[{"id":828,"date":"2026-04-03T13:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=828"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:51:26","slug":"game-5-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/game-5-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","title":{"rendered":"Game 5, Round 1 Preview: Vees vs Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees take on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 5 of their first round series. A win tonight would advance Penticton to the second round as they enter with a 3-1 series lead. Puck drop is 7:05PM from the SOEC.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their first ever WHL playoff game the Vees used a strong penalty kill and solid play from their goaltender AJ Reyelts to guide them to a 3-2 OT victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Game 2, the Vees were dominant from start to finish on their way to a 4-1 win and 2-0 series lead. Jacob Kvasnicka and Tristan Petersen each had a goal and an assist in the Game 2 victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Game 3, the two teams went back-and-forth for much of the night. Penticton would strike twice in the third and hang on to a 4-3 victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thunderbirds stayed alive in Game 4 scoring the first four goals of the game before hanging on for a 4-3 win. The Vees outshot Seattle 53-20 in the loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees penalty kill has gone 13\/13 in their four games in the post-season and are the last team in the playoffs not to give up a goal while down a man.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees Player to Watch: G AJ Reyelts: <\/b>Reyelts<\/span> is expected to get the start in Game 5. He’s 3-0 with a 1.93 GAA and .933 save-percentage so far in the playoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast Fact:<\/b> Ryden Evers (57) and Matteo Danis (55) are third and fourth in the post-season in faceoff wins.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Playoff Scoring Leaders:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees:<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka- 6 points (3g, 3a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers- 5 points (3g, 2a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie- 3 points (2g, 1a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tristan Petersen- 3 points (1g, 2a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Nolan Stevenson- 3 points (0g, 3a)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Joe Gramer- 4 points (2g, 2a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick- 4 points (1g, 3a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt- 3 points (2g, 1a)<\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees take on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 5 of their first round series. A win tonight would advance Penticton to the second round as they enter with a 3-1 series lead. Puck drop is 7:05PM from the SOEC. If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/04\/03134944\/172A9232.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":824,"date":"2026-04-01T22:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=824"},"modified":"2026-04-01T22:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:29:26","slug":"vees-comeback-falls-short-in-4-3-game-4-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/vees-comeback-falls-short-in-4-3-game-4-loss","title":{"rendered":"Vees Comeback Falls Short In 4-3 Game 4 Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees battled back from a 4-0 deficit and got within one but couldn\u2019t find the equalizer late, falling 4-3 to the Thunderbirds in Game 4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seattle opened the scoring for the first time in the series making it 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew Gard, Brock England and Coster Dunn all scored in the second period for the Thunderbirds before the Vees found the scoreboard. Brittan Alstead wired a puck past Marek Sklenicka on the powerplay to make it 4-1 heading into the final frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On a mishandle behind the net 24 seconds into the third, Jacob Kvasnicka threw a puck out front that was batted home by Ryden Evers for his third of the playoffs to make the score 4-2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fresh out of the penalty box Matteo Danis found Samuel Drancak all alone and he finished five-hole to get the Vees within one, 4-3 with 4:27 remaining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penticton had plenty of late chances to even the game but Sklenicka made some timely saves to keep the series alive for Seattle and give them the 4-3 win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees will get another opportunity to close out the series Friday at the SOEC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GAME STATS<\/b><\/p>\n

