Sean NorrisWith no games Monday night, WHL fans constantly checking Twitter for trade deadline updates might have to distracted themselves by watching a WHL ambassador on the evening's episode of "Jeopardy!"

Portland Winterhawks public address announcer Sean Norris (nicknamed "Pipes") appeared on Monday's episode, which was taped in early November. He was able to sneak away from Portland for a few days for the taping in California without missing a home Winterhawks game.

UPDATE: Norris finished third after going into Final Jeopardy with $800. He was the only one of the contestants to get the question correct (it was about the movie Thor) and he wagered $44. He received $1,000 and other parting gifts for his appearance.

Norris says that his job was definitely a factor in landing a spot on the show.

"The producers were very interested in the fact that I work for a hockey team," he said after Portland's home game last Friday. "They don't get many sports-related people on the show."

Norris, whose enthusiastic personality should make for a great TV presence, took an online "Jeopardy!" test about a year ago. Out of several hundred thousand online tests, a couple thousand people are selected for regional auditions around the U.S. Norris went to Seattle in August and participated in a mock game and an interview.

Six weeks later, Norris got a call inviting him to be a contestant, which shocked him.

Austin WatsonPicture London Knights haters evoking Princess Leia: Help us, Mike Vellucci, you're our only hope.

Evidently, why settle for adding one 19-year-old forward when you can add to? One day ahead of the Ontario Hockey League trade deadline, league-leading London has, final conditions pending, reeled in a force up fron by trading with the Peterborough Petes for world junior forward Austin Watson. So the Knights will end up with no worse than two of the best three or four forwards available in the league, with the Nashville Predators first-round choice coming to a team that already added a premier finisher by adding Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Greg McKegg, a 49-goal scorer last season with the Erie Otters.

How big is this? Well, Austin Watson is trending on Twitter at this writing and it seems to have immobilized the OHL website. So it's a pretty big deal. While forecasts on Watson's NHL upside are mixed, at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds he takes care of the Knights' biggest flaw up front (GM-coach Mark Hunter: "He's a bigger body who can score and we needed to get bigger up front"). He was producing for the Petes, with 14 goals and 33 points in 32 games.

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WHL

No doubt league-leading goal scorer Ty Rattie just loves seeing his name in the same sentence with Charlie Sheen's. (Portland Tribune)

Oh, you'll have to pay if you want to pry Jordan Weal away from the Regina Pats. Don't think you won't pay! (Regina Leader-Post)

Meantime, next year's MasterCard Memorial Cup host, the Saskatoon Blades, might just let the chips fall where they may. Having star goalie Andrey Makarov go down with a concussion hurts for them. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

Brandon Wheat Kings forwards Alessio Bertaggia and Mark Stone talk about their world junior trip. (Luber's Lounge)

Brady Brassart has been a sparkplug of late for the Calgary Hitmen. (Calgary Herald)

Rookie Brian Williams has been the ultimate utility player for the Tri-City Americans. (Red Light District)

Getting a fourth-round pick from Tri-City for tough guy Jesse Mychan was a coup for the Everett Silvertips,

abSaskatoon Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower couldn't have done any better of a job of increasing his draft stock over this past month.

The 6-foot, 185-pounder was named CHL player of the week at the end of December. This honour is mainly due to his eye-popping performance against the Prince Albert Raiders in the Blades last game of 2011. Thrower, 18, netted two goals and four assists in a 9-4 shellacking of the struggling Raiders. Thrower followed that superb showing by kicking off the New Year with a bang. He scored one goal and three assists against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Jan. 1.

"The puck has just been bouncing my way and hard work is paying off," says the 18-year-old. "These hot streaks are nice. I'm just going to continue to work hard and try and keep this play going."

The North Vancouver, B.C., native has benefited from playing alongside Colorado Avalanche first-round choice Duncan Siemens. Thrower has been able to watch firsthand how much hard work and dedication it takes to

Zach_O'BrienNo. 1 star: Zach O'Brien, Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

The Tic-Tac-Toe Line, as the Matthew Bissonnette-Sébastien Trudeau-Zach O'Brien line has been dubbed, combined to hit double digits in points for the second game in a row while leading the Titan to a 6-5 overtime win over the Gatineau Olympiques. O'Brien had two goals and two assists, giving him a league-best 37 markers and 77 points. The Titan started slowly and were down 3-1 at one point, but O'Brien stepped it up and both his goals were go-ahead markers. Bissonnette, who's also in the top five in league scoring, scored the overtime winning goal.

No. 2 star: Alex Petrovic, Red Deer Rebels (WHL)

The Florida Panthers prospect had an excellent all-around game to help the Rebels upend the top team in their conference with a 4-3 road shootout win over the Edmonton Oil Kings. Petrovic, 19, had two assists in regulation time and had a beautiful shootout conversion against goalie Laurent Brossoit in the third round of the shootout when a miss would have sealed the extra point for Edmonton. Colten Mayor got the winner two rounds later.

