WHL Expands To Penticton, Launches Franchise Application Process For Chilliwack

News release from the Western Hockey League

The Western Hockey League announced today the awarding of an expansion franchise to the Penticton Vees for the 2025-26 WHL season along with the initiation of a franchise application process for the City of Chilliwack, to begin play in the 2026-27 WHL season.

“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,” commented WHL Commissioner Dan Near. “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. In each market the WHL operates in, we aim to serve as role models within the local hockey community, business community, and beyond. We look forward to the opportunity to continue these efforts in Penticton and Chilliwack.”

Penticton possesses an incredibly rich hockey history, a strong commitment from its municipal government, outstanding facilities, community support, and is also home to high-performance competition, including the Canadian Sports School Hockey League (CSSHL) Championships.

“We’re thrilled with the announcement that the Western Hockey League is bringing the top tier of junior hockey to Penticton,” said Julius Bloomfield, Mayor of the City of Penticton. “Our community has a long, proud hockey tradition and this represents the next chapter in our story. The WHL will bring excitement, excellence and economic activity to our town and we can’t wait for the first training camp to open.”

Chilliwack is a longstanding outpost for junior hockey in the Lower Mainland. As a growing and thriving community with dedicated municipal government, Chilliwack will quickly establish itself as a pillar of strength in the WHL.

“Having the WHL select Chilliwack for expansion is exciting for our community,” said Jason Lum, Acting Mayor of the City of Chilliwack. “The league has a strong track record of supporting youth programs and local charities while boosting the economy in its home cities. Along with the high calibre of play, the WHL also plays a crucial role in developing future NHL stars.”

Hockey Canada has granted approval for the Penticton Vees to join the WHL and return to sanctioned hockey activities.

“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. “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. We congratulate the WHL and the cities of Penticton and Chilliwack for their roles in ensuring the sport of hockey continues to thrive and unite communities across our country.”

The expansion of the WHL to Penticton and Chilliwack will increase the WHL footprint to 24 member Clubs by 2026-27, including 18 throughout Western Canada and six in the Pacific Northwest United States.

“As we evaluate the everchanging landscape of hockey, this marks a critical opportunity for the WHL to invest in enhancing the WHL Player Experience across all 24 WHL markets,” Near said. “The WHL remains committed to offering a world-class player experience for hockey’s elite junior-aged players, and with that, we will continually raise our standards across the board to adapt to the changing landscape.”

Strategically, these two key markets fit perfectly within the WHL’s existing footprint in the Western Conference, particularly as it pertains to B.C.’s Lower Mainland, Okanagan, and South Thompson Valley regions. Penticton will join the WHL’s B.C. Division and Western Conference for 2025-26.

Penticton, British Columbia (2025-26)

The WHL Penticton franchise will be owned and operated by Graham Fraser, who has been the majority owner of the BCHL’s Penticton Vees since June 2008. Fraser will migrate the Vees franchise to the WHL.

Joining Fraser as partners are Winnipeg Jets forward and Ontario Hockey League alumnus Mark Scheifele, former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, and prominent Penticton businessmen Joe Walters and Gord Kovacik.

“We are excited to welcome Graham Fraser and the entire Penticton Vees ownership group, along with Fred Harbinson, to the WHL,” commented WHL Commissioner Dan Near. “Following productive conversations with BC Hockey and Hockey Canada, we collectively agree that the repatriation of the Penticton Vees is good for the game of hockey in Canada.”

Harbinson will serve as the President, General Manager, and Head Coach of the WHL’s Penticton Vees.

The WHL’s Penticton Vees franchise will join the B.C. Division in the Western Conference for the 2025-26 regular season.

“It’s a very exciting time for our community and the Penticton Vees,” Fraser said. “We feel the city and hockey team are ready to take the next step and join the WHL. With Fred Harbinson, Dean Clarke, and our staffs, we will be in a great place to have continued success. I would like to thank our ownership group of Mark Scheifele, Mike Richter, Joe Walters, and Gord Kovacik for their support in making this a reality.”

