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Rockets, Winterhawks meet in momentous matchup, Scheifele saddles up for Colts: Friday’s coast-to-coast

Neate Sager

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

WHL

Get your popcorn ready for the Portland-Kelowna showdown. You know it's big since Winterhawks coach Travis Green is really minding his words closely. (Oregon Live)

Rod Pedersen writes that third-season Regina Pats GM Chad Lang, whose team has lost 11 of 12, deserves more time to make changes. (Rodservations)

If Portland is getting any "relief" from the sanctions the WHL imposed two months ago, the WHL should come out and say so, writes Steve Ewen: "I get, too, that the league is hoping this Winterhawk brouhaha fades away. Sorry. It’s not going to. It’s only going to get worse. Portland could win the whole shebang. It could be the story of the Memorial Cup." (Vancouver Province)

Make that 10 wins in a row for the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. (Edmonton Journal)

Fun night for Everett Silvertips first-rounder Kevin Davis: get called up to play your against hometown Kamloops Blazers and play both forward and defence in a 6-nil loss. 'Tips coach-GM Garry Davidson: "He's smart and cool as a cucumber. He'll be really good for us." (Kamloops Daily News)

OHL

Barrie Colts coach Dale Hawerchuk tells Paul Friesen why Mark Scheifele was up against it with the Winnipeg Jets: "He needs to get into a spot where he’s playing with highly skilled guys who see the ice and think the way he does. He’s not going to be a fourth-line guy. If that’s what he turns out to be then you could say it didn’t turn out the way you thought.” (QMI Agency)

Philadelphia Flyers-drafted goalie Anthony Stolarz was hard on himself after London's home overtime loss to Sarnia: "You want to stay mentally focused ... I wasn’t all there." (Metro London, London Free Press)

Kerby Rychel and the Windsor Spitfires' reward for pumping in a season-high nine goals vs. Peterborough? They face Ottawa and Kingston, two of the OHL's three most porous teams, over the rest of the weekend.

Meantime, discuss among yourselves whether the punishment fit with the Spitfires' Sam Studnicka' four-game suspension for a check from behind last Sunday on Guelph's Jason Dickinson. (Windsor Star)

Too soon for London to host the MasterCard Memorial Cup again? Nah. (London Free Press)

Mississauga Steelheads owner Elliott Kerr is already wooing soon-to-be-disenfranchised Brampton Battalion supporters. (Brampton Guardian)

So is 45-goal scorer Reid Boucher going to get a contract from the New Jersey Devils organization or what? (Sarnia Observer)

Phoenix Coyotes prospect Lucas Lessio, the dangerous speedster who missed three months with the Oshawa Generals due to tendon surgery, is starting to feel dangerous again. (durhamregion.com)

Potential playoff preview alert: Brampton vs. Sudbury on Friday. They're getting started on stoking that northern rivalry early. (Sudbury Star)

Sometimes it goes that way: the Peterborough Petes gave up nine at home 24 hours after scoring 10 goals on the road. (Peterborough Examiner)

Six-foot-seven Guelph Storm wing Justin Auger has taken a winding path to being a solid OHLer. (Waterloo Record)

QMJHL

Thirty-year veteran official David Taveroff will work his final Quebec League game on Saturday. Wish him well. (Montreal Gazette)

The move Jonathan Huberdeau executed in the shootout on Thursday to win a NHL game for the Florida Panthers? Southeast New Brunswick's seen it. (Station Nation)

The Gatineau Olympiques' Rock Régimbald is racking up the points as his overage season unfolds. (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.