Shots<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- 53<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scoring<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- Brittan Alstead, Ryden Evers, Samuel Drancak<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Joe Gramer, Matthew Gard, Brock England, Coster Dunn<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power Plays:<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees- 1\/3<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 0\/1<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goaltending<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- Ethan McCallum – 16\/20<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Marek Sklenicka – 50\/53<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up Next:<\/b> The Vees and Thunderbirds shift back to Penticton on Friday for Game 5. Puck drop is 7:05PM. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees battled back from a 4-0 deficit and got within one but couldn\u2019t find the equalizer late, falling 4-3 to the Thunderbirds in Game 4.\u00a0 Seattle opened the scoring for the first time in the series making it 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.\u00a0 Matthew Gard, Brock England and Coster Dunn all scored…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/04\/01222904\/BL56761.jpg",1600,1067,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":819,"date":"2026-04-01T11:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=819"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:24:51","slug":"game-4-round-1-preview-vees-thunderbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/game-4-round-1-preview-vees-thunderbirds","title":{"rendered":"Game 4, Round 1 Preview: Vees @ Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees take on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 4 of their first round series. A win tonight would advance Penticton to the second round as they enter with a 3-0 series lead. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05PM from Kent, WA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their first ever WHL playoff game the Vees used a strong penalty kill and solid play from their goaltender AJ Reyelts to guide them to a 3-2 OT victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Game 2, the Vees were dominant from start to finish on their way to a 4-1 win and 2-0 series lead. Jacob Kvasnicka and Tristan Petersen each had a goal and an assist in the Game 2 victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last night, the two teams went back-and-forth for much of the night. Penticton would strike twice in the third and hang on to a 4-3 victory. Brady Birnie (2) opened the scoring while Jacob Kvasnicka (3), Ryden Evers (2) and Ethan Weber (1) also found the back of the net. AJ Reyelts made 29 saves in the victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees penalty kill has gone 12\/12 in their three games in the post-season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees Player to Watch: F Brady Birnie: <\/b>Birnie<\/span> has opened the scoring in two of the three games in this first round series and has three points in three games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast Fact:<\/b> 14 different Vees have registered a point in the three playoff games so far while seven players already have multiple points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Playoff Scoring Leaders:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees:<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka- 5 points (3g, 2a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers- 4 points (2g, 2a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie- 3 points (2g, 1a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tristan Petersen- 3 points (1g, 2a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Nolan Stevenson- 3 points (0g, 3a)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt- 3 points (2g, 1a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coster Dunn- 2 points (1g, 1a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick- 2 points (1g, 1a)<\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees take on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 4 of their first round series. A win tonight would advance Penticton to the second round as they enter with a 3-0 series lead. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05PM from Kent, WA.\u00a0 Catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/04\/01112434\/BL58491.jpg",1600,1067,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":817,"date":"2026-03-31T22:47:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=817"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:47:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:47:36","slug":"vees-take-3-0-series-lead-on-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/vees-take-3-0-series-lead-on-the-road","title":{"rendered":"Vees Take 3-0 Series Lead On The Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees scored twice in the third period on their way to a 4-3 victory to take a 3-0 series lead over the Seattle Thunderbirds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the third straight game the Vees opened the scoring with Brady Birnie putting a puck on goal from the line that fooled Thunderbirds goaltender Grayson Malinoski to make it 1-0. That was all the scoring in the opening frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt scored his first two goals of the series to make it 2-1 Thunderbirds halfway through the second.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees would answer before the period ended with Jacob Kvasnicka finding a loose puck in the crease and firing it home for his third of the playoffs to make it 2-2 heading into the final frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penticton struck again off a centering pass from Kvasnicka to Ryden Evers who jammed it home to make it 3-2.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after Samuel Drancak found Ethan Weber at the point who ripped the puck past Malinoski to make the score 4-2.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thunderbirds got within one with the goalie pulled late but the Vees held on for a 4-3 final.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The penalty kill went 4\/4 for a third straight game in the series.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GAME STATS<\/b><\/p>\n