Nail YakupovWith everyone's No. 1 pick Nail Yakupov injuring his left knee, one can officially say without fear of hyperbole that the NHL's draft class is hexed. The shame of it, of course, is that this is as

Apologies for getting to this after everyone else — covering the world junior means needing a day or two to decompress afterward — but Yakupov went down late in Russia's gold-medal game loss to Sweden. Needless to say, it would affect the Sarnia Sting's playoff ambitions more than it would affect The Saucy Tatar's chances of being the top pick, pending the results of a MRI that he was schedule to have this weekend. If it's longer term, it could cause him to miss two showcase events. Prior to the CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game on Feb. 1 in Kelowna, B.C.,  the Sting just happen to be have a game in Ottawa during the NHL all-star weekend.

Yakupov had a very good world junior tournament. Eight assists in seven games is nothing to sneeze at from a player just three months past his 18th birthday. He passed that test with flying colours. It's also a safe bet is that the higher the player's draft stock before the injury, the less likely it is that getting hurt is going to cause him to drop.

Still, with Yakupov going down, that makes at least 10 potential first-round talents who have had a significant physical setback this season. Peterborough Petes star defenceman Slater Koekkoek has also opted for season-ending shoulder surgery later this month. The whole deal is grimmer some of than Tim Tebow's pass attempts.

Gallagher_Brendan_11_12_14105

No. 1 star: Brendan Gallagher, Vancouver Giants (WHL)

As a Montreal Canadiens prospect, Gallagher without a doubt wanted to impress Canadiens great Guy Lafleur as he took in tonight's action between the Giants and Portland Winterhawks in the Pacific Coliseum. A hat trick and four assists later, it's safe to say Gallagher turned Lafleur's head at least once or twice throughout the game.

The world junior bronze medalist made his mark on the man advantage. He scored all three of his goals on the power play. He also assisted four goals, including Jordan Martinook's shorthanded marker in the third period. This seven point night gives Gallagher 27 goals and 53 points on the year.

This 8-4 win gives the Giants 52 points on the year, three points behind the Western Conference's third-place Winterhawks. There seems to be no gaping holes in the Giants' roster. Their offense is stacked with Gallagher, Detroit Red Wings prospect Marek Tvrdon, and recently signed Russian winger Alex Kuvaev.

Dalton SmithNo. 1 star: Dalton Smith, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

It took 171 OHL games, but Smith finally registered his first career hat trick as the 67's pasted Belleville 7-2 to move six points clear of the Bulls on top of the East Division.

Smith, of course, isn't the most popular guy in Belleville, considering he received a 10-game suspension earlier in the season for an elbow to the head of Bulls goaltender Malcolm Subban, who's currently out with a groin injury.

The timing of Smith's breakout is probably no accident. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has recently joined Ottawa's first line alongside top scorers Tyler Toffoli (who had a goal and four assists Friday) and Sean Monahan (who had four assists).

Smith made a last-ditch case for sticking with the top unit, with new acquisition John McFarland waiting in the wings to join the 67's for a rematch in Belleville Saturday night. Coach Chris Byrne might think twice about breaking up his top unit's chemistry for a new player, even though Toffoli and McFarland dominated midget hockey as teammates.

Goaltender Michael Nishi also had a big night for Ottawa, stopping 38 of 40 shots on the eve of Petr Mrazek's return from stardom at the World Junior Championship.

No. 2 star: Matt Hewitt, Regina Pats (WHL)

Hewitt, who's quietly having a quality season in Regina, posted his second shutout in a month on Friday, blanking the Saskatoon Blades 3-0.

The 19-year-old from New Westminster, B.C., made 33 saves to improve to 22-11-2-1, and the Pats moved into a tie (for the moment) with Kootenay and Medicine Hat for third place in the Eastern Conference.

Regina is now unbeaten in its past six games, and the notion that Jordan Weal is going to be available at the trade deadline is looking more far-fetched every day. Of course, with how close the East is right now, a four-game losing streak could find the Pats plunging back to eighth (potential buyers and sellers seem to be changing by the hour).

Meanwhile, the Blades have lost seven of 10 and have sunk into a tie for sixth with Calgary, just a point ahead of eighth-place Brandon.

No. 3 star: Zach O'Brien, Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

With two goals and two assists in a 5-2 win over Cape Breton, O'Brien moved into a tie for the Q's scoring lead with Victoriaville's Yanni Gourde at 73 points. He's also the first player in the league to hit the 35-goal mark this season.

The Titan are also surging in the standings, having won nine of 12 to move into a tie with Chicoutimi for eighth place in the league and bolstering their hopes for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Honourable mention: Brad Ross, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Ross scored all three goals in the Winterhawks' tougher-than-expected 3-1 win over the last-place Everett Silvertips. While Ty Rattie is getting most of the publicity in Portland, Ross has surged as of late and now ranks fourth in the WHL with 28 goals -- still nine behind his league-leading teammate.

The score could have been much worse, but Everett goaltender Kent Simpson set a franchise record with 55 saves on 57 shots (Ross's third goal was an empty-netter). On the other end, 16-year-old Brendan Burke got a rare start in net for Portland and came up with 30 saves.