Finals a showdown for Surrey, B.C., natives

It doesn’t matter what occurs over the following week or two, a Surrey-raised hockey participant will increase the Calder Cup as American Hockey League champion.

A pair of locals, Arshdeep Bains and Jujhar Khaira, scored large targets to guide the Abbotsford Canucks to a finals berth Sunday (June 8) in an exciting, series-ending comeback win over Texas Stars at Abbotsford Centre.

Now, in a best-of-seven sequence beginning Friday (June 13) in North Carolina, they’re going to face Charlotte Checkers and Justin Sourdif, the Surrey-raised ahead and Florida Panthers prospect.

Thus far in these playoffs the 23-year-old Sourdif has scored three targets and three assists in 12 video games whereas racking up 28 penalty minutes for the AHL’s Japanese Convention champs.

In Charlotte over the previous three seasons, the previous Vancouver Giants captain has develop into a dynamic participant who can break open a recreation together with his nice mixture of talent and physicality.

The Now-Chief caught up with Sourdif in a cellphone name Saturday (June 7), 4 days after the Checkers superior to the Calder Cup closing and a day earlier than Abbotsford Canucks did the identical.

“That is my first time within the (AHL) finals and it is fairly good hockey, actually intense,” he stated. “It is why you play, proper, making an attempt to win a championship. We’re centered on profitable.

“We have been watching the (Abbotsford-Texas) sequence,” he added, “and it is actually good. I am certain there’s a number of buzz again house, particularly in Abbotsford. They get good followers out.… Abbotsford’s a extremely good crew in addition to Texas.”

Sourdif’s mother and father nonetheless dwell in Boundary Park, the place he was raised and first performed hockey with Surrey Minor. At Burnaby Winter Membership, he was teammates with Bains, 24.

“We performed peewee there, after which after that I used to be on the varsity crew at Delta Hockey Academy and he was on the prep crew, so I would see him there,” Sourdif stated the Canucks prospect. “In midget we performed at Valley West earlier than he was known as up, I feel round Christmastime, to Pink Deer (of the WHL) for the remainder of the season.

“We communicate, however not a lot throughout the season,” he added. “Once I return house we’ll get collectively and make it out for a pair rounds of golf, one thing like that, with a few of our pals. And I’ve skated with him in the summertime, too. It has been a very long time since we first performed collectively, time flies. He is an amazing expertise and he is had a a heck of a profession to this point, so I am comfortable for him.”

The Calder Cup closing begins with two weekend video games in Charlotte (Friday and Sunday), adopted by three Canucks house video games Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (June 17, 19, 21). If wanted, the ultimate two video games of the sequence might be performed again in Charlotte on June 23 and 25.

In Nashville on Feb. 25, Sourdif was known as up by the Panthers for one recreation and scored his first NHL objective on a pleasant rush and give-and-go play with Jesper Boqvist. The following day, the Panthers reassigned him to the AHL Checkers, the place he is performed effectively all season. 

This winter he hopes to play extra NHL video games with Florida, in fact, however proper now Sourdif says the Calder Cup is his solely focus.

“I am not too involved about subsequent season proper now, I simply need to assist my crew win a championship,” he underlined.