New mural honours Penticton Vees’ historic inaugural WHL season

Osoyoos artist Alexander Lopez completes mural that pays homage to Vees' 44-win campaign

New mural honours Penticton Vees’ historic inaugural WHL season Published 3:55 pm Friday, July 17, 2026 The man behind a new Penticton Vees mural hopes his work will inspire the franchise and its players for generations to come.

It took Osoyoos artist Alexander Lopez four days to complete his piece that honours the 2025-26 Vees, who set the Canadian Hockey League wins record for an expansion team with 44. Lopez got started painting on Monday, July 13, and after four consecutive eight-hour work shifts, unveiled the finished product on Thursday. His mural is now on display inside the club’s players’ lounge at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC).

“I had fun and enjoyed the whole process,” Lopez said, adding that the Vees reached out to him about working on a piece honouring the team’s inaugural WHL season. He said they presented their final design to him about three weeks ago. “There was lots of back-and-forth communication about what to do, where to put it, what to remove, what to add, and everything, but after they came up with the final design, they just gave it to me, and I made the mural over (at the SOEC).”

The mural features paintings of key contributors from last season — including leading scorer Jacob Kvasnicka and goaltender A.J. Reyelts — as well as an image of the historic 10-metre high structure that honours the 1955 world champion outside Memorial Arena. There is also a portrait of head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson. “The portrait is my favourite part of it,” Lopez said.

Ivan McLelland, goaltender for the Vees’ legendary 1955 squad, can be seen to the right of Harbinson on the mural, which also includes the Fred Page Cup with “14,” paying homage to the number of times Penticton won the BCHL’s championship trophy. The Vees’ inaugural WHL season included a 14-game winning streak from Dec. 17 to Jan. 25. The run propelled the club to the top of the B.C. Division before it finished second overall in the Western Conference with a 44-14-6-4 record.

Penticton took down Seattle and Prince George in the playoffs. It was eliminated by Everett in the conference finals. “Hopefully it’s motivation for them to keep doing the same, do better and get better,” Lopez, who has been an artist for close to 30 years, said of the mural.

Professionally, the Osoyoos resident goes by Alexander Lopez The Artist. Several examples of his work can also be found at the BC Hockey Hall of Fame inside the SOEC.