Harry Mahesh Helps Grow the Game in India Through India Hockey 360 Festival

Hockey has a way of bringing people together and connecting communities across the world through a shared love of the game. 

Abbotsford Canucks Assistant Coach Harry Mahesh found that connection especially meaningful this summer when he travelled to Chandigarh, India, to help grow the sport near the region where his parents grew up. 

Mahesh was invited to take part in the India Hockey 360 Festival by festival co-founder and Vancouver Canucks analyst Randip Janda. The Canucks for Kids Fund was the first partner of the initiative, helping sponsor a cause that reflects the charity’s values. The festival brought hockey coaches and players together to share knowledge and introduce more people to the sport. 

Born and raised in Vanderhoof, B.C., Mahesh had never visited India. After spending his life playing and coaching hockey, he finally had the opportunity to connect with his family’s roots while sharing the game that has shaped his career. 

“It was just cool to take the thing that I've done my whole life and something that is a big part of my life and bring it back to where my parents grew up,” Mahesh said  

“[My parents] had no access to the sport, so finding ways to spread the game is something that is really unique. I know that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm really happy that I got to be part of that.” 

The festival consisted of four events, including a reception with members of Chandigarh’s hockey and business communities, a Try Hockey event, and two coaching sessions for coaches and players.

At the Try Hockey event, roughly 1,000 people picked up a stick, learned about the game, and took shots at shooter tutors, with prizes for those who hit the targets. Mahesh led sessions for coaches and players from the Chandigarh and Punjab Hockey Associations, sharing fundamentals, strategies, and terminology used in North American hockey. 

The on-floor experience was a little different from what he is used to. The practice took place on roller skates, which was nostalgic for Mahesh, and gave him a chance to step into their world and understand the environment in which they develop their skills. 

“It's fun because you could tell that they were really passionate to learn about it,” Mahesh said. 

“It's a lot of fundamental things that they're working on now, and it [the event] was also about giving the coaches a platform to reach out and ask questions throughout the year as they're doing this.” 

Mahesh could see the promise on the parents’ faces, along with the excitement of the players and coaches getting the chance to learn from a professional coach.  

“Even after the practice, just seeing some of the pride on the parents' faces because their kids got to take part in an event that was sponsored by an NHL team, and just to be a part of that was really exciting for me,” Mahesh said. 

Mahesh was one of the first calls Janda made as he was putting the India Hockey 360 group together. Janda has seen Mahesh’s proven coaching talent, but said Mahesh brought so much more than X’s and O’s to the festival. 

“One of the things I really appreciate about Harry is that even though he’s a pro coach, his ability to connect with a player, a young player, an older businessman, or a coach who is 35 or 40 years old is incredible. The language of sincerity and the language of caring he has, that's international,” Janda said. 

Despite the time difference between North America and India and the fact that NHL games are hard to watch due to television rights, Mahesh discovered there’s still a strong fan base. Mahesh met a fan who never misses a Canucks game and many others who catch the occasional game through streaming. In North America, most kids grow up idolizing players and want to emulate that, but in India most of the kids who play do so just for the love of the game. 

In a region where access to hockey facilities remains limited, that enthusiasm offers an opportunity to introduce more people to the sport. Chandigarh is a major city near the states of Punjab and Haryana, but the closest ice rink is approximately three hours away. Across a country of more than a billion people, there are only a handful of ice rinks. 

That makes it important to meet players where they are. The festival included street and roller hockey equipment, helping participants explore the game in a format accessible to them while building interest in hockey more broadly.

After visiting Punjab this past February, Janda got an idea of what the people in the local hockey community needed, and he co-founded the event with Tulsea Sports Marketing through a longstanding desire to elevate the community through sport and help create more opportunity for the South Asian community in Vancouver and abroad. 

“To see people trying a sport for the very first time, it was a really fulfilling experience, and it shows you there's fans currently out there, but then there's also a lot of people that have never even heard the sport of ice hockey before, but they're open to learn about it,” Janda said. 

He’s proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish through the India Hockey 360 Festival and he’s looking forward to growing the event next year. His long-term goal is to continue to build an interest in the game, support players in India, and help build rinks and infrastructure to help the players. 

“Anybody that knows me knows how proud I am of being Punjabi and of Indian background," Janda said.

"To be able to help people fulfill their potential in some way, I'm not telling them how to take a wrist shot or show them technique, but if I can help facilitate them getting better, and finding another gear as a hockey player or a hockey coach, I want to do that as much as I possibly can because in a lot of ways through those kids, I see my parents.” 

On the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Canucks celebrating Diwali Night, Janda says the Canucks deeply understand the South Asian community’s connection to the hometown team. The authenticity of the night matters, as does the way it reaches every level of the organization. 

"To see it grow and to see the community embrace it, but also to see the organization embrace the community the way it has. It's a two-way journey, and it's what it should be, and the Canucks have perfected it,” Janda said. 

The Vancouver Canucks are celebrating Diwali Night on Tuesday, November 3rd against the Anaheim Ducks, and tickets can be purchased here.  

The Abbotsford Canucks will celebrate Diwali on Saturday, November 7th against the Ontario Reign, and tickets can be purchased here.