Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported Thursday that the Vancouver Giants have added F 
Jared Legien, 20, to their roster. He had been playing with the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . With D Matt Barberis out since Nov. 18 with an undisclosed injury, the Giants have been utilizing two 20s — F Davis Koch and F Jared Dmytriw. Should Barberis return at some date, they would have to make a decision and get back down to three. . . . Legien, from Pilot Butte, Sask., was selected by the Kootenay Ice with the ninth overall pick of the 2013 bantam draft. . . . In 84 games over three seasons (2014-17) with the Ice, he had four goals and five assists. Last season, he played 36 games with the Victoria Royals (13-20–33) and 25 with the Regina Pats (10-7—17). . . . This season, Legien had 28 goals and 24 assists in 32 games with the Terriers. . . . Legien is expected to be in Vancouver’s lineup tonight when they meet the Rebels in Red Deer.
According to a report out of Cranbrook, D Jonathon Smart, 19, didn’t return to the Ice 
from the Christmas break. . . . Jeff Bromley (@JeffBromley1), a former newspaper reporter who covered the Ice for 15 years and a long-time season-ticket holder, tweeted that Smart left for “personal and hockey reasons.” . . . Smart, who is from Kelowna, had three goals and eight assists in 36 games this season. . . . The Kelowna Rockets selected him in the first round of the 2014 bantam draft. In 216 regular-season WHL games — 68 with Kelowna, 64 with the Regina Pats and 84 with the Ice — he had 14 goals and 66 assists. . . . Smart is at least the fourth veteran WHLer to leave the Ice this season, following D Sam Huston, F Nick Bowman and F Brendan Semchuk. As well, F Jack Cowell refused to report after being acquired from the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Ice also has traded away four veterans — forwards Brett Davis, Cam Hausinger, Kaeden Taphorn and Keenan Taphorn — since the start of the season. . . .
The Ice has added F Owen Pederson, 16, to its roster for the remainder of this season. He was a fifth-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . This season, Pederson, who is from Stony Plain, Alta., had 11 goals and 19 assists in 18 games with the Edmonton-OHA prep team. He also got into eight earlier games with the Ice, scoring twice. . . .
The Ice also has brought in D Carson Lambos, a 15-year-old from Winnipeg who plays for the Rink Hockey Academy’s prep team. Lambos, the second overall pick in the 2018 bantam draft, was pointless in one earlier game with Kootenay. . . .
The Ice is scheduled to visit the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night.
The Medicine Hat Tigers have added G Garin Bjorklund, 16, to their roster. From Calgary, Bjorklund will back up Jordan Hollett with Mads Sogaard playing for Denmark at the World Junior Championship. . . . Bjorklund is in his second season with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes. He was a first-round pick by the Tigers in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft.
I knew that I likely would miss someone when I listed players with WHL ties who are at the WJC. Sure enough. Thanks to Catherine Nielsen for pointing out that Slovakian F Milos Fafrak was a freshman with the Spokane Chiefs last season — he had nine goals and 10 assists in 66 games — before returning home to play with the two national U-20 sides.
In their first 32 games, the Portland Winterhawks met the Tri-City Americans once; the 
Americans won 6-5 in a shootout at home on Sept, 28. . . . Those two teams closed out the pre-Christmas schedule with back-to-back games — the host Americans won 3-2 in OT on Dec. 15, then won 4-3 in OT in Portland the next evening. So when those teams resume their schedules tonight it only makes sense that they should meet again. Right? . . . Yes, they’ll clash in Portland. . . . It’s also worth noting that the Americans will have faced the Winterhawks in three straight games with ace F Cody Glass out of the lineup. Glass, of course, is with Team Canada at the WJC. . . .
When this regular season is over, it will be interesting to look back and see how much of 
an impact the Kootenay Ice will have had on the outcome of the U.S. Division race. Yes, the Everett Silvertips (27-7-2) are well on their way to the division title, what with a 14-point lead over Portland and the Spokane Chiefs, both of whom are 19-11-4. . . . The Winterhawks were scheduled to meet the Ice (8-22-6) once this season — Portland beat the visiting Ice, 10-2, on Dec. 2. . . . The Chiefs, meanwhile, will face the Ice on five occasions. Spokane won 7-4 in Cranbrook on Sept. 28, and then beat the Ice 6-3 at home the next night. The Chiefs also won 4-3 in OT in Spokane on Dec. 8. They’ll meet again Jan. 5 in Cranbrook and Feb. 9 in Cranbrook. . . . Should the Chiefs win the last two meetings, they’ll have picked up 10 points in games with the Ice, while Portland will have claimed two.
The WHL’s Christmas trade moratorium is over, having ended on Thursday at 12:01 a.m.
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COUNTDOWN TO DEADLINE
(WHL trade deadline: Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT)
Thursday’s action:
No. of trades: 0.
Players: 0.
Bantam draft picks: 0.
Conditional draft picks: 0.
——
Total deals (since Nov. 26):
No. of trades: 14.
Players: 30.
Bantam draft picks: 23.
Conditional draft picks:6.
(Note: On Nov. 30, Kelowna traded F Jack Cowell, 19, to Kootenay for a third-round selection in the 2020 bantam draft. Cowell chose not to report and the deal was voided, so isn’t included in these totals.)
Steve Wulf, a senior writer with ESPN, has written a wonderful feature about a team of hockey players that includes a 95-year-old and a few other youngsters. It’s great stuff and it’s right here.
THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
F Sergei Alkhimov scored twice to help the Regina Pats to a 3-2 victory over the Wheat 
Kings in Brandon. . . . Regina improved to 10-24-1, while Brandon slipped to 15-11-6. . . . The Pats took a 2-0 first-period lead on PP goals from F Robbie Holmes (7), at 3:29, and Alkhimov, at 11:30. . . . F Ridly Greig (8) got Brandon on the scoreboard with a PP goal at 5:07 of the second period. . . . Alkhimov gave the Pats a 3-1 lead with his ninth goal at 2:32 of the third period. . . . D Cole Reinhardt (6) scored Brandon’s second goal at 10:56. . . . Each team may have a player suspended before tonight’s rematch in Regina. . . . Brandon F Stelio Mattheos, who leads the Wheat Kings in goals, assists and points, was hit with a match penalty for attempt to injure at 6:39 of the first period. He apparently reacted after F Linden McCorrister was helped off the ice following a hit. . . . The Pats lost Holmes to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 14:46 of the second period for a hit on F Connor Gutenberg, who went to the dressing room then returned for the third period. . . . G Jiri Patera, Brandon’s go-to guy, is at the WJC with Czech Republic. With him gone, the Wheat Kings will run with Ethan Kruger, 17, and have Connor Ungar, 16, backing up. . . . Ungar, from Calgary, plays for the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. . . . D Braden Schneider was back in Brandon’s lineup after not playing since Nov. 17 because of an undisclosed injury.
D Alex Moar’s first WHL goal gave the Swift Broncos a 4-3 OT victory over the Warriors 
in Moose Jaw. . . . Swift Current (7-24-2) had lost its previous two games. It now is 2-16-0 on the road. . . . Moose Jaw is 17-8-6. . . . The Warriors will get another shot at the Broncos tonight in Swift Current. . . . Last night’s winner came as Moar successfully completed a 2-on-1 break with F Matthew Culling at 1:58 of OT. . . . Goals from Culling (5) and D Matthew Stanley (1) at 14:29 and 17:07 of the third period had given Swift Current a 3-1 lead. . . . The Warriors scored twice with G Brodan Salmond on the bench for the extra attacker, with F Brayden Tracey (11) making it 3-2 at 18:51 and F Keenan Taphorn (9) tying it at 19:13. . . . Moar, who was acquired from the Everett Silvertips, won it with his first goal in 22 career games, 18 of them with the Broncos. . . . Moose Jaw held a 42-21 edge in shots, including 10-3 in the first period and 20-7 in the second, but Swift Current G Joel Hofer continued his fine season. Despite a 5-19-2 record, and a 4.15 GAA, he has a .900 save percentage. . . . The Warriors were 0-4 on the PP; the Broncos didn’t get even one opportunity. . . . The Broncos scratched both of their 17-year-old Finnish freshmen imports — F Joona Kiviniemi and D Roope Pynnonen — due to travel-related issues on their way back from the break. Both players are expected to be available tonight. . . . The Warriors were without F Luke Ormsby, who completed a two-game WHL-issued suspension. . . . Moose Jaw also is missing head coach Tim Hunter and D Josh Brook, both with Team Canada at the WJC. In Hunter’s absence, associate coach Mark O’Leary is in charge of the bench.
D Brayden Pachal, who sat out the previous two games with a suspension, scored twice, including one in OT, as the Prince Albert Raiders beat the Blades, 4-3, in Saskatoon. . . . 
The Raiders (32-2-1) have won four in a row. . . . The Blades (21-10-5) have points in six straight (4-0-2). . . . They’ll play the rematch tonight in Prince Albert. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (2) staked the Blades to a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 12:59 of the first period. . . . The visitors took a 2-1 lead on two goals from F Noah Gregor (21), at 13:37 of the first and 2:52 of the second. . . . Saskatoon went ahead 3-2 on second-period goals from F Eric Florchuk (10), at 4:28, and F Max Gerlach (20), on a PP, at 6:22. . . . Pachal tied it at 6:28 of the third and won it with his ninth goal of the season, banging home a rebound 33 seconds into OT. . . . Pachal has 20 goals in 206 career regular-season games. This was his second career two-goal game. . . . F Cole Fonstad drew three assists for the Raiders, the fourth straight game in which he had at least two points. He has a goal and nine assists in that stretch. . . . Gregor also had an assist for a three-point outing. . . . Gregor has seven goals and three assists in helping the Raiders go 4-0-0 without G Ian Scott and F Brett Leason, both of whom are with Team Canada at the WJC.
Hansch is joining an as-yet-unnamed NHL team as an amateur scout.
Carson Lambos, D Karter Prosofsky and F Skyler Bruce. . . . Lambos, from Winnipeg, was taken second overall. He had 15 goals and 25 assists in 30 games with the Winnipeg-based Rink Hockey Academy Nationals bantam prep team. He was named the CSSHL bantam league’s top defenceman. . . . Prosofsky and Bruce were second-round selections. . . . Prosofsky, from Saskatoon, had eight goals and 10 assists in 24 games with the Victoria-based Pacific Coast Hockey Academy’s bantam prep team. . . . Bruce, from Winnipeg, also played at the Rink Hockey Academy. He had 21 goals and 19 assists in 30 games with the bantam prep team.
TAKING NOTE 