Raising the 'Brar' for Indian-Canadian Youth

Former Tacoma pro hockey star Dampy Brar never made it to the NHL as a player, but the league fulfilled a dream this week when Brar won the 2020 Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award for a post-playing career of giving back. Brar was informed of the honor directly by O'Ree, who serves as the NHL's director of youth development and ambassador for diversity in hockey.
"All these emotions come out, you can't even believe it," Brar said about the O'Ree phone call. "You can't put it in words right off the bat. There's so many people involved in this and even now talking about it, I'm thinking 'really, I won an NHL award!' Any time you get recognized by the NHL, players like me, who played pro hockey, any time you get something from the NHL, it's cool."

The award is named after O'Ree, the first Black player in the NHL. It recognizes individuals who have a positive impact on their community, culture or society through hockey.
Brar, 44, retired from pro hockey in 2003 after a high-scoring career highlighted by five seasons with the Tacoma Sabercats. He formed the Apna Hockey School in Calgary, Alberta. Along with partner Lali Toor, the Apna school teaches hockey to boys and girls of India heritage, along with other ethnic minorities.
The school does more than impart the skills of hockey to the kids. Brar serves as a mentor and works to connect families within the community.
"I've seen a lot of marginalization with ethnic minorities," Brar said. "I want to be that bridge, looking at the challenges we face and where it can get better, not just point fingers."

Brar also works one-on-one with some of the more developed players, helping them prepare for tryouts and their minor hockey seasons. Most of his students are new to the sport; Brar gives them the basic fundamentals in a variety of ways.
"There are sessions that I do that are for everybody," he said this week by phone. "It's developmental but it's also to get the kids into hockey. We do ball hockey sessions. We have some kids who have never held a stick before. I like the parents to get involved. It helps connect them to the sport."
Brar is a strong advocate for women's and girls hockey. In 2018, he worked with Hockey Hall of Fame player and Toronto Maple Leafs assistant director of player development Haley Wickenheiser to bring a girls team from Leh Ladakh, India to compete in Canada. They played games in Vancouver and in Calgary, with Brar there, supporting their travels and play on the ice.
It proved a powerful experience for both the Canadian girls and the visiting team from India.
"The support the [India team] got and the love they got, encouragement, it was awesome," Brar said. "For me to be a part of that, I can't really put it in words. I'm glad the girls got that experience."
The next year, Brar was traveled to India to reunite with the girls he coached and to play a game in the Himalayas.

Brar's parents, father, Ram and mother, Satwant, immigrated to Canada from India in the 1970s. They moved to the coal mining community of Sparwood, B.C., which is where Brar was born. His parents didn't know much about hockey, but neighbors and friends encouraged the Brars to enroll their son in the sport, as their kids all loved playing.
Brar played college hockey at Concordia University College of Alberta where he excelled and subsequently acquired an agent to pursue pro hockey options. In 1996, he played a handful of games in the Central Hockey League before getting an offer to play for Tacoma in 1997.
The Sabercats played out of the Tacoma Dome from 1997 through 2002 in the now defunct West Coast Hockey League. It was a pro league that eventually would have teams merge into the current East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Brar was a perennial all-star with Tacoma and was part of the Sabercats club that won the league title in 1999.
"I loved getting out and talking to the fans and being part of all the events," he said about his time in Tacoma. "I know it helped the team, promoting the team and getting people out to enjoy the game."
The Sabercats lasted five seasons and Brar played all five years, appearing in 297 games. He piled up 330 points over that span, more than any other Tacoma player. After the Sabercats folded in 2002, Brar played one final pro season with the Idaho Steelheads before retiring in 2003.
Now Brar's days are spent on the ice with kids, teaching the game he loves while being a role model for aspiring Indian Canadian players. He knows the barriers and challenges minorities have faced in the sport.

"I played hockey in the white community and I've been supported and encouraged by them, yes, I faced racism," said Brar. "When I got to Calgary there was racism in hockey. There weren't a lot of players that looked like me that could play at that level. A lot of times players that were decent players quit because they felt they got discriminated against at trials or their parents were worried about them. I want to be that bridge."
Brar said he hopes the notoriety of his award will help raise the profile of hockey in the Indian Canadian communities in Canada. There have been a limited number of Indian players who have made it to pro hockey and Brar is one of the earliest to do so.
Robin Bawa who played 61 NHL games during a 13-year pro career between 1987 and 1999 is considered to be the first Indian Canadian to play at the sport's highest pro level. Edmonton Oilers forward - and former Everett Silvertip - Jujhar Khaira is in the NHL now and a player Brar feels can have a big impact for Apna hockey school participants.
"In our community, we love the fact he's playing the game," Brar said. "I watch [an Oilers] game and as soon as he comes on, I'm like 'there he is'. He's a big factor and example of success in our communities.
"The diversity of hockey has started. The Indo-Canadian community has embraced hockey and we're just getting started and some of us are creating paths. I hope [the award] will help Indo-Canadians continue in hockey and support each other."
Brar isn't resting after winning the O'Ree Award. Late week, he was back on the ice working with his students while staying involved with his son, Faiva's, and daughter, Saachi's, hockey teams. He continues to build that bridge between hockey and the Indian Canadian community.
"On the ice, trying to develop the kids, plus there's the fun aspect of it," he said. "Hockey's a great sport. It's good exercise, you have fun and just a great experience."