PREVIEW: Iginla Brothers Go Toe-to-Toe as Rockets Visit Giants For Country Night Saturday
LANGLEY B.C. – It’s time to dust off your boots as the Vancouver Giants (18-27-1-2) battle the Kelowna Rockets (24-16-4-2) for JR Country Night on Saturday at Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m, which marks the first contest in a five-game home stand.
Saturday’s game is presented by JR Country to support babies in our community through the charity campaign Basics for Babies!
Fans are encouraged to bring donations to the JR street team tent, such as baby formula, diapers, or other essential baby items. Everyone who donates at the JR tent will be entered into a prize draw to see JR Country Artist Chris Stapleton in concert!
The Giants are also running a Chuck-a-Puck on Saturday! Chuck-a-pucks can be purchased at Gates 2 and 7 until the end of the first period. It’s $10 for 3 pucks, with 100% of proceeds benefiting Basics for Babies.
Tonight will be the second ever WHL tilt between the Iginla brothers: Joe, 17, was acquired by the Giants on Jan. 5 and will be making his home debut with Vancouver, while Tij, 19, will be playing for the Rockets just weeks after representing Canada at the World Juniors.
It will also be the Giants first game against former captain Ty Halaburda, who was dealt to Kelowna ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline in his final season in the WHL.
The Giants have been decimated by injuries and unfortunately this weekend won’t get any better. The club has already been playing without captain Ryan Lin (upper body), forward Adam Titlbach (upper body), and new additions Mathis Preston (lower body) and Kaleb Hartmann (lower body), but they will also now have to play without 20-year-old centre Misha Volotovskii (illness).
The Giants dropped two games last weekend in Prince George and enter Saturday’s action seven points out of a playoff spot with 20 games remaining in the regular season.
HOW TO TUNE IN – REGULAR SEASON GAME 49/68
|
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Rockets won on home ice last night, 4-2 over the Prince George Cougars. They are 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games.
As the Memorial Cup hosts, Kelowna bolstered their roster ahead of the Trade Deadline with the additions of 19-year-old defencemen Keith McInnis – from Red Deer – and Parker Alcos – from Edmonton. They also got 18-year-old import forward Vojtech Cihar over from Czechia, who they had previously acquired in a trade with Lethbridge and had a standout World Juniors. Cihar has nine points in 10 games since joining Kelowna (1G-8A).
Vancouver is 12-10-1-0 on home ice.
This will be just the third of six head-to-head meetings between Vancouver and Kelowna this season. The Giants are 0-2 so far, but haven’t faced the Rockets in over a month.
| SEASON SERIES vs. KEL (0-2-0-0) | ||
| DATE | LOCATION | RESULT |
| Nov. 1, 2025 | LEC | 5-2 L |
| Dec. 27, 2025 | Prospera Place | 6-4 L |
| Jan. 31, 2026 | LEC | 7:00 PM |
| Feb. 14, 2026 | Prospera Place | 6:05 PM |
| Mar. 6, 2026 | Prospera Place | 7:05 PM |
| Mar. 8, 2026 | LEC | 4:00 PM |
LAST 5 GAMES (0-5-0-0) | 8 GF, 25 GA
| DATE | VAN RESULT | SCORE | VAN SCORERS | IN GOAL | GWG |
| Jan. 24 | LOSS | VAN 2 at PG 5 | Oreskovic, Volotovskii | Hood (38/42) | Gizowski (PG) |
| Jan. 23 | LOSS | VAN 2 at PG 7 | Tomik, Gerrior | Pyne (10/11)
Hood (23/29) |
Gizowski (PG) |
| Jan. 18 | LOSS | VAN 1 vs. PG 5 | Olson | Hood (45/49) | Lajoie (PG) |
| Jan. 17 | LOSS | VAN 1 at EVT 4 | Charko | Pyne (6/9)
Hood (33/34) |
Shantz (EVT) |
| Jan. 16 | LOSS | VAN 2 vs. PEN 4 | Olson, Sharpe | Hood (42/46) | Drancak (PEN) |
TALE OF THE TAPE (2025-26 REG SEASON)
| KELOWNA | VANCOUVER | |
| 24-16-4-2 — 54 points | Team Record | 18-27-1-2 — 39 points |
| 0.587 | Points % | 0.406 |
| 5th/10th | Conf./WHL Ranking | 12th/19th |
| 7-2-1-0 | Past 10 Games | 2-7-0-1 |
| 2-0-0-0 | Streak | 0-5-0-1 |
| 4-2 W vs. PG (Jan. 30) | Last Game | 5-2 L at PG (Jan. 24) |
| 9-7-3-2 | Home Record | 12-10-1-0 |
| 15-9-1-0 | Away Record | 6-17-0-2 |
| 168 (3.65 – 10th) | GF | 151 (3.15 – 17th) |
| 162 (3.52 – 11th) | GA | 201 (4.19 – 20th) |
| +6 (10th) | Goal Differential | -50 (21st) |
| (40/175) 22.9% | PP (Overall) | (35/159) 22.0% |
| (41/193) 78.8% | PK (Overall) | (49/168) 70.8% |
| (4/11) 36.4% | PP vs. Opp. | (2/10) 20% |
| (2/10) 80% | PK vs. Opp. | (4/11) 63.6% |
| Smith (24-29-53) | Top Scorer | Lin (11-39-50) |
WHAT ARE WE WEARING
The Giants will be wearing their grey and black alternate jerseys tonight.
UPCOMING
The Giants play tonight and tomorrow at home.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| Saturday, January 31 | Kelowna | Langley Events Centre | 7:00 PM |
| Sunday, Februiary 1 | Red Deer | Langley Events Centre | 4:00 PM |