Shots<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- 40<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 32<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scoring<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- Brady Birnie, Jacob Kvasnicka, Ryden Evers, Ethan Weber<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Cameron Schmidt (2), Joe Gramer<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power Plays:<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees- 0\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 0\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goaltending<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- AJ Reyelts – 29\/32<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Grayson Malinoski – 36\/40<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up Next:<\/b> The Vees and Thunderbirds square off in Game 4 Wednesday night in Kent. Puck drop is 7:05PM.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees scored twice in the third period on their way to a 4-3 victory to take a 3-0 series lead over the Seattle Thunderbirds.\u00a0 For the third straight game the Vees opened the scoring with Brady Birnie putting a puck on goal from the line that fooled Thunderbirds goaltender Grayson Malinoski to make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/31224704\/BL56724.jpg",1600,1067,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":815,"date":"2026-03-31T09:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=815"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:14:34","slug":"game-3-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/game-3-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","title":{"rendered":"Game 3, Round 1 Preview: Vees vs Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees head on the road looking to take a 3-0 series lead in the WHL Playoffs opening round against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck Drop from The Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent is 7:05PM.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their first ever WHL playoff game the Vees used a strong penalty kill and solid play from their goaltender AJ Reyelts to guide them to a 3-2 OT victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Game 2, the Vees were dominant from start to finish on their way to a 4-1 win and 2-0 series lead. Jacob Kvasnicka and Tristan Petersen each had a goal and an assist in the Game 2 victory while for a second straight game the penalty kill went 4\/4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees Player to Watch: G AJ Reyelts:<\/b> Reyelts has started both games so far posting a 1.42 goals against average and a .947 save percentage in his two wins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast Fact:<\/b> Matteo Danis will play in his 30th career WHL playoff game tonight in Kent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Regular Season Scoring Leaders:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees:<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka- 85 points (35g, 50a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers- 74 points (35g, 39a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie- 70 points (22g, 48a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matteo Danis- 59 points (30g, 29a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brittan Alstead- 58 points (22g, 36a)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt- 100 points (51g, 49a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coster Dunn- 55 points (25g, 30a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick- 54 points (16g, 38a)<\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees head on the road looking to take a 3-0 series lead in the WHL Playoffs opening round against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck Drop from The Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent is 7:05PM.\u00a0 Catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0 In their first ever WHL playoff…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/31091328\/172A9673.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":813,"date":"2026-03-28T22:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=813"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:30:46","slug":"vees-use-strong-effort-to-take-2-0-series-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/vees-use-strong-effort-to-take-2-0-series-lead","title":{"rendered":"Vees Use Strong Effort To Take 2-0 Series Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees used a strong 60 minute effort on their way to a 4-1 victory in game two of their seven-game series with the Seattle Thunderbirds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the second straight night the Vees got the opening goal. This time it was Louie Wehmann throwing a puck off a defender and in for his first of the post-season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees would add to their lead on the powerplay as Nolan Stevenson fired a shot from the line that was deflected in by Tristan Petersen to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penticton added to their lead in the second, again on the powerplay, as Jacob Kvasnicka potted a rebound for his second goal of the playoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Late in the second Coster Dunn countered for the Thunderbirds sending the score 3-1 to the final frame.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers rounded out the scoring as he threw a puck to the net that fooled goaltender Marek Sklenicka to make it 4-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the final score as the Vees take a 2-0 series lead to Kent, WA for games three and four.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GAME STATS<\/b><\/p>\n

Shots<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- 41<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 30<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scoring<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- Louie Wehmann, Tristan Petersen, Jacob Kvasnicka, Ryden Evers<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Coster Dunn<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power Plays:<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees- 2\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 0\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goaltending<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- AJ Reyelts – 29\/30<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Marek Sklenicka – 37\/41<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up Next:<\/b> The Vees and Thunderbirds square off in Game 3 Tuesday night in Kent. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05PM. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Vees used a strong 60 minute effort on their way to a 4-1 victory in game two of their seven-game series with the Seattle Thunderbirds.\u00a0 For the second straight night the Vees got the opening goal. This time it was Louie Wehmann throwing a puck off a defender and in for his first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/28223024\/IMG_1891-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":811,"date":"2026-03-28T10:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=811"},"modified":"2026-03-28T10:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:45:07","slug":"game-2-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/game-2-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","title":{"rendered":"Game 2, Round 1 Preview: Vees vs Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees look to take a 2-0 series lead in the WHL Playoffs opening round against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck drop is 7:00PM from the SOEC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their first ever WHL playoff game the Vees used a strong penalty kill and solid play from their goaltender AJ Reyelts to keep the game even through 40 minutes. After outshooting the Thunderbirds 20-5 in the third the Vees killed off their fourth penalty of the night in overtime. Then, after a scramble in front of the Seattle net, Ethan Weber got the puck to Charlie Michaud who got the OT winner for his first goal in the WHL. Brady Birnie opened the scoring for the Vees. He now holds claim to the first goal in franchise history as well as the first playoff goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marek Sklenicka made 42 saves in the overtime loss for the Thunderbirds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees Player to Watch: F Jacob Kvasnicka: <\/b>Kvasnicka<\/span> was tied for a team high in shots with five last night and scored on a breakaway for his first WHL playoff goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast Fact:<\/b> Brady Birnie scored his fifth career playoff goal last night. He now has eight points in 15 career post-season tilts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Regular Season Scoring Leaders:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees:<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka- 85 points (35g, 50a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers- 74 points (35g, 39a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie- 70 points (22g, 48a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matteo Danis- 59 points (30g, 29a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brittan Alstead- 58 points (22g, 36a)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt- 100 points (51g, 49a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coster Dunn- 55 points (25g, 30a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick- 54 points (16g, 38a)<\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees look to take a 2-0 series lead in the WHL Playoffs opening round against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck drop is 7:00PM from the SOEC.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0 In their first ever WHL…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/28104455\/172A8427.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":807,"date":"2026-03-27T22:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=807"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:34:59","slug":"vees-take-1-0-series-lead-with-ot-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/vees-take-1-0-series-lead-with-ot-victory","title":{"rendered":"Vees Take 1-0 Series Lead With OT Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees used Charlie Michaud\u2019s first WHL goal to slip past the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in overtime in Game 1 of the WHL playoffs at the SOEC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second-seed Vees opened the scoring on Friday night on the powerplay as Brady Birnie wrapped a puck past Marek Sklenicka to make it 1-0.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick evened it 1-1 heading into the first intermission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees would re-gain the lead in the second with Ryden Evers springing Jacob Kvasnicka on a breakaway, who finished it off on the backhand, to make the score 2-1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thunderbirds would battle back again, jamming the puck past Vees goaltender AJ Reyelts to make the score 2-2 after 40 minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was no scoring in the third sending Game 1 to overtime.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees were able to kill an OT penalty and then off a scramble Ethan Weber found Charlie Michaud at the top of the dots and he rifled home the puck for his first WHl goal and giving the Vees a 3-2 overtime victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GAME STATS<\/b><\/p>\n

