Henri Ikonen is "not so little" that he couldn't earn a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Ottawa 67's-drafted goalie Leo Lazarev backstopped the Junior B (for now) Waterloo Siskins to their first conference title in 20 seasons. By gar, that's a while. (Waterloo Region Record)

Saginaw Spirit pick Keaton Middleton, at 6-foot-5, is the big little brother of Ottawa's Jacob Middleton. (Stratford Beacon Herald)

QMJHL

Charles Lalande takes a look at the uncertain footing of the overage player. (Parlons Junior)

Nineteen points in six playoff games? Any day that Jonathan Drouin is playing is essentially Ridiculous Day. (La Presse)

Tenth-seeded Rouyn-Noranda is "stunned" at how ineffective it was while falling behind 2-0 to Baie-Comeau. (Le Soleil, Plein Jour de Baie-Comeau)

Between Brent Andrews and Darcy Ashley, there's quite a Halifax Mooseheads-to-UPEI Panthers pipeline. Isn't next year's CIS University Cup in Halifax, too? (Charlottetown Guardian)

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