Long before he became a stabilizing force on the Toronto Maple Leafs' blue line this season, Troy Stecher learned some of his most important hockey lessons from Fred Harbinson.
Stecher was 16 when he got his shot with the Harbinson-coached Penticton Vees, then a junior-A team, in 2010. It led to a scholarship at the University of North Dakota and an NHL career that is nearing the 600-game mark.
"I had the whole hockey world to learn and understand," the undrafted Stecher, who still keeps in touch with Harbinson, recalled recently.
"He taught me a little bit of everything. How to conduct yourself as a professional, how to take care of your body away from the rink — not necessarily him, but he would have the people in place that would help you. He was on top of me about my grades in high school quite a bit. ... He was my junior coach, but I look back and he was kind of like a mentor and someone I leaned on for support."
Sixteen years later, Stecher says he isn't surprised to see a new group of kids at a new level of hockey enjoying the same kind of success under Harbinson in the Okanagan Valley.
The Vees, who jumped to the WHL as an expansion team this season after winning six BCHL titles since Harbinson took the reins in 2007, are one of the best stories in major-junior hockey.
With New York Islanders seventh-rounder Jacob Kvasnicka as the lone NHL Draft pick on its roster, Penticton (24-9-4-3) has won nine games in a row to take command of second place in the WHL's Western Conference.
"We have a great team here and an amazing coach who's had great success in the BCHL," said Kvasnicka, who responded to getting cut by the U.S. team prior to the world juniors with two WHL rookie-of-the-week honours in a row.
"We're not surprised by (the team success), but we're definitely excited."
The University of Minnesota commit, whose WHL rights were acquired by Harbinson, also the GM, in a summer-time deal with the Wenatchee Wild, said his college team gave glowing reviews to the Vees program after he spent the past two years in the U.S. National Development Team program. Minnesota coach Bob Motzko was the head coach of St. Cloud State and had Harbinson on his staff as an assistant from 2005-07.
Those kinds of relationships could be crucial for Harbinson in recruiting when he was trying to convince players to bypass the WHL and play in the BCHL. With the NCAA changing its rules starting this season and allowing former CHL players to play, the connections Harbinson has made throughout the years might help even more.
Harbinson said the NCAA's rule change, confirmed in November 2024, played a huge role in him and Vees owner Graham Fraser making a push for a WHL team — "we knew that the days of us getting the top players were gone (in the BCHL)," the coach said. The Vees have a proud history with players like Brett Hull, Paul Kariya and Duncan Keith having worn Penticton uniforms.
"It's been a great challenge and we were due (to make a leap)," Harbinson said. "We kind of accomplished everything needed to accomplish in junior-A. This has been a great refresh for our program and the city."
With expansion-draft rules he didn't consider advantageous and pressure to put a competitive team on the ice right away for a loyal fan base, Harbinson went into wheel-and-deal mode — the Kvasnicka move being one of the winners. He opted for an older roster, though he remains very confident in the team's first entry-draft class and the plan going forward, and acquired five members of his BCHL Vees — Callum Stone, Nolan Stevenson, Louie Wehmann, Tristan Petersen and Ryden Evers — as key building blocks.
"Getting a nucleus of guys who understood how we have to play here, understand what it means to play in Penticton and the cultural nuances of playing here, that was important to me," Harbinson said.
The result has been one of the best defensive teams in the league.
"He's always got that winning drive in him. You can just tell by the way he makes us play. The thing he hates most is to lose," Kvasnicka said. "I think that's a great quality to have as a coach."
Harbinson said one thing that's changed in recent weeks is the belief of his players. For years, Harbinson has divided seasons into seven-game segments on a board in the locker-room and told his players to make specific goals for the coming seven games.
In November, Harbinson wasn't happy with the goals prior to one of the segments.
"The goals they set were way too low for what I thought they could do," he said. "We had a good conversation about it, and got them thinking about it. You can train all the different parts of your body and skill and everything. But the inches between your ears are very important, and your belief system. We're working on that daily. Right now, obviously the guys are feeling good."
Overall expectations, Harbinson says, haven't changed. He wants his players to be pushing for a championship, as improbable as that may seem to those outside the room.
"What I said at the beginning of the year, and people probably scoffed, but when we got accepted to the (WHL), that's when our goal of winning a championship started," he said. "I don't know if that means five, 10 years from now, but the process has to start somewhere and it started when we entered this league ... I made it very clear in the first meeting with these players, they're the ones starting this process."
His players certainly are buying in.
"I think we have great chemistry on and off the ice," Kvasnicka said. "I've never been a part of a team like this where we just bonded (so well). We're just like family out there."
Games to watch
Thursday, Jan. 15: Flint Firebirds (29-9-2-2) at Barrie Colts (25-10-2-4), 7 p.m. ET
A battle of two OHL division leaders. The Firebirds added Calgary Flames prospect Jacob Battaglia (Kingston Frontenacs) and Winnipeg Jets prospect Kevin He (Niagara IceDogs) prior to the trade deadline.
Thursday, Jan. 15: Michigan State Spartans (15-5-0) at Wisconsin Badgers (15-3-2), 9 p.m. ET
The fourth-ranked Spartans and No. 2 Badgers open a two-game series in Madison, Wis. Canadian world junior captain Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers) is third in NCAA freshman scoring for Michigan State.
Friday, Jan. 16: Chicoutimi Sagueneens (28-6-3-2) at Charlotteotown Islanders (18-14-2-6), 6 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. AT
Expected to be the QMJHL debut for Islanders forward Ivan Ryabkin, who was assigned to the team by the Carolina Hurricanes last week after the 2025 second-round pick opened the season in the AHL. The league-leading Sagueneens make for a tough first test.
Friday, Jan. 16: Edmonton Oil Kings (29-7-3-2) at Medicine Hat Tigers (30-6-3-2), 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT
Second game of a home-and-home series between the top two teams in the WHL's Eastern Conference. Medicine Hat won 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday to extend its franchise-record win streak to 18 games.
— with files from Luke Fox.
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