Penticton and Chilliwack to the WHL

[Lackhalak]

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[hockeykid87]

People have said for years Penticton should be a WHL team. Now they’ll get their wish. Perfect spot for a new team. Can do a penticton/kelowna Friday/Saturday weekend.

Very curious to see how the expansion draft will shake out. What teams are able to protect from their roster. Also curious to see how Penticton will do now that their recruiting net won’t be nearly as wide. Can only list 50 guys.

 

[Bocephus]

This is huge news!! What will the fallout be for conference balance? Will a West team be going to the East or will the East add new teams as well? Grande Prairie or Brooks perhaps?

 

[hockeykid87]

This is huge news!! What will the fallout be for conference balance? Will a West team be going to the East or will the East add new teams as well? Grande Prairie or Brooks perhaps?

I don’t think GP or Brooks have the facilities for a WHL team. I also don’t think there are any Western Conference teams that are close enough to move into the east. They’ll just have to go with 12 and 11 next season. And probably even 13 and 11 if/when Chilliwack comes in.

 

[Bocephus]

I don’t think GP or Brooks have the facilities for a WHL team. I also don’t think there are any Western Conference teams that are close enough to move into the east. They’ll just have to go with 12 and 11 next season. And probably even 13 and 11 if/when Chilliwack comes in.

I suppose. What are WHL requirements aside from capacity? Scoreboard/production?
Media/PBP space?
Training amenities?

 

[macbowes]

I'm curious what ends up happening with McKamey. The Royals took him in the 2nd round last year, but he would have gone top 5 if not for his then-known commitment to play in the BCHL. I assume the Vees would love to build their fresh WHL franchise around him to begin with, but the Royals should get a haul for him, if the Vees want him.

 

[hockeykid87]

I'm curious what ends up happening with McKamey. The Royals took him in the 2nd round last year, but he would have gone top 5 if not for his then-known commitment to play in the BCHL. I assume the Vees would love to build their fresh WHL franchise around him to begin with, but the Royals should get a haul for him, if the Vees want him.

There's nothing to be curious about. He's Royals property, and will almost certainly be a Victoria Royal next season, unless he asks for a trade. But he's from right nearby, can't imagine that will happen.

The Vees will have to build a completely new roster for next season. Multiple players from Eastern USA that aren't eligible for the WHL. There will almost certainly be an expansion draft to get their initial roster set.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

I don’t think GP or Brooks have the facilities for a WHL team. I also don’t think there are any Western Conference teams that are close enough to move into the east. They’ll just have to go with 12 and 11 next season. And probably even 13 and 11 if/when Chilliwack comes in.

Brooks applied and were turned down.

 

[billybobjoe2112]

Isn't Brooks smaller than Swift Current? The league doesn't want a team in a town of 14,000 when all these other rinks hold 5-8K.

As a P.G. fan I'm very happy to hear that Chilliwack is coming in as an expansion team and not a relocation. Stay away from my Cougars.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

So... I think we're going to be seeing a lot of this. But what makes this a tad bit more interesting is I wonder what it'll mean for Junior A.

What I think is going to happen, is the WHL will be divided into two or three leagues.

 

[Boonk]

So... I think we're going to be seeing a lot of this. But what makes this a tad bit more interesting is I wonder what it'll mean for Junior A.

What I think is going to happen, is the WHL will be divided into two or three leagues.

Junior A will just be a farm league system for the WHL. No reason to divide the WHL into 3 tiers.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

So... I think we're going to be seeing a lot of this. But what makes this a tad bit more interesting is I wonder what it'll mean for Junior A.

What I think is going to happen, is the WHL will be divided into two or three leagues.

Weird thought process, the new BCHL faded faster than Milli Vanillis career.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

Kelowna Rockets
Kamloops Blazers
Vancouver Giants
Victoria Royals
Prince George Cougars
Penticton Vees
Chilliwack Chiefs

 

[Lackhalak]

My Guess for the WHLs next moves, after Chilliwack next year, are getting Sioux Falls Stampede and Fargo Force from the USHL.

 

[hockeykid87]

My Guess for the WHLs next moves, after Chilliwack next year, are getting Sioux Falls Stampede and Fargo Force from the USHL.

Wayyyyy too far away. No shot the league could make that work.

 

[NorthStar]

I'm curious.. will the Penticton Vees name be brought up from the BCHL to the WHL with possibly updated logo or new name completely?? as for Chilliwack, would they bring up the Chiefs name or change to other names?? Sioux Falls and Fargo are possibly too far away in terms of distance but anything can happen if there is a way to figure everything out.. does Sioux Falls and Fargo eventually want to join the WHL? or just creative imagining if possible??

 

[hockeykid87]

I'm curious.. will the Penticton Vees name be brought up from the BCHL to the WHL with possibly updated logo or new name completely?? as for Chilliwack, would they bring up the Chiefs name or change to other names?? Sioux Falls and Fargo are possibly too far away in terms of distance but anything can happen if there is a way to figure everything out.. does Sioux Falls and Fargo eventually want to join the WHL? or just creative imagining if possible??

I am confident the Vees will keep their name and logo, yes.

 

[Lackhalak]

Wayyyyy too far away. No shot the league could make that work.

They arent that much farther away than Winnipeg or Brandon to the rest of the league

 

[Lackhalak]

I'm curious.. will the Penticton Vees name be brought up from the BCHL to the WHL with possibly updated logo or new name completely?? as for Chilliwack, would they bring up the Chiefs name or change to other names?? Sioux Falls and Fargo are possibly too far away in terms of distance but anything can happen if there is a way to figure everything out.. does Sioux Falls and Fargo eventually want to join the WHL? or just creative imagining if possible??

I'm curious, in the WHL, do they take a bus for every game or do they fly sometimes? When Victoria plays Brandon, it must be a brutal bus ride.

 

[hockeykid87]

The only thi

I'm curious, in the WHL, do they take a bus for every game or do they fly sometimes? When Victoria plays Brandon, it must be a brutal bus ride.

The only time they fly is in the league final. Victoria only travels to Brandon once every two years. Every team does one inter-conference bus trip every year.

 

[BE Friend]

Remember we went through the PG potential sale/move/ Aqualini mucking around a few years back also. That turned into a major nothing burger...... or was it all part of a plot?? I wonder if this is all the same actors again. A legit non move expansion would certainly be exciting for existing owners to bench march team values. Expansion fees bench mark at the very least.

 

[Mototik]

I can't help but feel a little schadenfreude for the BCHL powers that be and the online water carriers because of how they all acted going independent.

They arent that much farther away than Winnipeg or Brandon to the rest of the league

Yes, they are. Fargo and Sioux Falls are over five hours and over eight hours away respectively from Brandon, which would be the closest team. Distance and hours wise, it would basically be adding another Brandon trip to a Brandon trip and adding a new border crossing. They wouldn't schedule easy either because of the distance.

I do think that with Penticton and Chilliwack coming in, if it all does come to pass, the WHL is at its limit of teams.