British ColumbiaThe team announced earlier this year that it will be switching from the BCHL to the WHL. For players and fans, it’s an exciting new challenge.Tickets for historic home opener game against Kelowna Rockets are sold out Tiffany Goodwein · CBC News · Posted: Sep 26, 2025 7:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoPenticton Vees captain Nolan Stevenson signs autographs for fans at a launch party event on Wednesday, Sept. 24. The Vees are playing their very first home opener game as a WHL team against the Kelowna Rockets on Friday. (Tiffany Goodwein/CBC )In Penticton, a small city in B.C.’s Okanagan with a population under 40,000, you don’t have to go far to find out how much people love their local hockey team. A large billboard showing off the Penticton Vees greets commuters as they head into the city from the south and the junior hockey team even has a street named after it. This season, the excitement is strong. Tickets for the Vees’ home opener against the Kelowna Rockets on Friday have sold out. For fans, it’s their first glimpse of the team since a major change was announced earlier this year: after many successful years in the B.C. Hockey League (BCHL), including numerous championships, the team is now making the switch to the Western Hockey League (WHL). WATCH | Penticton Vees home opener sells out: Penticton Vees make their debut in the Western Hockey LeagueThe Penticton Vees made their debut in the Western Hockey League Thursday night. After decades of success with the British Columbia Hockey League, the team is now playing in the top level of major junior hockey in Canada. And as CBC’s Tiffany Goodwein reports, the new chapter comes amid changes to junior hockey.”There was a lot of legislative changes, as far as players that were able to go on to the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association], and with those changes we felt we needed to make a change,” explained longtime Vees coach Fred Harbinson. The changes mean players in the WHL can now go on to play Division 1 college hockey in the United States.Five Vees players are returning to the Penticton-based team from last year, including captain Nolan Stevenson. “I think it is a really special spot. I obviously know the city and the staff, so it was an easy choice,” he said.Penticton Vees coach Fred Harbinson speaks to a crowd of fans at a launch party on Sept. 24. (Tiffany Goodwein/CBC )The Western Hockey League is considered to be a premier league in junior hockey. Harbinson said he’s excited for the challenge. “I think we went from being one of the bigger fish to one of the smaller ones, maybe as far as the size of the city but not the way we play,” he said. The team lost 5-0 to the Victoria Royals to start off the season on Sept. 19 but defeated the Vancouver Giants 5-1 the next day. Longtime fansAt a launch party for the team on Wednesday, fans packed Penticton’s Gyro Park to cheer them on. Many have a long history with the team, which has roots dating back to at least 1961. Brian Wyatt has been a season ticket holder since 1992. For him, game night means date night with his wife. The couple has been married 51 years. “We both love the Vees. She’s a fanatic,” he said. Wyatt said he’s excited to see how the team evolves. “For me it’s almost a wait and see. I’ve always enjoyed the brand that we had the with BCHL. But with the WHL, we are going to see something different. This is the league that will send them straight to the professional ranks, and before it would send them off to school, it will do both now,” he said. A new league means a new rivalry, this time up Highway 97 with the Kelowna Rockets.Larry Fisher, a WHL scout for the The Pro Hockey Group, says Penticton will have some growing pains coming into the league. “I think this year, Kelowna is going to be on a different level than Penticton. I’m sure Penticton would like to get some wins on Kelowna. But I think in the coming years that rivalry will be something fans on both sides of the bridge look forward to,” he said. The new rivalry will be put to the test when the teams face off in back-to-back games this weekend. ABOUT THE AUTHORTiffany Goodwein is an award-winning journalist focused on covering Penticton and the south Okanagan area of British Columbia. She previously spent six years reporting in Alberta and is happy to be back home in B.C., where she grew up. You can contact her at tiffany.goodwein@cbc.ca
Penticton Vees sell out home opener as team takes shot at WHL
