The Penticton Vees are movin’ on up, and they’re bringing their name and logo with them.
On Monday, March 24, the Western Hockey League announced that the Vees — who were longtime members of the junior A-level BCHL — had been awarded an expansion franchise and would make the move up to major junior hockey for the 2025-26 season. The team will keep their “Vees” name as they migrate to the WHL and will more than likely keep their logo, which they last updated in 2022.
The Vees currently use a colour palette of blue, black and white. Their jerseys have a retro feel with multiple stripes down each arm and laces at the front of the collars.
The Penticton WHL franchise will be owned and operated by Graham Fraser, who has owned the Vees since June 2008. Other partners in the ownership group include current Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele, former New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter, and several other Pentiction business leaders. Current president, general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson will continue in those roles through the transition to the WHL.
The Vees were first founded in 1961, and initially shared a name with the local senior hockey team. Both teams were named for the varieties of peaches grown in the Okanagan Valley: Veteren, valiant and verdette. The junior team changed its name a few times over the years — it was at various times known as the Broncos, the Knights and the Panthers — but settled back on the Vees moniker in 2004.
The Vees will join the WHL’s B.C. Division and Western Conference when they take the ice next season. An expansion draft is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7.
Along with the Penticton announcement, the WHL also announced Monday that the league had started the expansion process to put a team in Chilliwack, B.C., in time for the 2026-27 season.
Chilliwack was home to another WHL franchise, the Chilliwack Bruins, from 2006 to 2011. That franchise eventually relocated to Victoria, B.C., and was renamed the Victoria Royals.
The two new expansion teams would bring the WHL to 24 teams, including 18 in Western Canada and six in the Pacific Northwest United States.
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