Sadhra-Kang happy with new destination

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This article was published 17/01/2023 (1237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many youngsters hoping to be selected in the Western Hockey League draft spend the day glued to their phones or computers.

Six-foot-four, 202-pound Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Kayden Sadhra-Kang of Richmond, B.C., is a very big exception. He hadn’t enjoyed a tremendous season and wasn’t 100 per cent sure he was going to be taken, but he was out in the bush on a week-long school camping trip when the draft took place.

“We had no phones,” Sadhra-Kang said. “We weren’t allowed to touch the Internet or call anybody. We were just out in the woods. I woke up one morning and I was talking to my friend and was like ‘I think the draft is today.’ He said ‘Really? Is it?’ and I was like ‘Ya, I think it is,’ and he said ‘I wonder what’s going to happen?’

‘Three days later I got home and my uncle came and picked me up from school and was ‘You got drafted’ and I was like ‘Wow! That’s pretty crazy.’

“I didn’t think too much of it because I knew it wasn’t an end-all, be-all for a hockey career but it was kind of cool hearing it.”

He was picked in the ninth round, 195th overall, by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 2018. It was another step that began in a journey when he skated for the first time around age two or three.

“My parents said I hated it at first,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I was crying and stuff, which probably most kids do, but I got more comfortable and started getting better.”

He was a top player in the early stages of minor hockey, and with the Wayne Gretzky rule in effect that mandated he had to play defence after scoring three goals, Sadhra-Kang had plenty of experience at both positions. Eventually he switched to defence for good.

“My favourite player growing up was Bobby Orr so I just tried to emulate what he did on the ice,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I ended up being a defenceman because of him.”

He also played soccer and lacrosse when he was younger, but once he started playing spring hockey, the other sports fell away.

The WHL became a goal, in no small part due to his family connection to the league.

Sadhra-Kang, whose father died when he was seven, is the step-son of Robin Bawa, a former Kamloops Blazers star who became the first player of South Asian descent to skate in the National Hockey League when he debuted in 1987. Bawa, who played 12 years of professional hockey and 61 games in the NHL, was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

“He really helped with my hockey career,” Sadhra-Kang said. “He made a lot of tough decisions for me because he had been through it and had a lot of experience. He helped my career take off a lot.”

In his second year at the U15 level, Sadhra-Kang landed at St. George’s, a prep school in Vancouver. The head coach, former NHLer Jaroslav (Yogi) Svejkovsky, played with Bawa in the past, so the hockey side was outstanding. The academic side was very strong as well, which was important to his mother Kim, a teacher and vice-principal.

He headed back to St. George’s for the 2019-20 season after Lethbridge reassigned him at 16, but he was also called up for three games by the British Columbia Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles.

“It was kind of a measure of where I was,” Sadhra-Kang said. “It showed me how much work it takes to get to the next level, and it’s not the easiest jump but it’s definitely doable. It gave me a little of the experience I needed to go into my first year in the WHL.”

He made the jump to the Dub in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, suiting up for nine of Lethbridge’s 24 games and earning an assist and four penalty minutes. He said it was a different kind of jump, and certain things stood out.

For instance, the players are all older and smarter than at previous levels.

“The speed not only of people skating, but people’s minds,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I’d say most guys in this league are pretty smart and can make plays under pressure. That was just the first thing I noticed, but once you get used to it, your mind obviously adapts to it and gets just as fast. It was a little hard in the first year but now I feel like I’m almost ahead of it and can make a lot of plays under pressure and in high intensity situations.”

Still, Sadhra-Kang asked for a trade from Lethbridge, and it came after two games when he was sent to the Swift Current Broncos on Oct. 8, 2021 for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2023.

“It was a tough situation,” Sadhra-Kang said. “In the bubble year guys either had really good years or it was tough on some guys, and it was pretty tough on me. I had to make a decision to stick it out or find a new opportunity, and I got lucky.

“Swift Current didn’t have a lot of D-men at the time and they had a lot of injuries. I had to fight my way through it and ended up making a pretty good spot for myself.”

In 59 games with the two teams, he contributed three goals, 11 assists and 26 penalty minutes. This season, he had a goal, nine assists and 30 penalty minutes in 33 games with Swift Current, and also a unique opportunity.

