Sadhra-Kang looks forward to facing his step-brother

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This article was published 01/11/2023 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the puck drops tonight between the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Prince George Cougars, some highly important bragging rights will be on the line.

After all, Wheat Kings defenceman Kayden Sadhra-Kang will be facing off against his step-brother, Cougars forward Arjun Bawa, for just the second time in regular season Western Hockey League action tonight at Westoba Place. In addition, mother Kim and father Robin will be in the crowd watching.

“It’s pretty neat,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I don’t think a lot of people say they get to play their brother in this league. I’m just happy we’ve both found success through hockey. It’s going to be a good game. I’ve played him a few times in my career and they’ve been fun so I’m just hoping it’s another fun game.”

Sadhra-Kang, whose father died when he was seven, is the stepson 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.

The families came together when Sadhra-Kang was nine and Bawa was seven. The brothers have grown closer and closer over the years, with hockey one of the defining elements that brought them together in Richmond, B.C.

“It’s something we bonded over,” Sadhra-Kang said. “Just going on car rides to practices and stuff, he followed me to (Vancouver prep school) St. George’s after I went. It’s definitely been a big piece in our relationship and helped us bond together and connect together. It’s been good.”

The six-foot-two, 188-pound forward Bawa has an assist and six penalty minutes in 14 games with the Cougars this season, while the six-foot-four, 208-pound Sadhra-Kang has a goal and five assists in 16 games with the Wheat Kings.

The powerhouse Cougars, who are atop the league with a 10-4-0-0 record, are making their first trip to Westoba Place tonight since a 4-0 Wheat Kings victory on Jan. 15, 2020. (That game was memorable because Brandon-born Jonny Hooker made his return to Westoba Place days after he had been swapped one-for-one for big forward Reid Perepeluk.)

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray noted the Cougars have the best winning percentage in the league.

“They can beat you a lot of different ways,” Murray said. “They’re obviously a real high-octane offensive team but they have some D who can eat some big minutes and solid goaltending so they’re a good team all-around.”

Sadhra-Kang agreed, saying the Wheat Kings will have to take advantage of their opportunities without surrendering too many to be successful.

“I think it’s going to be a high-octane offensive team,” Sadhra-Kang said. “I think one place we can find ways to beat them is through their defence. “I think they’re known for scoring all the goals — they have three of the top five scorers in this league — but as long as we leave them off the power play and don’t take penalties against them and just play a sound and solid game structure-wise, then we can find ways to penetrate them and score goals.”

During their five-game trip so far, Prince George fell 5-1 to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday and beat the Regina Past 4-0 on Sunday. After tonight’s game, their trip continues on Friday in Saskatoon against the Blades and finishes up on Saturday in Prince Albert against the Raiders.

The Cougars, who are in their 30th season in Prince George, joined the league in Victoria in 1971, spending 23 seasons on Vancouver Island before moving north in time for the 1994-95 campaign.

In the first meeting between the new-look Cougars and the Wheat Kings — a 5-2 Cougars victory at the old Prince George Col­iseum on Sept. 25, 1994 — Murray had a power-play goal in the first period for Brandon.

“If I’m not mistaken, we played in the old rink so the boards were incredibly high and it was kind of dark,” Murray said with a chuckle. “That’s all I remember. It was a long time ago.”

Prince George is long overdue for some playoff success.

They’ve reached the Western Conference final once — the league adopted the two-conference format in 2001-02 — losing in five games to the Vancouver Giants in 2006-07.

This year they’ve raced out to the lead in the B.C. Division, in part due to their league-high 74 goals and surreal power play, which is clicking along at a WHL-leading 36.1 per cent success rate.

The good news for Brandon is that they’ve had some success against a pair of potent offences in the past week.

The Wheat Kings are coming off a 4-3 victory over the Warriors and a 2-1 win over the Blades on Saturday, with third-ranked Prince George the final test in a killer’s row of games against three of the top 10 teams in the Canadian Hockey League.

“I think we played the right way for the most part,” Murray said of the wins. “Two periods against Moose Jaw I thought were average and I thought our third period was really strong. Then I thought our first period against Saskatoon was exceptionally strong and then I thought we were pretty good the last two as well.

“I feel like we’re trending in the right direction. We talked about this. It’s three huge tests for us playing against top 10 teams in Canada. We’ve done very well in the first two and have one more here, and hopefully, we have a good trio of games.”

No doubt there will be a set of parents from British Columbia in the crowd hoping for a good game.

The brothers have played against each other once in the WHL regular season when they were both with their former teams.

On Dec. 17, 2022, Sadhra-Kang’s Swift Current Broncos beat Bawa’s Red Deer Rebels 4-1 in Red Deer. They also met in a pre-season game, a 4-3 victory on Sept. 24, 2021 for the club that drafted Sadhra-Kang, the Lethbridge Hurricanes, over Bawa and the Rebels. The bright spot for the latter was he had one of the Red Deer goals that night.

The older brother clearly takes pride in his younger brother’s accomplishments.

“He’s a big guy, six-two,” Sadhra-Kang said. “He’s not as big as me yet but he can skate pretty well. I consider him more skilled than me. He definitely has all the tools, it’s just a matter of putting them together. He works hard and he plays the game tough. He used to get a lot of penalties and used to fight a lot but he’s toned it down a bit so he can show his skill. I think he’s a good player.”

Murray said it should be an enjoyable evening for both, noting he didn’t really have much to say about it to Sadhra-Kang.

“It’s probably a big deal,” Murray said. “To get a chance to play against a sibling is sort of fun. I’m sure they’ve had many battles in their basement growing up. At the same time, you just let them be. Once everybody gets on the ice, that competitive nature takes over, but I’m sure it’s nice to be around each other for a couple of days here in Brandon.”

The puck drops at 7.

ICINGS: The Wheat Kings visit the Regina Pats on Friday, and then head to Moose Jaw to play the Warriors on Thursday, Nov. 9. Their next home game is on Remembrance Day when the Pats visit at 3 p.m. … Wheat Kings practice was moved to Kinsmen Arena on Tuesday afternoon after a puck at Cougars practice in the morning shattered a window in the Viewing Lounge at Westoba Place. That prompted some quick repairs … Wheat Kings forward Joby Baumuller has headed out to the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Summerside, P.E.I.

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