For the third time in a calendar week, the Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers are set to do battle in WHL action. After two games (and two victories) for the Cougars last weekend at home against Kamloops, the venue now switches to Kamloops where the Cougars are 2-0 on the season. Both Prince George and Kamloops are coming off losses from last night, and both are going to be hell-bent on bouncing back with a positive result here tonight.

OVERVIEW:

Hours removed from a 6-3 loss in Kamloops and a busy WHL trading deadline, the Blazers made headlines this morning for a different reason. The Kamloops Blazers have announced that Head Coach Dave Hunchak has taken a leave of absence from the team effective immediately and Guy Charron will be assuming the position of Head Coach until further notice. Charron is certainly no stranger to the Kamloops Bench, having served as the Blazers head coach in each of the three previous seasons and you know that the Blazers are going to be jacked up with a new bench boss at the helm.

WHO'S UP FRONT:

It was a busy trade deadline for Kamloops GM Craig Bonner who made several moves to help with the youth movement in Kamloops. Perhaps the most notable addition to the Blazers lineup is 17-year-old forward Matt Revel who was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Saskatoon Blades. Revel had an assist in his Blazers debut last night, and has all the makings of a franchise cornerstone for the next handful of seasons. Revel has nine goals and 26 points through 44 games this season, and tonight Revel will be suiting up in front of a new home crowd for the first time.

WHO'S ON D:

With four points in four games to start the month of January, Kamloops rearguard Josh Connolly leads all Blazers d-men with nine goals and 35 points in 43 games. Surely NHL scouts have taken notice of Connolly's obvious speed and skill and it will be very interesting to see if that translate into an NHL draft selection come June. For now, the major key for Connolly is to continue his positive development. Can he extend his point streak to five games tonight?

WHO'S IN GOAL:

In the hours following the trade deadline yesterday, the word on social media was that the Blazers had one more trade to announce. Sure enough they did announce a relatively major deal that saw 19-year-old goaltender Taran Kozun shipped off to Seattle in exchange for goaltender Justin Myles, defenceman Austin Douglas and a draft pick. That means that Bolton Pouliot will likely get a bulk of the work for the remainder of the season. This season Pouliot is 5-9-0-1 with a 3.73 goals-against-average and an .893 save percentage.

X-FACTOR:

The Kamloops Blazers have lost four straight games, and are just 2-8 in their last 10 games altogether. The playoffs are a major longshot for Kamloops at this point, but that doesn't mean that they won't want to spoil the Cougars pursuit of the post season. Tonight, with a new (albeit extremely familiar) face behind the bench, look for the Kamloops Blazers to play an extremely spirited and passionate game in front of their home crowd. The Blazers have dropped five straight decision to Prince George, and you know that they'll be hoping to snap that skid before it hits six tonight.

OVERVIEW:

Mark Holick's Prince George Cougars have had a tough week. After two wins last weekend against Kamloops, the Cougars have gone 0-2-0-1 in three games so far this week. Last night in Vancouver the Cougars let a 2-1 first period lead slip away into a 5-2 deficit. Sure the Cougars came extremely close to tying the game on numerous occasions, but they still ended up on the wrong end of a 6-5 loss to the Giants. Thankfully the Cougars remain just four points back of Tri-City in the West, and tonight gives the Cougars another chance to inch a little closer to eighth. Tri-City is hosting Everett and the Cougars are facing a team that they've beaten in five straight. Victory is a must tonight for PG.

WHO'S UP FRONT:

Another game, and another handful of points for second year Cougars forward Zach Pochiro. The 19-year-old St. Louis Blues prospect has recorded at least one point in every game since the holiday break, and is currently riding a nine game point streak which has seen him score seven goals and 17 points in that span. Last weekend against the Blazers, Pochiro had three goals and six points in two games. Pochiro has 12 points in six games against Kamloops this season.

WHO'S ON D:

Over his past five games, Marc McNulty has recorded two goals and eight points. The Detroit Red Wings prospect is playing some of his best hockey ever right now. With eight goals and 24 points, McNulty is on pace to slaughter his offensive numbers from last season, but more important he's providing some valuable minutes defensively as well and he'll need to have another strong game tongiht in Kamloops.

WHO'S IN GOAL:

After 17 consecutive starts between the pipes for the Cougars, it looks as though Ty Edmonds will be getting the night off tonight in favor of 19-year-old newcomer Adam Beukeboom. Beukeboom made his Cougars debut last night, relieving Ty Edmonds after just 12 minutes of action. And while Beukeboom took the loss in last night's game, he actually performed very well for Prince George, stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Hopefully Beukeboom can take full advantage of his opportunity with his new team, and put forth a solid outing tonight against Kamloops.

X-FACTOR:

Twice this season, Todd Fiddler has recorded a five-point game against Kamloops. In fact, Fiddler has 12 points in just three games against the Blazers this season. So far Fiddler has 14 points in five 2014 games, and hopefully he can continue his raging success against the Kamloops Blazers with a few more tonight.