He skated against his 17-year-old step-brother, Arjun Bawa, who was a member of the Red Deer Rebels but was traded to the Prince George Cougars on Jan. 5.

Four days later, Sadhra-Kang was on the move again too. On Jan. 9, Brandon acquired him in a one-for-one swap for six-foot-five, 220-pound overage defenceman Mason Ward.

“This one was a shocker,” Sadhra-Kang said. “It’s a business and people look for different things when they’re making a team. It happens. You can’t get mad or hold a grudge. I guess I can hold a little bit of a grudge to help fuel the fire in my game. You just have to keep going and keep playing.

“We’re just here to play hockey. It doesn’t matter where I play, just as long as I do play.”

He called both his parents but neither initially answered. Thankfully, his step-dad picked up the second time he tried him and was also shocked by the news.

“He has a lot of hockey experience and calmed me down and told me one door closes, a new door opens and you just have to take that opportunity,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I was like ‘Ya, I’ll be ready.’”

He said the fact this was his second trade made it a little less difficult understanding what came next, but quickly added it’s never ideal.

“It’s made it easier transitioning, I kind of know what to do when I get here,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I know that I just have to keep playing hockey because that’s all there is. I can’t dwell on it, but I’ll tell you this. You’re never, ever going to be ready to get traded. No one in the world, even if you ask out or are dying to leave the place.

“You’ll never love it. It’s probably one of the hardest things anybody has to do just because you’re leaving a place you called home for however long and move into a whole different city and living with new people and start your whole friendship process all over again.

“It’s hard and it’s emotional but it makes people stronger.”

Sadhra-Kang started the drive to Brandon later that morning and arrived in the early evening. He was immediately blown away by what he found.

“This is like top of the line,” Sadhra-Kang said, gesturing to the team gym where he was stretching out as he talked. “The room is unbelievable, the staff is really nice and it looks like they get treated super well here. I’m pretty excited to be a part of it and really happy to be here.”

He had a pretty good sense of how much talent Brandon had from previous games and the ensuing pre-scouts that take place, but said it is different watching them when you’re wearing the same uniform.

“Our pre-scout for Brandon was that they had two really dangerous lines but I do see a lot of depth,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I see the third and fourth lines put in the work. Obviously teams aren’t going to worry about third and fourth lines as much but as a player on the team you worry about those lines, but I’m not too worried. They seem to be doing their job, they grind and do a good job in the O-zone and the D-zone.

“We have a really strong team here.”

One night after he arrived in Brandon, he was in the lineup as Brandon defeated the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2. He said there really weren’t any nerves when he made his debut for his new club.

“That’s the good thing about hockey,” Sadhra-Kang said. “Once you get out on the ice, there’s no thought about anything else. It’s just play my game, do what I have to do and get off the ice and go for another one.”

Sadhra-Kang has found an immediate spot on the penalty kill, and has shared the ice the most with 17-year-old Quinn Mantei, who he described as a calm defenceman who makes good plays and communicates a lot.

He said the entire dressing room is a solid one.

“There are definitely no issues around here,” Sadhra-Kang said. “The guys are dialled into the process of winning games and we have all this staff. We had yoga the other day. I’ve never had a yoga session on any other team. It just shows that they put in that extra work to help their athletes get to that next step.

“It’s been easy settling in. The guys are really easy to talk to.”

He said his biggest issue is remembering names after being introduced to 23 new teammates and staff.

Sadhra-Kang isn’t living with any other players in Brandon, but has three billet brothers who have been asking him questions.

He said his personal goal for the rest of this season is to just keep getting better and hopefully get noticed by a pro team and get invited to a camp next fall. The bigger goal is for the team to make the playoffs.

“I think with this team it’s so achievable,” Sadhra-Kang said. “If we can just put together a good second half, we’re right there. I think we’re pretty dangerous because we have two really strong lines and we could be dangerous in the playoffs. If we got a couple of quick ones in games and just hung back and played defence, I just want to make the playoffs and see how far it can take us.”

ICINGS: Brandon heads to Alberta for a three-game road trip against the Calgary Hitmen on Friday, the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday and the Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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