The Penticton Vees will be bound by Hockey Canada’s existing player transfer regulations as well as WHL regulations. The Vees will participate in the 2025 WHL Expansion Draft, which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7. They will also participate in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft, and 2025 CHL Import Draft. The Vees have begun recruiting a 15-player list, which will expand to the WHL standard 50-player list May 7.

“This is a monumental moment in our franchise’s history, starting as an iconic senior team in the 1950s, to being a premier Junior ‘A’ team for the past 65 years,” Harbinson said. “The move to the WHL is the next chapter in the legacy of hockey in Penticton. I look forward to this new challenge, while competing against the best players and coaches in junior hockey.”

Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre – a WHL-ready, multi-purpose facility that seats 5,000 – has been home to the Penticton Vees since 2008.

“Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre is WHL ready and is one of the best amateur sports facilities in all of Western Canada,” Near said. “It is only natural that this gem houses a franchise in the WHL. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to bring WHL hockey to Penticton for the 2025-26 WHL season.”

Opened in 2008, the South Okanagan Events Centre is owned by the City of Penticton and managed by Oak View Group. The Okanagan’s premier sports and entertainment venue, the South Okanagan Events Centre has played host to world-class concerts and events and houses the Okanagan Hockey School along with the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 95,000-square-foot facility includes three ice rinks, modern dressing rooms, food and beverage service, team merchandise store, and 27 luxury suites. The South Okanagan Events Centre is also connected to the 60,000-square-foot Penticton Trade and Convention Centre – one of the largest trade show and convention facilities in B.C.

The greater Penticton region is home to nearly 45,000 people. Penticton represents a natural, geographical rival for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers.

Chilliwack, British Columbia (2026-27)

The City of Chilliwack is home to the Chilliwack Coliseum – a WHL-ready, multi-purpose facility that seats 5,000. Opened in 2004, the Chilliwack Coliseum is owned and operated by the City of Chilliwack. The Chilliwack Coliseum has played host to world-class concerts and events, including trade shows and conventions.

The City of Chilliwack is set to invest $3.7 million in upgrades to the Chilliwack Coliseum prior to the arrival of a WHL franchise in 2026-27, including enhancements to the scoreboard, lighting system, NHL-standard boards, and more.

The 144,000-square-foot facility includes two NHL-sized ice rinks, modern dressing rooms, food and beverage service, team merchandise store, and 13 luxury suites.

Chilliwack has an estimated population over 107,000, with expectations for it to see the largest population growth in the Fraser Valley in the next five years. Chilliwack also represents a natural, geographical rival for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

The WHL will immediately launch a franchise application process where interested parties will be invited to present a plan including a vision for hockey operations, community integration, and business operations, which will be evaluated by the WHL Commissioner and Executive Committee.

The WHL anticipates announcing the outcome of the franchise application process prior to the start of the 2025-26 WHL season, subject to the approval of the WHL Board of Governors.

Related Topics:#WesternHockeyLeague PentictonVees WHLExpansion WHLWesternConference

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Mistrial Declared in Junior Hockey Assault Trial. What Now?

Published on April 28, 2025

Bruce Dowbiggin

With all the Elbows Up election idiocy you can be forgiven for missing the news this past week that the trial of five former members of the 2018 men’s gold-medal winning Team Canada hockey team was declared a mistrial just a day into the proceedings. The five have all plead not guilty.

On Friday the judge ordered a new jury be empanelled after a half day of evidence in the trial of the players who are accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in 2018 in London, Ont. Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia has not released the reasons she halted the trial. It comes after outrage over a civil settlement between the victim and Hockey Canada in 2020 forced authorities to pursue the criminal charges.

The graphic nature of the evidence so far promises dramatic testimony should the trial go its full length. Thoughts that one of the quintet might accept a plea deal to roll over on his former teammates— a goal of the police and prosecution— have so far been unrealized. It is expected that the victim will testify.

