Family and fans of rising Surrey, B.C., hockey star Arshdeep Bains expressed excitement Saturday as the 23-year-old forward was added to the Vancouver Canucks roster for its game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Although he did not end up getting ice time Saturday, it was Bains’ latest milestone on a lifelong journey in the sport, two years after he became the first South Asian hockey player to lead the Western Hockey League in both points and assists.
The Canucks called him up after forward Dakota Joshua suffered an injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
For the past two years, Bains has played for the Abbotsford Canucks, a lower-league farm team for Vancouver’s NHL team.
Family and hockey experts say the call-up will likely be huge for Metro Vancouver’s growing South Asian population, particularly as interest in hockey grows.
Nilesh Patel co-directed a documentary about young South Asian NHL hopefuls, called Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal: Make the Shot. He said this weekend’s call-up was a major step toward Bains’ hockey dreams.
“This is another step … that will take work to become, eventually, a permanent part of this roster,” Patel explained.
Surrey is B.C.’s second largest city by population and is located just southeast of Vancouver.
Arshdeep Bains was added to the Vancouver Canucks’ NHL roster on Saturday. As Janella Hamilton found out, his family and friends are praising the move.
‘A very, very big moment for our whole family’
Those who know Bains described the young forward as dedicated, determined and driven.
“It’s a very, very big day,” said his father, Kuldip Bains. “It’s a very, very big moment for our whole family, and for our whole community, being a Punjabi boy in Vancouver.”
His father told CBC News that as a child, his son was seldom seen without a hockey stick in his hand, or wearing the jersey of his favourite team, the Vancouver Canucks.
“Right from his first skate, he loved being on the ice,” Kuldip said. “He had a lot of passion for hockey and he followed that.”
According to Vancouver’s head coach Rick Tocchet, even though Bains was unlikely to get actual time on the ice the first time he was called up to a Canucks game, it represented an important opportunity for him.
“As an organization and coaches, we’d like to get him in here,” Tocchet told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game. “The experience of traveling with the team, in a regular season mode, is huge for these guys.
“Bringing guys up for two, three games … you just see the hunger of players when they come up here.”
Bains’ coach at the Abbotsford Canucks, who plays in the lower-level American Hockey League, said Bains is a “very intelligent” hockey player with a promising career ahead of him.
“He’s a guy that plays every situation for us,” said head coach Jeremy Colliton. “He’s our top scorer, and so he’s put himself in that conversation and he’s just got to keep getting better.
“He’s been very committed, and you can see the improvement week-to-week, month-to-month. So it’s a great example to our guys [that] you don’t have to be drafted — you don’t have to be highly touted — if you’re willing to work.”
On The Coast9:17New doc examines hockey through the eyes of South Asian players
Nilesh Patel, co-director of the documentary Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal, explains how he highlights the journey of South Asian hockey players through junior hockey as they strive to be drafted into the NHL.
For Patel, the significance of Bains’ latest advancement is hard to understate for a growing number of South Asian hockey fans in the region. The filmmaker said the community’s hockey fandom has grown since 1989, when Robin Bawa became the NHL’s first South Asian player.
“Without a doubt, Arsh signing with the Canucks, growing up here, is significant,” Patel said. “It directly relates to an interest in hockey that grew amongst South Asians, specifically the Punjabi Surrey community.
“This moment … mentally breaks open barriers in any field you might not see yourself represented in.”