PREVIEW: Giants Begin Home-and-Home with Wild for Sock Saturday
LANGLEY, B.C. – The new look Vancouver Giants (17-22-1-1) host the Wenatchee Wild (15-22-1-1) at Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m. tonight, coming off an exciting overtime win at home yesterday over the Tri-City Americans.
In partnership with Encompass, Langley Community Services Society and the Township of Langley Firefighters Charitable Society, tonight the Giants are hosting Sock Saturday. Fans are encouraged to bring new socks for the homeless in exchange for chuck-a-pucks for a chance to win a great prize!
Sock donations will go to Lookout Housing and Health Society, Langley Vineyard, Langley Gateway of Hope and the Ron Cares Society.
The Giants went through a major shake up leading into Thursday’s WHL trade deadline, completing seven trades, with six new faces on the Giants and seven players now departed. One of those new faces – Mathis Preston – scored the OT winner last night 26 seconds into 3-on-3 sudden death.
The Wild lost at home last night 4-2 to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
HOW TO TUNE IN
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NEW FACES
The new faces up front are two high-end 17-year-old talents and a 20-year-old: Mathis Preston is a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, Joe Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome and the younger brother of Kelowna Rockets forward Tij and Misha Volotovskii is a veteran two-way centre who won a WHL Championship last year with Medicine Hat.
On the blueline, the Giants acquired two d-men to solidify their top-4: Will Sharpe was acquired from Kelowna and Kaleb Hartmann was acquired from Seattle. Jaxson Pawlenchuk was also acquired for added depth, someone who can jump in on forward or defence.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Giants remain six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, but they are also seven points back of fourth place.
Although Wenatchee are in last place in the West, they are just four points back of the Giants and have gone 4-3-0 in their last seven games. The Wild have the WHL’s best PK, but they struggle to score goals: they are 2nd-last in average goals per game at 2.74 and dead last in road goals per game at 2.05.
Tonight is the third of four meetings between Vancouver and Wenatchee this season, with both home teams winning their respective games. In fact, in the 2.5 year history of H2H play between the Giants and Wild, the home team has won every single game.
| LAST 5 H2H vs. WEN (3-2-0-0) | ||
| DATE | LOCATION | RESULT |
| Nov. 26, 2025 | Town Toyota Center | 5-2 L |
| Oct. 17, 2025 | LEC | 5-2 W |
| Mar. 2, 2025 | LEC | 3-1 W |
| Feb. 23, 2025 | Town Toyota Center | 6-2 L |
| Jan. 3, 2025 | LEC | 3-0 W |
LAST 5 GAMES (2-3-0-0) | 18 GF, 18 GA
| DATE | VAN RESULT | SCORE | VAN SCORERS | IN GOAL | GWG |
| Jan. 9 | WIN | VAN 4 vs. TC 3 (OT) | Lin (2), McCloskey, Preston (OTW) | Hood (30/33) | Preston (VAN) |
| Jan. 3 | LOSS | VAN 4 at POR 5 | Schmidt (2), Halaburda, Oreskovic | Pyne (34/39) | Brown (POR) |
| Jan. 2 | LOSS | VAN 2 at SPO 3 | Gerrior, Domenichelli | Hood (40/43) | Preston (SPO) |
| Dec. 30 | LOSS | VAN 1 vs. CGY 4 | Sparks | Pyne (32/36) | Amrhein (CGY) |
| Dec. 28 | WIN | VAN 7 vs. KAM 3 | Schmidt (3), Gerrior, Obobaifo, Oreskovic, Sparks | Hood (36/39) | Schmidt (VAN) |
TALE OF THE TAPE (2025-26 REG SEASON)
| VANCOUVER | WENATCHEE | |
| 17-22-1-1 — 36 points | Team Record | 15-22-1-1 — 32 points |
| 0.439 | Points % | 0.410 |
| 10th/16th | Conf./WHL Ranking | 12th/19th |
| 4-6-0-0 | Past 10 Games | 4-6-0-0 |
| 1-0-0-0 | Streak | 0-1-0-0 |
| 4-3 OTW vs. TC (Jan. 9) | Last Game | 4-2 L vs. MJ (Jan. 9) |
| 11-8-1-0 | Home Record | 11-8-1-0 |
| 6-13-0-1 | Away Record | 4-14-0-1 |
| 135 (3.39 – 16th) | GF | 107 (2.74 – 22nd) |
| 167 (4.20 – 19th) | GA | 136 (3.49 – 12th) |
| -32 (20th) | Goal Differential | -29 (18th) |
| (34/133) 25.6% | PP (Overall) | (29/169) 17.2% |
| (45/143) 68.5% | PK (Overall) | (29/175) 83.4% |
| (2/10) 20% | PP vs. Opp. | (2/8) 25% |
| (2/8) 75% | PK vs. Opp. | (2/10) 80% |
| Lin (11-39-50) | Top Scorer | Toll (3-27-30) |
WHAT ARE WE WEARING
The Giants will be wearing their black and grey alternate jerseys tonight.
UPCOMING
Tonight is the first of three games this weekend.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| Saturday, January 10 | Wenatchee | Langley Events Centre | 7:00 PM |
| Sunday, January 11 | Wenatchee | Town Toyota Center | 4:00 PM |
