WHL adds expansion franchise in Penticton BC, beneficial move for Chiefs travel schedule
A couple of years ago, the Winnipeg Ice won the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, lost the WHL final to the Seattle Thunderbirds – and then relocated to Wenatchee, where the franchise rebranded as the Wenatchee Wild.
Wenatchee is another stop on the long journey of the franchise, originating as the Edmonton Ice in Alberta, Canada, in 1996, which moved to Cranbrook, British Columbia, and became the Kootenay Ice in 1998. It stayed there until 2019 when it packed up shop and headed east to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The relocation to central Washington stemmed largely from an inability to reach a financial agreement on a place for the Ice to play. Wenatchee, long the home of a Tier II junior British Columbia Hockey League franchise, was positioned to join the WHL, and that’s where the Ice went for the 2023-24 season.
The Wild joined the WHL’s U.S. Division, which was a positive for the division’s other five members – notably, it meant less travel for them overall – but it left the Western Conference with a somewhat awkward 11 teams, with the other five playing in the B.C. Division.
On Monday, the WHL announced an expansion franchise – the Penticton Vees – that makes the Western Conference franchise’s math better in three key ways, according to Spokane Chiefs President Mark Miles, which is why he welcomed the addition of a 23rd team to the WHL.
“From a travel perspective, it’s beneficial. From a financial standpoint, it’s beneficial,” Miles said. “… And now you can do a balanced schedule.”
Since 1961, Penticton has been home to a junior hockey team, but this will be its first membership in the WHL. It has won six BCHL championships since 2008.
“Following productive conversations with BC Hockey and Hockey Canada,” WHL Commissioner Dan Near said in a statement, “we collectively agree that the repatriation of the Penticton Vees is good for the game of hockey in Canada.”
It marks the WHL’s first expansion since it added four teams from 2001 to 2007. The WHL is part of the greater Canadian Hockey League, which also includes the 20-team Ontario Hockey League and the 18-team Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
The addition of the Vees, on the heels of the Wild’s relocation two years ago, is particularly beneficial to the Spokane Chiefs . In good weather, Penticton is less than a five -hour drive from Spokane, about as far away as Spokane is from division rival Everett.
Penticton is also en route to Kelowna, which lies an hour north, and Kamloops, another three hours past Kelowna.
“You’ve got a rivalry with Kelowna and Kamloops (for Penticton),” Miles said, “and it’s nice for us because we can go play (all three).”
Spokane played each of the five B.C. teams four times this season, twice at home and twice away. Penticton figures to get the same balanced schedule, with those four games coming out of the number Spokane plays against its other five U.S. Division opponents.
Financially, adding a 12th franchise to the Western Conference means fewer idle Saturday nights for its teams.
“Saturday nights are prime revenue generating opportunities for our teams,” Miles said. “When you have 11 teams, there is a team that will be sitting idle.”
This regular season, when the Chiefs finished second in the U.S. Division, they drew an average home crowd of 6,588, second-most in the WHL behind the Edmonton Oil Kings (7,527). But during their 15 home Saturday games, the Chiefs drew an average of 8,191 fans per game. They also did not play – home or away – on three midseason Saturdays.
The WHL also announced Monday it is initiating the franchise application process for a team in Chilliwack, British Columbia, to potentially begin play in the 2026-27 season as the league’s 24th franchise.