Thursday coast-to-coast: Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Greg McKegg sitting out series opener

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

WHL

Ty wants Tri? The money quote from Portland Winterhawks star Ty Rattie ahead of a Western Conference final against division rival Tri-City: "Two big guns meeting in the finals, we wouldn't want it any other way. We want a piece of Tri." Now how about a hand for Kamloops for redeeming the second round of the playoffs with their near-comeback? (Portland Tribune, Oregon Live, Kamloops Daily News)

Portland captain William Wrenn has ample experience wearing the 'C.' (Portland Tribune)

Likely NHL first-rounders Morgan Rielly and Griffin Reinhart are opponents in the Moose Jaw-Edmonton series, but the defencemen once played on the same team. (Edmonton Journal)

Can Moose Jaw wear down Edmonton like it did with its first two playoff foes? (Moose Jaw Times-Herald)

Yesterday/today's should-read: Kristen Odland details how Calgary Flames-drafted goalie Laurent Brossoit has drawn strength from his father's fight with multiple sclerosis. (Calgary Herald)

Today's other should-read: Evan Daum on the Moose Jaw Warriors striking a blow for the few, the proud, the community-owned teams. (Edmonton Journal)

Another budding star centre from B.C. with the surname Hopkins? Meet Haydn Hopkins, who could be a high pick in the WHL bantam draft. (Victoria Times-Colonist)

OHL

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Greg McKegg will rest his injury for tonight's Game 1 of the Kitchener-London showdown. (London Free Press)

Editor extraordinaire Sunaya Sapurji profiles Boston Bruins prospect Tyler Randell, who's scored six goals in the two Kitchener playoff games where he wasn't cooling his heels due to a suspension. (Yahoo! Sports)

The keys to victory for London. And Kitchener. (London Free Press, Waterloo Record, 570 News)

Setting up the Eastern Conference final between Niagara and Ottawa. (St. Catharines Standard)

Ottawa 67's forward Remy Giftopoulos has an impressive athletic pedigree; his father and uncle were accomplished footballers. That's real football, the helmets-and-pads kind. (Hamilton Spectator)

The Peterborough Petes are not for sale. (Peterborough Examiner)

Getting to know London forward Brett Welychka. (Dan Sallows)

Because it's the Soo: everything you wanted to know about OHL teams' media policies but were afraid to ask. (Sault Star)

QMJHL

An editorial in the newspaper to salute a team for reaching the third round? Halifax really has been itching to see the Mooseheads win. They get back to work on Friday vs. Rimouski, with defenceman Trey Lewis expected to play despite an apparent knee injury. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Metro Halifax)

Mikaël Lalancette checked to see whether history favours MasterCard Memorial Cup host teams who only played 11 league playoff games, like the Shawinigan Cataractes. Spoiler: it doesn't. (TVA Sports)

You knew that was coming: columnist Louis Ménard is demanding that the Shawinigan Cataractes can head coach Éric Veilleux before the Memorial Cup. (Le Nouvelliste)

Mikhail Grigorenko was not injured in the Quebec Remparts' seven-game loss to Halifax. (Le Soleil)

Graduating Quebec goalie Louis Domingue notes he and Roy had a tempestuous working relationship, but the netminder "learned the hard way." (Le Soleil)

Downtown Halifax bar owners are happy the Mooseheads will play at least one more round, no pun intended. (CBC)

The Chicoutimi Saguenéens got the heroes' welcome when they arrived home after ousting Shawinigan on Tuesday night. (Le Quotidien)

Gatineau Olympiques coach-GM Benoît Groulx is eyeing a European goaltender for next season, writes Jean-François Plante. Another 'Piques priority is upgrading their defence. (Le Droit)—

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