Shots<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- 45<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 27<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scoring<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- Brady Birnie, Jacob Kvasnicka, Charlie Michaud<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Noah Kosick, Antonio Martorana<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power Plays:<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees- 1\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- 0\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goaltending<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees- AJ Reyelts – 25\/27<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunderbirds- Marek Sklenicka – 42\/45<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Up Next:<\/b> The Vees and Thunderbirds are right back at it Saturday for Game 2 at the SOEC. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00PM. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees used Charlie Michaud\u2019s first WHL goal to slip past the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in overtime in Game 1 of the WHL playoffs at the SOEC.\u00a0 The second-seed Vees opened the scoring on Friday night on the powerplay as Brady Birnie wrapped a puck past Marek Sklenicka to make it 1-0. Noah…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/27223435\/172A8904.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":806,"date":"2026-03-27T09:54:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T16:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=806"},"modified":"2026-03-27T09:54:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T16:54:28","slug":"game-1-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/game-1-round-1-preview-vees-vs-thunderbirds","title":{"rendered":"Game 1, Round 1 Preview: Vees vs Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees will play their first ever WHL playoff game tonight at the SOEC as they host the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 1. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00PM.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees (44-14-6-4) finished off the regular season in second in the Western Conference, first in the BC Division and fourth overall in the WHL standings. They were tied for the #1 ranked penalty kill at 81.8% and had the sixth best powerplay in the regular season which worked at 27.4%. Their 268 goals were the second most in the West while their 188 goals against were tied for second least in the conference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thunderbirds enter Game 1 following a 31-27-6-4 regular season record that put them in the seventh seed in the Western Conference. They registered 223 goals for and 241 goals against in the regular season and sported the 20th ranked powerplay and 12 best penalty kill in the regular season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vees Player to Watch: F Brittan Alstead: <\/b>The Vees forward enjoyed playing against the Thunderbirds this season. He had four goals and five assists in four games played against the Vees round one opponent in the regular season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast Fact:<\/b> Matteo Danis leads all Vees in playoff experience. Tonight will be his 28th post-season game played. Overall there are eight Penticton Vees who have played a WHL playoff game on the roster.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HEAD TO HEAD: <\/b>The Vees went 4-0 against the Thunderbirds in the regular season outscoring Seattle 24-11. They did only play once after a flurry of deadline moves by the Thunderbirds, a game which the Vees won 5-4 in a shootout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Scoring Leaders:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vees:<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka- 85 points (35g, 50a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers- 74 points (35g, 39a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie- 70 points (22g, 48a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matteo Danis- 59 points (30g, 29a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Brittan Alstead- 58 points (22g, 36a)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt- 100 points (51g, 49a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coster Dunn- 55 points (25g, 30a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick- 54 points (16g, 38a)<\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees will play their first ever WHL playoff game tonight at the SOEC as they host the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 1. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00PM. If you can\u2019t make it down to the SOEC, catch all the action on Victory+, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland.\u00a0 The Vees…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/01\/10112817\/E05A3995.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":804,"date":"2026-03-24T13:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/?p=804"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:13:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:13:06","slug":"playoff-preview-round-1-vs-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/article\/playoff-preview-round-1-vs-seattle","title":{"rendered":"Playoff Preview: Round 1 vs Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees have wrapped up a historic regular season that saw multiple WHL and CHL expansion records broken and the Vees locking up second place in the Western Conference heading into round one of the playoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vees will face off with the seven seed, Seattle Thunderbirds in round one, who used a strong back half of the season to climb into a playoff spot after being out of the top eight for most of the first half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tale of the Tape<\/b><\/p>\n

