In a dramatic WHL final that's seen big momentum swings, thrilling near comebacks and even a double fight, who would've thought that a key factor in the series would be a rock band from Ohio?

Somehow, the Black Keys have managed to throw not one, but two, wrenches into the proceedings.

The first blow came when team and league officials were trying to schedule the series. Even with both teams flying to all games, the ideal format would've had the Oil Kings hosting the first two games and the last two games, with the middle three taking place in Portland.

That would've allowed the teams to fly from Portland to Edmonton after Game 5 to play the final two games (if necessary of course) this Saturday and Sunday at Rexall Place.

But, those pesky Black Keys are scheduled to play Edmonton on Saturday night, which has forced the teams to play Game 5 in Edmonton Thursday, then fly back to Portland for Game 6 Saturday. If the series requires a Game 7, it will be played Sunday back in Edmonton, requiring the teams to play a little more than 12 hours after arriving by charter (if the plane leaves directly after the game as it did after Tuesday's Game 4).

Meanwhile, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney also unwittingly played a role in Tuesday's game. The Winterhawks beat the Oil Kings 4-3 on Sunday in Game 3, then the Rose Garden crew had to put down flooring and a stage over the ice to host the Black Keys on Monday.

Unfortunately, the ice didn't recover well from Monday's concert, as pucks were hopping and bouncing all over the place during Game 4. Sure, it was the same for both teams, but it led to a lot of sloppy passes and errant shots. On Rhett Rachinski's overtime winner for Edmonton, Portland's Oliver Gabriel failed to get control of a bouncing puck. It went to Rachinski who skated off the boards and fired a shot past Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth to even the series.

There's no word on whether the Oil Kings cranked up "Lonely Boy" in the dressing room during their postgame celebration.

More notes after the jump.

— Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal was fined $500 for his comments about the officiating after Game 2, a 5-1 Winterhawks win that featured an Edmonton goal being disallowed despite video review confirming it should have counted. Laxdal's venting was long-winded enough that it made up an entire article in the Edmonton Journal.

The target of Laxdal's frustrations was referee Matt Kirk, and the coach stopped just short of accusing Kirk of flat-out being biased toward the Winterhawks:

"I was frustrated last night because Matt Kirk would not come over to talk to me. He would go right to (Winterhawks head coach) Mike Johnston every time," Laxdal said. "I had the same problem with Don Hay in a Vancouver game and I just spoke to the league about it. Why should they get more respect than another coach? We're both hockey coaches, we're all here for the same reason, so we should get treated the same." (Edmonton Journal)

That notion is one that will make many Winterhawks fans chuckle. Kirk has emerged as a villain in Portland over the last year because of a number of calls that have gone against the Winterhawks.

In Game 2 of last year's WHL finals, Kirk was officiating as Portland was called for 18 consecutive minutes of penalties in the second period, leading to five power-play goals for the Ice in Kootenay's series-knotting 7-5 win.

Kirk drew the most heat for explaining to Winterhawks coach Mike Johnston that Portland's Riley Boychuk was assessed a major penalty for a big hit on Kootenay's Hayden Rintoul because Rintoul had a concussion. However, Rintoul soon returned to the game and was never -- at least officially -- diagnosed with a concussion.

Since then, Kirk has remained disliked in Portland, and even a couple of players took to Twitter to register their disgust with him after a game in March.

For what it's worth, Kirk is considered one of the best officials in the league, and perhaps being equally disliked by everyone is a badge of honor.

— The Winterhawks thought they had seen the last of Tyler Maxwell when he departed the Everett Silvertips back in November, but Maxwell quieted the Rose Garden crowd with a wraparound goal in the second period of Game 4 to give the Oil Kings a 2-1 lead.

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