The first attachment is a report regarding the potential defection of the Penticton Vees from the British Columbia Hockey League to the Western Hockey League for the 2025-26 season. The second attachment clarifies that such a move still is in the exploration stages.
The United States Hockey League is considered by many to be the main pipeline to American college hockey. However, the BCHL has provided much competition to the USHL in moving players on to the NCAA. The best evidence for this is contained in the third attachment, which is a listing of all 1,090 current division 1 commitments. The USHL (292) and the BCHL (238) are the two largest sources of these commitments. Therefore, the potential move by Penticton may mark the beginning of the BCHL’s diminishing NCAA presence. To bolster this statement, the first attachment indicates the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs are also considering a future move to the WHL.
Also, the article contained in the first attachment refers to the BCHL as a junior A league. This may not be technically correct, although it does describe the league’s high quality of play. In 2023, the BCHL left Hockey Canada in order to avoid restrictions limiting its teams to recruit in the BC province. As such, it forfeited Hockey Canada sanctioning it as a junior A league. Since then, the BCHL has added five teams from the neighboring Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). Those teams left the junior A-classified AJHL to align themselves with the BCHL’s more liberal recruiting policies. Therefore, a defection by Penticton would represent the first BCHL retraction in several years.
Finally, with respect to the USHL, the WHL does not appear to be a direct threat to poach any of its teams. While there are some USHL teams far enough west to be situated in the WHL’s region, the amount of travel involved in such a venture presumably would be cost-prohibitive. Due to its proximity to the midwest, the OHL still appears to be the primary CHL-governed league to be part of any realignment involving the USHL. With 46 OHL players already receiving D1 commitments this season, it does look as though it will have a major impact on the college ranks. Having said that, the North American Hockey League’s 124 D1 commitments bode well for USA Hockey’s continued pipeline to college hockey. That number is only 12 fewer than the 136 commitments obtained by the three CHL leagues combined (46 OHL players, 56 WHL players, and 34 QMJHL players).
https://thehockeynews.com/whl/latest-news/report-penticton-to-join-the-whl-in-2025-26