Hometown kid Arshdeep Bains chasing childhood dream

As a young kid, Arshdeep Bains would often hop onto the SkyTrain at King George Station in Surrey and ride into Rogers Arena with his older brothers and throngs of other Canucks fans. Back then, he could only dream of one day representing his hometown NHL team.
That dream just became a little closer to reality.

The Vancouver Canucks signed Bains to an entry-level contract earlier this month. As the leading scorer in the Western Hockey League, Bains had offers from other NHL teams. But he ultimately chose the team he fell in love with as a 10-year-old during their 2011 run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
"That 2011 Stanley Cup run was super special," Bains said. "I think that was a big part of what made me love the sport and the Vancouver Canucks. It was amazing to see how this team was able to bring people together. I remember every kid at school was wearing a Canucks jersey every day during that cup run."
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Bains was born and raised in Surrey, about 40 minutes outside of Vancouver via SkyTrain. Those rides into the big city for Canucks games were among his favourite memories growing up.
Hockey was a big part of his childhood.
He credits his older brothers, Amrit and Harvir, for getting him into the sport. The three of them spent countless weeknights and weekends playing road hockey in their cul-de-sac, which was very much the beginning of Bains' hockey journey.
"I always loved playing mini-sticks or road hockey with them," Bains said. "We would set up two nets in our cul-de-sac and all the kids in our neighbourhood would play. We'd all go out and knock on doors and get organized to play some big games."
Bains' brothers pushed him to be the best he could be because they knew he was a talented player. There was always a great support system behind him, but Bains put the work in.
Brent Sutter, his former coach and current general manager with the Red Deer Rebels, saw the potential for Bains to become a pro early on in his time with the Western Hockey League franchise. Sutter knew that Bains' work ethic and intelligence were going to give him every chance to get to the next level.
"He didn't get drafted in the WHL or at the NHL draft but you could see the commitment he was making off the ice with training and working out in the gym," said the father of current Canucks centre, Brandon Sutter. "Him leading the WHL in scoring this year isn't a fluke. Every year he's gotten better and better and better. I've just always had a lot of confidence in him because of the person he is."
Bains has made massive improvements to his game over the past couple of seasons and it's showing with his success this year. After not being a point per game player in any of his four prior WHL seasons, Bains is currently sitting on a league-leading 97 points in 62 games and is likely to eclipse the century mark for points in his final season of junior hockey.
"He does everything with such a high level of intelligence and he sees the ice so well," Sutter said. "He can make plays that other players have a hard time making. He's got that vision and that sense of the game. Some of his hockey intelligence is impossible to teach - it just comes naturally to him."
As for what's next, Sutter says that he'd like to see Bains add another 10-20 pounds over the offseason to help him prepare for the professional game.
Abbotsford Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson knows that Red Deer could go on a deep playoff run, but he's excited to get Bains into the Canucks' facilities when the time comes. Johnson sees the raw talent and feels it's going to be an important offseason for the 21-year-old left winger.
"For a skilled guy, there's some hardness to his game," Johnson said. "His hockey sense is good and he's able to understand the responsibilities and management of the puck in all three zones. We've got this raw talent to work with and we're going to throw resources at him from all angles. We will work with Arshdeep in the offseason to get him a little bit stronger and more powerful on those first three strides. In general, there's a lot to like about his game."
A full offseason working with the Canucks' development staff will bring an even better version of Bains for training camp going into the 2022-23 season, when he's expected to be vying for minutes in Abbotsford. There's a long road ahead, but his goal is to make an impression on the Canucks coaching staff and prove that he belongs in pro hockey.
Regardless, the potential of playing in his own backyard is something he relishes.
"Everybody in my family is a Canucks fan, the opportunity to play here at home is super exciting," Bains said. "My entire family loves it and our whole family views it as a dream come true."
The ultimate dream for Bains is to be part of a team that brings the Stanley Cup to Vancouver. He often reminisces on the buzz throughout the province during Vancouver's 2011 Stanley Cup run, and would love nothing more than to be a part of one himself.
"Words can't even describe the feeling, I guess," he said. "Watching as a kid was already so unbelievable. If I was ever in that position with this team, it would by far be the biggest accomplishment of my life."