ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia -- Only five players of South Asian heritage have ever played a game in the NHL. Three of them have combined to get Abbotsford within one game of the American Hockey League Championship.
Coach Manny Malhotra and forwards Arshdeep Bains and Jujhar Khaira each has played a significant role for Abbotsford, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, getting to the Calder Cup Final and taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series against Charlotte (Florida Panthers), with Game 5 in Abbotsford on Saturday (9 p.m. ET).
They have a chance to win the first AHL championship in team history -- the four seasons the team has been in Abbotsford and for any Canucks affiliate -- and Malhotra, Bains and Khaira know how much it would also mean to the large South Asian community in Vancouver and its suburbs out to and past Abbotsford.
“First and foremost, we're just hockey players and that's our focus and that's why we were able to play in the League," Malhotra said, "and ultimately it comes down to can you play or can you not play? But when you take a step back and you do the interviews, and you talk to people in the community, and then you see how much it means to them, then it starts to resonate a little bit more.”
Malhotra is originally from Ontario but played three of his 16 NHL seasons with the Canucks, and remained another four more years after retiring in Vancouver, first as a development coach and then three years as an assistant coach before leaving to be an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020. He filled that role for four seasons before returning for his first head coach job in Abbotsford, 45 miles east of Vancouver, at the start of this season.
“There's a lot of people in the South Asian community around here that have shown their support for the team," Malhotra said, "and whether I see them in a restaurant or grocery store, they talk about how excited they are about the Abbotsford Canucks and they really enjoy watching and they talk about ‘Bainsey’ and ‘Juj.’
“You understand how special it is but in the moment I feel like we're just trying to stay so focused on just the hockey aspect of it.”
Khaira, who like Bains grew up a Canucks fan in the suburb of Surrey, 20 miles south of Vancouver, came “home” in an AHL trade to Abbotsford from Syracuse on March 8, 2025. The 30-year-old, selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round (No. 63) of the 2012 NHL Draft, has 80 points (33 goals, 47 assists) in 337 NHL games with the Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild throuh 11 professional seasons.
“But I hadn't played professionally with another South Asian player, head coach or anything, until coming here,” Khaira said. “I think it's amazing.”
In addition to Bains and Malhotra, assistant coach Harry Mahesh and head equipment manager Chico Dhanjal are also South Asian.
“I think there is five of us on staff too,” Khaira said. “Just to be around that, it is cool. We understand how much it means to the community.”
Bains became the fifth player of Indian descent to play in the NHL when he made his Canucks debut on Feb. 20, 2024 against the Colorado Avalanche.
Robin Bawa, a retired forward who is also from Surrey, was the first, debuting with the Washington Capitals against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 6, 1989, going on to play 61 NHL games with the Capitals, Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim through 1994.
Then came Malhotra, who had 295 points (116 goals, 179 assists) in 991 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Sharks, Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens from 1998-2015.
Forward Andreas Martinsen became the third South Asian player to make his NHL debut on Nov. 10, 2015 with Colorado and went on to play 152 NHL games with the Avalanche, Canadiens and Blackhawks through 2019. Khaira made his NHL debut, with the Oilers, 18 days after Martinsen made his.
Now Bains and Khaira are one win from a Calder Cup championship together, with Malhotra, who they each looked up to as kids, leading the way as coach.
“To have all of us all together here is special,” said Bains, who has six points (three goals, three assists) in the Calder Cup Final. “Especially when I was a kid, looking up to him, he was a big inspiration for me and it's pretty special you get to come full circle. Obviously, he didn't know who I was back then, but being able to come back, and he's coaching me, trying to get me to the next level, it's kind of an honor.”
