Penticton Vees

The Penticton Vees are a junior "A" ice hockey team from Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League. The junior Vees were founded in 1961, sharing the name of the senior hockey team, the Penticton Vees, and since resuming full league play after Covid-19, have repeated as BCHL League Champions in 2021–22 and 2022–23. On March 24, 2025, the Vees were awarded an expansion franchise in the Western Hockey League, to begin play in the 2025–26 season.

History

The Junior Vees were one of the inaugural teams in the Okanagan-Mainline Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), launched in 1961. The league became the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) in 1967.

The Penticton Vees were named for the Veteren, Valiant, and Vidette varieties of peaches grown in the Okanagan Valley.

The Vees were Mowat Cup champions in 1968, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, as well as in 1986, when they were also Centennial Cup champions. After 26 years since their last RBC Cup appearance, the Vees advanced to the championship game in the 2012 RBC Cup in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, defeating the Woodstock Slammers 4–3 on a goal by Joey Benik to win the Canadian National Junior A Championship.

In March 2025, the City of Penticton was awarded an expansion franchise in the Western Hockey League and that the BCHL team would be migrated to the WHL for the 2025–26 WHL season.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''

Western Canada Cup

Western Canada Cup was the Western Canada Junior A Championship held from 2013 to 2017. The champions from the AJHL, BCHL, MJHL, SJHL, and a host team competed in round-robin tournament. After the round-robin, the first and second place team played for championship, the loser then played a runner-up g game against the winner of a third vs. fourth semifinal game. The champion and runners-up would then qualify to compete for the RBC Cup and the National Junior A Championship.

National Junior A Championship

The National Junior A Championship, formerly known as the Royal Bank Cup from 1996 to 2018, is the annual championship tournament for Hockey Canada's junior A hockey leagues. Depending on the year, various regional champions, qualifiers, and hosts participate in the championship tournament. The tournament usually consists of opening in a round-robin with the top four teams then advancing to a semifinal were the winners compete a championship game.

NHL alumni

Forty-three alumni of the junior Penticton team have moved on to play in the National Hockey League.

In the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Bradly Nadeau was drafted in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes (# 30 overall) as the only first-round BCHL player selected and Aydar Suniev was selected #80 by Calgary Flames. 19 2022-23 players have committed to NCAA Hockey teams, including the two NHL draftees.

Penticton Broncos (1964–1975)
* Bruce Affleck, Tony Currie, Gary Donaldson, Reg Kerr, Dave McLelland, Vic Mercredi, Grant Mulvey, Bob Nicholson
Penticton Vees (1975–1979)
* Ross Fitzpatrick, Darren Jensen, Kevin Maxwell, Andy Moog, Howard Walker

Penticton Knights (1979–1990)
* Rick Boh, Jim Camazzola, Ed Cristofoli, Neil Eisenhut, Ray Ferraro, Norm Foster, Brett Hull, Ian Kidd, Scott Levins, Derek Mayer, Joe Murphy, Scott Sharples

Penticton Panthers (1990–2004)Penticton Panthers alumni search from legendsofhockey.net
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* Mike Brown, Kyle Cumiskey, Paul Kariya, Duncan Keith, Chuck Kobasew, Rick Lanz, Brendan Morrison, Jason Podollan, Kevin Sawyer, Robbie Tallas, Tanner Glass, Matt Zaba

Penticton Vees (2004–present)
* Zac Dalpe, Ryan Johansen, Beau Bennett, Curtis McKenzie, Mike Reilly, Troy Stecher, Tyson Jost, Dante Fabbro, Hunter Miska, Bradly Nadeau, Owen Sillinger

See also

*List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia
* Penticton Vees (senior)

References

Further reading

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External links

Penticton Vees official website

{{British Columbia Sports

British Columbia Hockey League teams
Sport in Penticton
1961 establishments in British Columbia
Ice hockey clubs established in 1961