The low-profile start to the trial in the case is a contrast with the front-page treatment it received after excellent reporting from Katie Strang of The Athletic and Rick Westhead of TSN. At the time the charges were announced in 2024, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote were with the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dubé was with the Calgary Flames and Carter Hart was with the Philadelphia Flyers. Alex Formenton had been signed by the Ottawa Senators but was playing in Switzerland.

The sensation was amplified by the role of Hockey Canada in the civil case, using funds to pay off the victim. Parliamentary hearings and front-page headlines added to the impact.

As we wrote in January of 2024, the hysteria encouraged the usual radicals to denigrate the national sport. “For the same reason that some think guns kill people, the toffs believe that hockey itself causes outbreaks of macho sexual behaviour. These people cheer for Sweden when it plays Canada because… Canadian hockey is just too down-market for them. Sweaty guys. Cold rinks. Meritocracy. Ick!

“We should clarify here that we mean men’s hockey. Womens’ hockey is not included in the loathing. In fact, metrosexuals from PM Justin Trudeau on down worship the wholesome new PWHL. Skippy recently gave a pep talk to the Ottawa players in their dressing room. Surprise. They lost.

“Players are married to rivals on other teams. Can you get more hip than that? Women’s hockey is nominally about winning; the real prize is equal pay for work of equal value. And the love of the Trudeau cabinet.

“But men’s hockey, with its crude meritocracy, must be shunned at all costs. Pediatric “experts” blame its emphasis on winning for causing kids to drop out.. So when the sordid tale of a 2018 multiple-sex allegation at a golf tournament arrived it warranted a hearing in the Commons, tut-tutting editorials by the score about the over-sexed nature of teenaged young hockey stars and multiple attempts to convict someone, anyone, for the act.

“That’s why the principals eventually pursued a civil case, where rules of evidence are less stringent. A civil case that Hockey Canada quickly paid off from a suspicious slush fund to end the ordeal for everyone. How’d that work out?

”Feminists and the non-binary set howled about this, but after the storm of outrage the media cycle disappeared from the public view. The 20 or so players on the 2018 Team Canada gold medal winners graduated into the NHL, and the league, which had no power to compel testimony nor a criminal charges to rely on, let them play.

“But pressure on police over the following months finally forced criminal charges. Butter cloak of secrecy prevailed. This was highly unsatisfactory. Who was under suspicion? Who was innocent? Player agents and lawyers kept their charges from self-incrimination at all costs.

“How will it end? Will there be convictions or will deals be done? In this time where social-media truths are fungible and Woke causes are paramount no one should hazard a guess. But one thing that will get an airing is the charge that hockey created this climate of sexual permissiveness. The sport must be condemned when its participants break the law.

You think that hockey caused this? That it doesn’t happen in the world of millionaire basketball or football or baseball players? Guess again. Cleveland Browns QB DeShaun Watson faced 24 sexual assault accusations. One former NBA player had seven children by six different women. Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer faced sexual assault charges from an alleged assault at his home.

How about the stories of young women who, like the young women pursuing athletes, went backstage at concerts and shows for a rendezvous with a famous rock star like Steven Tyler or Axl Rose and got more than they bargained for.

Or those who tried to climb the political or corporate ladder by submitting to power figures? Hello, Kamala Harris. This case is about power, stardom, privilege and exploitation. Ugly, yes. Life-wrecking for some. But trying to pigeon-hole hockey as the unique engineer of the tragedy is ignorant and irresponsible. “

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed Hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org. You can see all his books at brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

Bruce Dowbiggin

Is HNIC Ready For The Winnipeg Jets To Be Canada’s Heroes?

Published on April 15, 2025

Bruce Dowbiggin

It’s fair to say everyone in hockey wanted the Winnipeg Jets back in the NHL. They became everyone’s darlings in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers, the league’s second stab at a franchise in Georgia, were sold to Canadian interests including businessman David Thomson. (Ed.: Gary Bettman’s try number three in Atlanta is upcoming.).

