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WHL’s Battle of Alberta on hold: Monday’s coast-to-coast

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

World junior

Detroit Red Wings draftee Jake Paterson, as an 18-year-old, is Canada's third-string goalie for now but could be in line to start in 2014. (Yahoo! Canada Sports)

Montreal Canadiens prospect Alex Galchenyuk has a hot hand as he leaves the Sarnia Sting to join Team USA. (Pro Hockey Talk)

Is Phil Esposito and 1972 even relevant to a tournament contested by players who were born in 1993 and later? (Calgary Sun)

The day has come when Ohio accounts for more players on Team USA's preliminary roster than Minnesota, the state of hockey. (SB Nation)

Team Canada's Tyler Wotherspoon knows his role: be the defenceman people tend not to notice. (Surrey Leader, Calgary Herald)

WHL

Wait a second, Eastern Conference leaders Calgary and Edmonton don't have a game scheduled after Christmas? Well, guess they will just have to meet in the playoffs. (Calgary Sun, Calgary Herald)

Remember how the Oil Kings struggled against the Regina Pats last season? Not the case on Sunday, when New York Rangers prospect Michael St. Croix had four power-play goals for Edmonton. (Regina Leader-Post)

East Division-leading Prince Albert solidified its lead by beating struggling Brandon. (Prince Albert Daily Herald)

One day Moose Jaw's Joel Edmundson trade will become known as the Jayden Halbgewachs trade, although it will take time to pay off for the Warriors. (Moose Jaw Times-Herald)

Coach Ryan Huska's Kelowna Rockets managed to win 4-of-5 games on a road trip to end the season's first half, even with captain Colton Sissons out with a "suspected concussion." (Kelowna Daily Courier)

The Kamloops Blazers quite literally limped into the break on a three-game slide. (Kamloops Daily News)

Thanks to Prince George, the improving Vancouver Giants are still in the league basement. (Vancouver Sun)

Will the Everett Silvertips ever beat league-leading Portland? (Everett Herald)

OHL

Emotions ran high in the Windsor-Sault Ste. Marie game, with Spitfires coach Bob Boughner saying a melee started after Greyhounds star Nick Cousins "elbowed a guy in the face, butt-ended another guy and the refs still didn't see it." (Sault Star, Windsor Star)

Scary to think where Kitchener would be in the standings without the John Gibson-Franky Palazzese goaltending combo. (Waterloo Record)

The Niagara IceDogs had a 1-2-0-0 weekend without Messrs. Hamilton, Ritchie and Strome. Coach-GM Marty Williamson: "We need to find our identity as a group." (St. Catharines Standard)

Philadelphia Flyers draftee Derek Mathers brought his Peterborough Petes teammates to account after a home loss to Barrie, telling Mike Davies, "We're just OK with getting by. There is so much more we could do as a team if we came together." (Peterborough Examiner)

Brampton's 17-year-old Brandon Robinson put his slow start behind him with his hat trick on Sunday. (Brampton Guardian)

London Knights 16-year-old goalie Liam Herbst has been shut down until next season as he rehabs from knee surgery. (London Free Press)

The Guelph Storm, at the break, are on pace for their best regular season since their 2003-04 championship year. (Saxon on the Storm)

QMJHL

The Nate & Jo Show going on hiatus due to Drouin and MacKinnon making Team Canada left the Halifax Mooseheads reeling so badly that they only went 3-0 this week. (Metro Halifax)

It has been a long December for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, who have not recovered from losing starting goalie Étienne Marcoux to a shoulder injury. (La Presse)

Draft-year forward Anthony Duclair had a big weekend in a close win for Mikhail Grigorenko-less Quebec. (Le Soleil)

A sputtering power play cost Baie-Comeau on Sunday. (Le Soleil)

It's supposed to be a bumper 2013 NHL draft class, so good players such as Chicoutimi's Laurent Dauphin and Jérémy Grégoire were bound to be passed over the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. (Le Quotidien)

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