Though January 10th always seems to take center stage because of the Trade Deadline it's important to remember that after all of the drama and hoopla surrounding the deadline subsides, there is a game to play and there are important points up for grabs. Tonight in Vancouver, the Cougars will take the ice one final time this season against Don Hay's Vancouver Giants. This could be a 'make or break' type of weekend for the  Cougars, but as always they'll be in tough against a hard working Giants team in their own building.

OVERVIEW:

This time a year ago, the Vancouver Giants were obvious trade deadline sellers. Fast forward to present day and the Giants are a virtual lock a playoff spot, and are not a team that anybody would want to face in the first round. At 21-15-5-2, the Giants are comfortably situated in seventh spot in the Western Conference, and tonight they will look for their sixth victory in eight tries this season against the Cougars.

WHO'S UP FRONT:

Over his past 11 games, Vancouver Giants forward Jackson Houck has been particularly effective and steady for Vancouver. Normally known for his play-making and passing, Houck has tallied 10 times and added five assists in that span, and has al ready matched his 23 goal total from a season ago. The Edmonton Oilers though highly enough of Houck to select him in the 2013 NHL Draft, and this season he has certainly shown that he was worthy of that selection.

WHO'S ON D:

Giants GM Scott Bonner has a difficult decision to make, and he only has a few more hours to do so. Does he decide to keep his roster in tact, and maybe add a piece or two to help them challenge for a playoff series victory or two? Or does he part ways with some key players this season and stock up for a run next season or the season after? 19-year-old defenceman Brett Kulak could be a very attractive trade chip for a lot of teams that are looking to upgrade their backend, and he would require a nice haul in return. But he's also a player who couild potentially be back with the Giants next season as a 20-year-old, and it isn't exactly easy to replace 43 points in 43 games from a defenceman.

WHO'S IN GOAL:

19-year-old Prince George product Jared Rathjen has had one heck of a season up to date for the Vancouver Giants between the pipes. In 18 games, Rathjen has 10 victories and a goals-against-average of 2.84 and a save percentage of .902. There was a lot of speculation at the start of the season that Payton Lee would receive a bulk of the workload this season for Vancouver, but thanks to Rathjen's consistent play, there has been some nice internal competition all season between the two goalies, which is a nice problem for any coach to have.

X-FACTOR:

Barring a trade or a future post season meeting, tonight's game will be the final time that 20-year-old Cain Franson will face the Prince George Cougars. In 26 career games, Franson has 27 career points, and always seems to bring his best when the Cougars are involved. This season, Franson has not disappointed. He has 39 points in 39 games and is a +1 for the Giants. Keeping Franson silenced will be important for the Cougars tonight.

OVERVIEW:

Mark Holick's Prince George Cougars have earned points in three of their first four games in 2014 and tonight in Vancouver they'll look to keep that trend going. With Tri-City in Everett tonight, the Cougars will also be doing some scoreboard watching and hoping that Everett can defeat Tri-City in regulation. As far as the trade deadline is concerned, the Prince George Cougars are a bit of a wild card today. No doubt there will be some interest out there for some of the Cougar veterans, but the Cougars will also not be too keen on hindering their playoff ambitions. Either way, the Cougars (16-22-2-4) are four points back of eighth place and will look to inch closer with a positive result tonight.

WHO'S UP FRONT:

20-year-old forward Todd Fiddler is making a great case for January Player of the Month honors already. In four games, Fiddler has 13 points and heading into tonight's game he sits ninth in WHL scoring overall. In a season littered with highs and lows, the acquisition of Fiddler remains a huge highlight for the Cougars up to this point. Hopefully Fiddler and his linemates Klarc Wilson and Zach Pochiro can all keep their streaks going tonight in Vancouver.

WHO'S ON D:

A few days ago, Cougars GM Dallas Thompson said that the Cougars were looking to get older on the back end. They accomplished that when they acquired Wil Tomchuk from the Tri-City Americans. Are the Cougars done? I guess that remains to be seen. Even with the addition of Tomchuk, the Cougars are frightfully young on the back end, and will need to rely on a group effort from the likes of Marc McNulty, Sam Ruopp, and Raymond Grewal to log some key minutes against a tenacious group of Vancouver Giants forwards tonight.

WHO'S IN GOAL:

Though he will likely earn his 17th consecutive start tonight in Vancouver, Ty Edmonds finally has some legitimate relief in goal. Yesterday the Cougars acquired 19-year-old netminder Adam Beukeboom from the Vancouver Giants. While Beukeboom has played Jr. A for the past season and a half, he has put together some legitimate numbers and hopefully that can translate back to the WHL. In 2011-2012, Beukeboom had success with the Regina Pats, and the nice thing here is that Mark Holick and Jason Becker can finally rest Edmonds if/when they feel the need to.

X-FACTOR:

After a wretched defensive performance on Tuesday against Seattle, the Cougars followed up on Wednesday with a solid outing against Seattle. And though they did lost 2-1 in a shootout, they couldn't blame defense or goaltending for that end result. Tonight in Vancouver it will be important for the Cougars to try and build off of that defensive success. If they can keep Vancouver's goals against to three or lower, they will give themselves a legitimate opportunity to win. When the Cougars surrender four or more goals, they tend to struggle. Let's see if the Cougars can put two solid defensive performances together in a row.