Yes, the market is tiny. Yes, the arena is too small. Yes, Thomson’s wealth is holding back a sea of inevitability. But sentimentalists remembering the Bobby Hull WHA Jets and the Dale Hawerchuk NHL Jets threw aside their skepticism to welcome back the Jets. The throwback uniforms with their hints at Canada’s air force past were an understated nod to their modest pretensions. It was a perfect story.

The question now, however, is will the same folks get dewey-eyed about the Jets if they become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since (checks his cards) Montreal and Patrick Roy did it in 1993. It would be helpful in this election year if something were to bind a nation torn apart by politics. The Gordie Howe Elbows Up analogy is more than shopworn, and Terry Fox can only be resurrected so often. So a Cup win might be a welcome salve.

But the approved script has long dictated that the Canadian team to break the schneid should be one of the glamour twins of the NHL’s Canadian content, the Edmonton Oilers or the (gulp) Toronto Maple Leafs. The Oilers and their superstar Connor McDavid barely lost out last spring to Florida while the Leafs, laden with superstars like Auston Matthews and William Nylander, are overdue for a long playoff run.

Hockey Night In Canada positively pants for the chance to gush over these two squads each week. When was the last time Toronto played an afternoon game so HNIC could showcase the Jets? Like, never. Same for the Oilers, who with their glittering stars like McDavid Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent Hopkins are the primary tenants of the doubleheader slot, followed by Calgary. Winnipeg? We’ll get to them.

But there’s going to be no ignoring them in the spring of 2025. The Jets in the northern outpost in Manitoba were the top team in the entire league in 2024-25. They’ll comfortably win the Presidents Cup as the No. 1 squad and have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. They have the league’s best goalie in Connor Hellebuyck (an American) and a stable of top scorers led by Kyle Connor and Mark Schiefele. Because Winnipeg is on a lot of No Trade lists, they have built themselves through the draft and thrifty budgeting.

But will the same people who swooned over the Jets in 2011 now find them as adorable if they ruin the Stanley Cup plot lines of the Oilers, Leafs and Ottawa Senators? Will the fans of Canadian teams in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal not making the postseason take the Jets to their hearts or will they be as phoney as the Mike Myers commercials for the Liberals?

In addition, the Jets will be swamped by national media should they proceed through the playoffs. It’s one thing to carry the expectations of Winnipeg and Manitoba. It’s another to foot the bill for a hockey crazy county. We remember Vancouver’s GM Mike Gillis during the Canucks 2011 Cup run bemoaning the late arrivers of the press trying to critique his team as they made their way through the playoffs.

It will be no picnic for the Jets, however strong they’ve been in the regular season. No one was gunning for them as they might for the Oilers or Leafs. They will now get their opponents’ best game night after night. Hellebuyck has been a top three goalie in the NHL for a while, winning the Vezina Trophy, but his playoff performance hasn’t matched that of his regular-season version.

Already the injury bug that sidelines so many Cup dreams is biting at the Jets. Nikolaj Ehlers collided with a linesman in Saturday’s OT win in Chicago. Defenceman Dylan Samberg is also questionable after stopping a McDavid slap shot with his leg. A rash of injuries has ended the run of many a worthy Cup aspirant in the past. Can Winnipeg’s depth sustain the churn of seven weeks of all-out hockey?

As always for the small-market Jets time is of the essence. Keeping this core together is difficult with large markets lusting after your players. With the NHL salary cap going up it remains a chore to keep their top players. Schiefele and Hellebuyck are tied up longterm, but 40-goal man Connor is a UFA after next season while Ehlers is not signed after this season. Young Cole Perfetti will be an RFA in 2026. Etc.

So how much do Canadians love the Jets if they sneak in and steal the hero role by winning a Canadian Cup? Lets see Ron MacLean pun his way through that one.