After two months of playoff battles the Abbotsford Canucks are champions of the American Hockey League.
The top farm of the Vancouver Canucks beat the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 Monday in Game 6 of the Calder Cup final in North Carolina and four Prince George-area connections were part of the celebration.
Former Prince George Spruce Kings forward Jujhar Khaira, who collected three goals and six assists in 24 playoff games, hoisted the trophy on the ice in Charlotte and passed it to Abbotsford forward Arshdeep Bains. Both are from Surrey.
That coveted piece of hardware was also handed to former Prince George Cougars equipment manager Ramandeep “Chico” Dhanjal, who left the Cougars in July 2021 after 13 seasons.
Canucks assistant coach Harry Mahesh, 37, grew up in Vanderhoof also shared in the celebration along with goalie consultant Justin Pogge, who played 69 games in goal for the Cougars from 2003-04.
Khaira, 30, was with the Spruce Kings for two seasons, from 2010-12, and was chosen in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft, 63rd overall, by the Edmonton Oilers. He also played in the NHL for Chicago and Minnesota and has played 337 NHL games in his career since 2015.
Khaira was traded to Abbotsford, March 8, 2025, by the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The six-foot-five, 214-pound veteran had three goals and five assists in 18 regular season games this year since the trade to Abbotsford.
Dhanjal took on a new position with the AHL Canucks when the franchise moved to Abbotsford from Utica, N.Y. in the summer of 2021.
In 2008, the year he joined the Cougars, he won the junior A national championship in his third season with the Humboldt Brocos. Dhanjal holds degrees in kinesiology and psychology from the University of Saskatchewan in his hometown of Saskatoon.
Mahesh left Vanderhoof to play hockey in Banff and played one year in the KIJHL for the Osoyoos Storm and three seasons in the MJHL for the Winkler Flyers before going on to Division 1 team in Finland. He also played five years of minor pro as a centre in the US in the Southern Professional Hockey League and Federal Hockey League.
Mahesh got his coaching start at Banff Academy and was an assistant coach in the BCHL with the Powell River Kings in 2002-23 before taking the job as the Toronto Maple Leafs development coach. He joined the Canucks at the start of the season when head coach Manny Malhotra was hired.
Calder Cup playoff MVP Arturs Silovs worked directly with Pogge, who joined the Canucks this season after two years as a goalie consultant with Hockey Canada. The Latvian-born Silovs posted five shutouts in the playoffs and had 2.01 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
