Vees Playoff Preview: Round 1 vs Thunderbirds
WHL Penticton Vees

Vees Playoff Preview: Round 1 vs Thunderbirds

Published on March 24, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Penticton Vees News Release


Penticton Vees look for a score against the Seattle Thunderbirds
Penticton Vees look for a score against the Seattle Thunderbirds
(Penticton Vees, Credit: Cherie Morgan)

PENTICTON, BC - 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.

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.

Tale of the Tape

Since The Christmas Break

Penticton: 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.

Seattle: 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.

Deadline Adjustments

Penticton: 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.

Seattle: 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.

Head-To-Head

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. That game was the third game in as many nights for the Vees.

Players to Watch

Penticton: Vees forward Jacob Kvasnicka exploded onto the WHL scene and didn't 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. Ethan Weber 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.

Seattle: Cameron Schmidt 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, Radim Mrtka. The 18-year-old Thunderbirds defenceman registered 34 points in 43 games for Seattle this season.

Leading Scorers

Penticton

Jacob Kvasnicka - 85 points (35g, 50a)

Ryden Evers - 74 points (35g, 39a)

Brady Birnie - 70 points (22g, 38a)

Matteo Danis - 59 points (30g, 29a)

Brittan Alstead - 58 points (22g 36a)

Thunderbirds

Cameron Schmidt - 100 points (51g, 49a)

Coster Dunn - 55 points (25g, 30a)

Noah Kosick - 54 points (16g, 38a)

Antonio Martoana - 52 points (24g, 28a)

Matej Pekar - 52 points (23g, 29a)

Goalies

Penticton

AJ Reyelts - 29-6-6-2 Record, 2.45GAA, .906 save %, 3 shutouts

Ethan McCallum - 18-10-0-1 Record, 2.63GAA, .907 save %, 4 shutouts

Seattle

Marek Sklenicka - 20-12-5-1 Record, 3.21GAA, .902 save %, 3 shutouts

Grayson Malinoski - 11-15-1-3 Record, 3.48GAA, .896 save %, 0 shutouts

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.

Check out the Penticton Vees Statistics

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Images from this story

Penticton Vees look for a score against the Seattle Thunderbirds
Penticton Vees look for a score against the Seattle Thunderbirds
(Cherie Morgan)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2026


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