Busy Vees: Penticton playing in BCHL semifinals, making WHL expansion draft picks this week
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Leslie has said that if he doesn't sign a pro contract this summer, he'll spend his 20-year-old season beginning next fall with the Bowling Green State University Falcons rather than return to the Giants.
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Leslie could be moved to the Giants' college exempt list and not count against the team's 50-player protected list after the expansion draft but not until then. If things didn't work out in pro or college and he returned to the WHL at some point this coming season, he'd be an automatic top-pairing defenceman. He finished second in scoring among blue liners across the league in the regular season this year with 72 points, including 21 goals.
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If the Giants protect Leslie, chances are they'd want to protect a fourth 20-year-old as well, as cover for them. And that would mean they'd protect one less player overall.
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The Vees were awarded the fourth pick in the first round of the WHL draft.
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The WHL is slated to add another expansion team next summer, with a squad going into Chilliwack in preparation for the 2026-27 season. The league is taking applications for ownership and WHL commissioner Dan Near explained via text Monday that there's a 'number of interested parties,' and that the league is 'very pleased with the interest level and enthusiasm from prospective ownership groups thus far.' No word on when they might come to a decision.
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Chilliwack is home to the BCHL's Chilliwack Chiefs who, oddly enough, are currently facing the Victoria Grizzlies in the other league semifinal, for the right to to meet either Penticton or Brooks in the championship series. The Grizzlies and Chiefs are knotted at 1-1 going into Game 3 Tuesday in Victoria.
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Chiefs principal owner Moray Keith has repeatedly said that he's not interested in owning a WHL team. The Chiefs are expected to remain in Chilliwack next season before moving elsewhere.
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It was both the city council and the WHL that were interested in putting a team in Chilliwack. They've had the WHL before in the city, with the Chilliwack Bruins playing there from 2006-11 before moving to Vancouver Island to become the Victoria Royals.
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The league's never announced what the Vees' expansion fee, but various league sources have put it at $15 million.
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Penticton (41-8-5-0) and Brooks (40-10-2-2) had the BCHL's best records during the regular season, followed by Chilliwack (37-12-5-0). Victoria (28-17-8-1) was ninth.
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Penticton lost in last year's best-of-seven Fred Page Cup league championship, falling in six games to the Surrey Eagles. The Vees had won the two years previous. The league no longer competes for a national title. They announced in May 2023 that they were leaving Hockey Canada and becoming an independent league.
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