Since The Christmas Break<\/b><\/p>\n

Penticton:<\/span><\/em> The Vees used a WHL expansion record, 14 game winning streak, to kick off a red-hot back half to the season, finishing off the second half 28-5-2-1. Their dominant back half was paced by a 13-2-0-0 home record since the break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Seattle:<\/span><\/em> The Thunderbirds went 13-6-4-2 since the break and did what they needed to do down the stretch, getting at least a point in their final five games to keep teams like Victoria and Portland at bay on their way to the seventh seed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deadline Adjustments<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penticton:<\/span><\/em> The Vees made a few deadline additions including adding Samuel Drancak and Noah Milford from the Red Deer Rebels to round out the forward group. Drancak chipped in 15 points in 30 games with the Vees while the 17-year-old Milford skated in 18 games for Penticton registering seven points including an assist in each of the final two games of the regular season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Seattle:<\/span><\/em> The Thunderbirds moved on from star forward Brayden Cootes among others at the deadline but brought in some fresh faces as well. With the additions of Cameron Schmidt, Noah Kosick and Matthew Gard, the changes on the fly certainly worked. Schmidt had one of the best seasons in the WHL registering 100 points, Kosick sat third on the team with 54 points while Gard finished eighth on the Thunderbirds with 33 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head-To-Head<\/b><\/p>\n

The Vees defeated the Thunderbirds in all four meetings this season. Winning by margins of 10-4, 4-2, 5-1, and 5-4 in a shootout. On home ice the Vees outscored Seattle 14-6 while the margin on the road was 10-5. These two only played each other once in the second half of the season which was the 5-4 shootout victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Players to Watch<\/b><\/p>\n

Penticton:<\/span><\/em> Vees forward <\/span>Jacob Kvasnicka<\/b> exploded onto the WHL scene and didn\u2019t look back as he led the Vees in points basically from start to finish. The New York Islanders 2025 seventh-round draft pick was second among all WHL rookies with his 85 points and was tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with four this season. <\/span>Ethan Weber<\/b> was also outstanding this year especially in the back half. Weber led all Vees defencemen in points with 51 this year including three goals and three assists in his last seven games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Seattle:<\/span><\/em> Cameron Schmidt<\/b> was no doubt one of the top players in the WHL with 100 points this year. He is the only WHL player to hit the 50 goal mark in the 2025-26 season. Someone who should also be on the radar is 2025 9th-overall-pick of the Buffalo Sabres, <\/span>Radim Mrtka<\/b>. The 18-year-old Thunderbirds defenceman registered 34 points in 43 games for Seattle this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading Scorers<\/b><\/p>\n

Penticton\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Jacob Kvasnicka – 85 points (35g, 50a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryden Evers – 74 points (35g, 39a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady Birnie – 70 points (22g, 38a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Matteo Danis – 59 points (30g, 29a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brittan Alstead – 58 points (22g 36a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thunderbirds<\/b><\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt – 100 points (51g, 49a)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coster Dunn – 55 points (25g, 30a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Noah Kosick – 54 points (16g, 38a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Antonio Martoana – 52 points (24g, 28a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matej Pekar – 52 points (23g, 29a)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goalies\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Penticton\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

AJ Reyelts – 29-6-6-2 Record, 2.45GAA, .906 save %, 3 shutouts\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethan McCallum – 18-10-0-1 Record, 2.63GAA, .907 save %, 4 shutouts<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Seattle<\/b><\/p>\n

Marek Sklenicka – 20-12-5-1 Record, 3.21GAA, .902 save %, 3 shutouts<\/span><\/p>\n

Grayson Malinoski – 11-15-1-3 Record, 3.48GAA, .896 save %, 0 shutouts\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Vees and Thunderbirds kick off their seven-game, first round series, Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Get your tickets now at valleyfirsttix.com.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n



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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees have wrapped up a historic regular season that saw multiple WHL and CHL expansion records broken and the Vees locking up second place in the Western Conference heading into round one of the playoffs.\u00a0 The Vees will face off with the seven seed, Seattle Thunderbirds in round one, who used a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-2","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/73\/2026\/03\/24133918\/E05A4806.jpg",2100,1400,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-vees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]