Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Okanagan hockey rivalry enters WHL era

Kelowna vs. Penticton: The Shoreline Showdown

Sep 29, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Rivalries don’t just happen overnight. They take years of games, moments, and emotions to build. But when two hockey towns just 62 kilometres apart finally meet at the major junior level, history has a way of catching up fast.

Friday night in Penticton, the Vees officially entered the Western Hockey League, hosting the Kelowna Rockets at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It was the first time Penticton and Kelowna had faced each other in junior hockey since 1994-95, when the Kelowna Spartans and Vees were BCHL rivals.

Three decades later, the hockey map in the Okanagan looks different. For Rockets head coach Derrick Martin, this new rivalry is a blend of history and practicality.

“It excited us for several reasons,” Martin said. “The travel is pretty close, and from fan base to fan base, there’s a rivalry. I think it’s going to take a while for that to develop organically.”

When RocketFAN asked Penticton Vees head coach Fred Harbinson if he ever imagined his team moving into the WHL, he admitted it wasn’t on his radar. “Probably not. Our goal was always just to be the best junior franchise that we could be,” he said.

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At the time the Vees were granted a WHL franchise on March 24, there were rumors that some of the team’s historic championship banners might be taken down from the South Okanagan Events Centre rafters, or that the team name could change. Harbinson says the rumours were just that. “We’re very prideful of what we’ve done in the past, and now we get to build something new in this great league.”

Harbinson also emphasized the Vees’ long-standing history as part of their appeal to the WHL. “Part of what the Western Hockey League was buying was the history and tradition of this program. There are banners from the 50s. We’re a unique program, and that’s part of what got us into the Western Hockey League.”

The Shoreline Showdown

Okanagan Lake separates Penticton and Kelowna, but that stretch of water won’t cool the intensity of what’s already being called the ‘Shoreline Showdown’. The Vees, now the oldest team in the WHL, and the Rockets, the league’s third-oldest franchise, give the matchup an instant historic feel.

“You see that throughout a season,” Martin said. “We do it with Kamloops, and now we’ll do it with these guys. I think it’ll grow legs, but to do it early on in the season with a home-and-home series, we’ll start to see that rivalry rear its head.”

A Big Stage for Young Players

The Vees’ WHL debut brought 5,307 fans through the doors in Penticton, creating a stage that Martin said his young Rockets needed to embrace.

“It’s exciting for these young guys,” he said. “You’re in the Western Hockey League, the best junior development league in North America. You’ve earned a chance to be on the stage, and now it’s up to every player to take advantage.”

Kelowna, stung by a season-opening loss to Spokane, answered with back-to-back wins over Penticton — 5-4 Friday and 3-2 in a shootout Saturday.

Poletin’s Debut

No player made a bigger statement than rookie Tomas Poletin. The 1st overall pick in this summer’s CHL Import Draft, and a 4th-round pick of the New York Islanders, scored twice in his WHL debut on Friday, then followed it up Saturday with a goal, an assist, and the lone shootout marker.

“He’s big and strong, with a really quick release. His hockey IQ is noticeable,” Martin said. “There’s still an adjustment for him, but you can see the tools right away.”

Respect for the Opposition

Martin knows Penticton won’t be an easy out.

“Fred’s a good coach. The group will be prepared, they’ll be ready to go. But again, we’re in the Western Hockey League. You better be ready to start on time and play for 60 minutes.”

Veterans and Identity

The Rockets enter the season with an older roster, but Martin wants his veterans to lean on experience, not pressure.

“It’s the head that wears the crown. If you frame it that way too much, they put pressure on themselves and don’t play an authentic game,” Martin said. “We just need our veterans to play the way they’ve always played. The mistake is trying to do too much and be something you’re not.”

That means competitive voices like defenseman Nate Corbet, and steady hands like Mazden Leslie.

“He’s a competitive human being, and that’s important. He brings that and demands it from everyone else,” Martin said of Corbet. As for Leslie: “What’s been most impressive is his growth mindset. He’s far better defensively because of it, and Vegas noticed that right away when he was at their camp.”

Youth Stepping Forward

It wasn’t just the veterans carrying the load in Penticton. The young line of Levi Benson, Owen Folstrom, and Kalder Varga drew praise from Martin after Folstrom scored the game-winner Friday.

“They’ve all put some size on and are playing with confidence. There’s chemistry between them… they give us chances to score and help keep pucks out of our net.”

Defining the Rockets’ Identity

For Martin, all of this feeds into one thing — identity.

“I want to be a group that’s hard to play against, not because we’re parading to the penalty box, but because we finish checks and win battles in the hardest areas,” he said. “I want to get pucks into Penticton’s zone and spend time there by doing hard things. That to me would be what success looks like.”

A Rivalry Begins

“Looking at the landscape of BC junior hockey, us, Kelowna, and Kamloops are three of the four original teams that ever played junior hockey. I think we’re going to have some rivalries, obviously with Kelowna and Kamloops, the teams that are right close down the road,” Harbinson added.

This first-ever WHL meeting this past weekend wasn’t just two games. Every check, every goal, every fan in the stands felt it.

The Shoreline Showdown is now a thing.