Website graphic confirming the Penticton Vees will be joining the WHL next season/via whl.ca
As Radio NL first told you a month ago, the Western Hockey League is expanding — making it official today.
The League has confirmed the Penticton Vees of the BC Hockey League have been granted a WHL franchise and will be followed a year later by a team in Chilliwack.
“This is an exciting day, as the Western Hockey League takes its next step as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players,” stated WHL Commissioner Dan Near on the league’s website. “Communities within B.C. produce talented young players from thriving grassroots hockey programs and we’re pleased to deliver WHL franchises to two important centres in the province – Penticton and Chilliwack.”
The Vees were one of the founding members of the BCHL back when it formed in 1961as the Okanagan-Mainline Junior Hockey League, which included the likes of the Kamloops Junior Rockets and the Kelowna Buckaroos.
Penticton’s hockey team, and the league, would undergo a lot of changes through the years, with the Vees taking on a powerhouse position within the BCHL, churning out championship contending teams on an almost annual basis.
However, with changes in NCAA policy to allow CHL players to be scholarship-eligible for US College Hockey, the Vees ownership decided the time was right to upgrade.
The move by the US college sports authority came after the BCHL broke ranks with Hockey Canada the year before to try to become a recruitment beacon for young players hoping to develop but also stay US college eligible.
Indications are the Vees ownership and Hockey Canada were able to get through any initial bad blood fairly quickly, even though it was Penticton’s majority owner, Graham Fraser, who was the chair of the BCHL Board of Directors at the time of the split with Hockey Canada.
WHL President Dan Near confirmed during the announcement that Penticton’s ownership group first reached out to the League about joining on October 23rd.
That’s around the same time reports began circulating the NCAA was preparing to bring down changes in its internal policies to allow players from the CHL to compete in US college hockey.
Because the CHL allows players signed to NHL contracts to continue playing, the NCAA classified the WHL, OHL and QMJHL as ‘professional,’ which denies any young person who signs with a CHL franchise access to US college teams.
That policy is being scaled back as of August 1st of this year, just ahead of the NCAA Division 1 Hockey tryouts.
Despite the split, Hockey Canada made the decision to welcome the Vees organization back into the fold, with the WHL in its report noting Hockey Canada did have to give the Vees approval to join the WHL and a return to sanctioned hockey activities under its umbrella.
The South Okanagan Events Center playing host to NHL preseason action between Vancouver and Calgary/via SOEC
“Today’s announcement is an exciting moment for hockey in British Columbia and Western Canada, and we are thrilled that fans in Penticton and Chilliwack will get to experience elite-level junior hockey in their communities,” said Katherine Henderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Canada through the WHL. “Providing Canadian athletes with premier development opportunities in our country is of the utmost importance to Hockey Canada and our Members, and we anticipate the WHL’s expansion will have a positive impact on our efforts with BC Hockey to grow the game in a hockey system that prioritizes the safety and wellness of participants.”
In making the statement, the WHL and Hockey Canada would go on to hint there may be a bit of resentment still connected to the split, as the statement suggested Penticton will have to play under the League’s, and Hockey Canada’s rules.
“The Penticton Vees will be bound by Hockey Canada’s existing player transfer regulations as well as WHL regulations,” stated the article on the WHL website in explaining that Penticton will participate in a 2025 WHL Expansion Draft, which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7.
Details as to how the Expansion Draft will work have not been laid out.
However, it will see Penticton go from a core group of 15 players it’s already been recruiting to selecting 35 more players to meet the WHL standard 50-player roster list when the Draft is over.
From there, the Vees will also be making selections in WHL Prospects Draft, otherwise known as the Bantam Draft, as well as this year’s U.S. Priority Draft and the CHL Import Draft.
No word as to where in the order the Vees will be selecting from.
Penticton will be playing out of the BC Division and are expected to have at least 6 head-to-head games with the Kamloops Blazers next season, as the League will be adjusting the schedule to accommodate the new franchise, which may end up creating more inner-divisional match ups to save on travel times and cost.
The WHL is also going to be working to try to create an inter-Okanagan rivalry straight away, with the League schedule expected to have Penticton going head-to-head to open the 2025-26 regular season with a home-and-home match-up with the Kelowna Rockets to start out the campaign.
“I really wanna kick Kelowna’s butt…” said Fraser at the Monday news conference.
Penticton Vees Head Coach Fred Harbinson, who will stay with the team as it transfers next season to the WHL/via Elite Prospects
The team will maintain the Vees name, though it’s not clear if the current branding will remain the same.
The team will play out of the South Okanagan Events Centre, which can hold 5,000.
It’s been home to the Vees since 2008, the same year Graham Fraser took control of the club.
Other part owners in the Vees include Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele and former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter.
Current head coach Fred Harbinson, who has been behind the bench for the Vees since the 2007-08 campaign, will remain on as the team’s Head Coach, as well as its General Manager and Team President.
While the move from the Junior A to the WHL ranks has been confirmed, the Vees still have to finish out the rest of their BCHL season, which has them currently in 1st place in the Interior Division, four points ahead of the Brooks Bandits, one of five Alberta Junior Hockey League teams that joined the BCHL in the 2023-24 season after the split with Hockey Canada.
Penticton is due to close out its BCHL regular season on Saturday, March 29th against Cranbrook, after playing their 2nd last BCHL regular season game on Friday against Salmon Arm.
The BCHL playoffs will begin in early April.
–With files from Jon Keen
