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Penticton Vees on track to smash CHL inaugural season wins record

Hockey players celebrate on the ice in an arena.
X/Penticton Vees via Brian Cobb

A Penticton Vees hot streak has put the team on track to break league records.

It’s the team’s first year in the WHL after dominating the BC junior league. The Vees have since racked up 33 wins in 51 games, nearly earning the most wins of any inaugural season in the league.

With two more wins, they’ll take the WHL league record and four more will earn the CHL record. The latter has been held since the early 1980s.

“These milestones, if accomplished, will be something the players and organization can be proud of years down the road and, in the short term, will help push us as we try and prepare ourselves for the upcoming playoffs,” head coach Fred Harbinson said in a news release.

Harbinson led the Vees to six BCHL titles before the WHL expanded to include Penticton.

The team’s roster was overhauled for the 2025/26 season and while they were competitors from early on, their record since December has pushed them to up the standings, winning 22 of their last 26 games. They’re now second in the western conference behind the Everett Silvertips.

Now, they’re aiming to clinch a playoff position, already at first in the BC division. With 17 games left in the season, they’re unlikely to miss the league records that are just within reach.

“Obviously we understand that we have a challenging final quarter of the season in front of us,” Harbinson said. “I always try to motivate our players to build on the Vees legacy during their time in Penticton.”

The Silvertips hold the WHL’s inaugural season win record with 35 in the 2003/04 season, while the QMJHL’s defunct Longueuil College-Francais holds the CHL record of 37 wins in 1982/83.

The Vees are playing Vancouver Giants in Langley Friday, Feb. 13, before returning for a pair of home games against Victoria and Prince George.

Elsewhere in the region, Kelowna and Kamloops are at fourth and fifth in the western conference, respectively, on track to make a playoff spot. The Rockets also get a buy into the league championship Memorial Cup as the host team.

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Levi Landry

Levi is a recent graduate of the Communications, Culture, & Journalism program at Okanagan College and is now based in Kamloops. After living in the BC for over four years, he finds the blue collar and neighbourly environment in the Thompson reminds him of home in Saskatchewan. Levi, who has previously been published in Kelowna’s Daily Courier, is passionate about stories focussed on both social issues and peoples’ experiences in their local community. If you have a story or tips to share, you can reach Levi at 250 819 3723 or email LLandry@infonews.ca.

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