Patrick Williamstheahl.com writer
Very little – very little – is always the world of hockey that allows home.
Careers so far Jujhar Khaira Bring him from Oklahoma City and Bakersfield of the American Hockey League to Edmonton, Chicago and St. Paul in the NHL, and most recently Des Moines and Syracuse back to the AHL.
Now, Khaira has returned home for the first time since he was 17 in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. Moving here, the next chance is everywhere, hockey takes Khaira to Abbotsford Canucks, just a 1-speed drive from his hometown of Surrey, BC, just outside Vancouver.
Khaira missed the start of the season due to injury after signing an AHL contract with Syracuse throughout the summer and made her debut in a tightening match on January 10. He scored nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 18 games before his trade to Abbotsford last weekend.
“It was shocking at first,” Khaira told reporters Tuesday after the first game after the deal. “But now here, it's familiar, I love it. It's a simple transition.”
The Canucks are in the final weeks of the regular season. Abbotsford is in the middle of the Pacific Division game, enough to get enough abilities in the playoffs, although hardly anything acquired is taken into account. They ranked fifth in the Pacific Division after sweeping two games at home with Condors this week, one of their divisional followers. Next were two home games against the Calgary Wranglers, who were only three points ahead of the Ganak.
Khaira can work with Canucks as a power forward, providing depth and reliability. And that experience – 337 NHL games, including six years (2017-23), dedicated to spending on the show.
Karnak's head coach Manny Malhotra – Like Khaira, one of the few players in the NHL game of Punjabi characters – immediately turn Khaira with aaturäty and Sammy Blaiswith rich experience boundaries and can be quickly merged together. Reti, who played 21 games in Vancouver this season, is a full-fledged two-way center, while Bryce and Kaira are both NHL veterans who can move quickly and shut down opponents' defenders. The trio added the final goal to a 6-2 win over Bakersfield on Tuesday and again in a 2-1 rematch win on Wednesday.
It's a long, injured road, a tough road in BC drafted in Edmonton in 2012, where he played for seven seasons before signing with Chicago in 2021. Jacob Troubaand then need to undergo late-season back surgery. He played only 23 games between Iowa and Minnesota last season, and then missed the first three months of the year. But, since Abbotsford can still play 15 games, he can do a lot of moves ahead of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Khaira will be close to the comfort of the environment to gain any advantage. He said his father and fiancé participated in his Canucks debut. He trained in the area during the offseason and he was also familiar with part of the Abbotsford roster.
This familiarity is the key to Khaira. There is almost no time to adjust – new team, new players, new opponents, it's time.
“It’s a whirlwind,” Khaira said. “Everyone here is great. They make it really easy for me.”
During the fifty years in the American Hockey League, Theahl.com writer Patrick Williams currently covers the NHL.com and Flosports leagues and is a regular contributor to Siriusxm NHL New Network Radio. He won the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding league coverage in 2016.
