Sharks hosted their first Sikh Heritage Night - Kaurs Singhs and Sharks. The Sikh Heritage Night was a huge Success with a sold out group event. The Local Sikh Community came together to support their sharks as they beat Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Thursday Night in SAP Center.
San Jose Sharks hosted NHL's first ever "Kaurs Singhs and Sharks" event on March 2nd 2017. The event itself is inline with ¡§Kaurs Singhs of North America¡¨ theme where by Major League Sports teams celebrate their region¡¦s cultural diversity and heritage by hosting their local Communities. In this regard the Sikh Community.
The Canucks and Sharks teams are significant in this regard because both Vancouver and San Jose (Bay Area/Silicon Valley) have significant Sikh Populations. A brief summary of the game - While Vancouver Sikhs were elated when the Canucks silenced SAP Center with their goal in the first period, but the Sharks held the Canucks to that one and only goal while themselves scoring three and came out victorious.
Kaurs Singhs and Sharks activities included showcasing Sikh Heritage and Identity hosted by the San Jose Gurdwara Sangat. The event also included a Gatka performance by the San Jose Gurdwara Gatka Akhara. San Jose Gurdwara sangat members also hosted a Sikh Turban demonstration and wrapped sharks fans in colorful turbans while teaching them values for which it represents.
Gatka is a martial art associated with the Sikh history.
While this is the NHL's first Sikh Heritage Night, it would be an injustice to the NHL if we did not mention that the NHL has had some of the first South Asian Sports personalities Including the first Sikh who actually played for the Sharks - Robin Bawa, played for San Jose Sharks in the Early 90¡¦s.
The list of players of South Asian descent to have played an NHL game is far and few, they still number significantly above other leagues. South Asian Players have contributed to the NHL on both sides of the boarder (Canada and America) including Robin Bawa, Manny Malhotra, Prab Rai, Kevin Sundher & Jujhar Khaira.
Additionally, Ajay Baines a veteran
AHL defenceman and Everett
Silvertips of the WHL have had a
groundbreaking team - an all-Punjabi
line featuring Vancouver-area
players Khaira, Manraj Hayer, and
Tyler Sandhu have taken the team by
storm. The fact is that it is surprising
this story hasn¡¦t been covered in
greater depth. That may continue to
be the case until a player of South
Asian/East Indian descent makes a
significant impact within the NHL
such stories won¡¦t make the sports
headlines. Interestingly Khaira has
risen quite quickly with the
Edmonton Oilers¡¦ prospect ranks,
and is a player the team is counting
on to become their long-awaited
power forward. Khaira represents
HOPE for both the Oilers and young South Asian youth throughout North America. He is
the stereotypical Indo-Canadian, Surrey, BC native ¡V the son of a gravel truck owneroperator
and a first-generation Canadian.
Pioneer Recognition is due to
Harnarayan Singh who has
become to the Punjabi
community what Jim Hughson
or Chris Cuthbert are to the
mainstream Canadian
television viewing audience.
As a result Hockey itself is
quickly growing among the
South Asian community, a
reported a 20% increase from
ethnic or immigrant families.
Much of which can be
attributed to Hockey Night in
Canada expanding its broadcasting platform and including Punjabi-language telecasts.
Low and behold some immigrant parents who could not previously understand the game
or English telecasts are fast developing an affection and interest in the sport. Which is
also resulting higher registrations of south Asian youth in the sport. Average online
viewership of the Punjabi broadcast has grown by over 50% since the 2011-12 regular
season, with playoff games noticing a particularly sharp increase in viewers.
Back to the Canucks Vs Sharks - San Jose
started the game a little sluggish. Just 3
minutes into the period Vancouver forward
Reid Boucher (24) got a delay of game
penalty, but the Sharks were unable to
capitalize on the ensuing power play. Even
with the man advantage opportunity, the
Sharks managed just 2 shots on goal in the
first 6 minutes of the game, until finally,
Brent Burns, in an effort to clear the puck,
chipped it over the glass putting the
Canucks on their first power play. Over a
minute into the power play, Ben Hutton
collected a rebound off of Aaron Dell (30)
on the bottom of the left circle and fed it to
Bo Horvat (53) on top of the crease, and he
tapped it home through the five hole giving
the Canucks a 1-0 lead.
The second period was mostly all
Sharks. About half way through
the period, Joel Ward (42) made a
short pass to Tomas Hertl (48)
inside the right circle and he
passed it to Marcus Sorensen on
the bottom of the left circle.
Sorenson took the pass off of his
right skate before tapping it in by
the left post giving the Sharks their
first lead of the game. Just four
minutes later Couture took a short pass from Patrick Marleau (12) inside of the right
circle and unleashed a wrister short side top shelf beating Miller over his glove and
giving the Sharks a commanding 3-1 lead.
In the third period, the Sharks continue to dominate the game outshooting the Canucks 11-5 but Miller was able to stop all 11 of their shots keeping the final score at 3-1.
Credits:
- Ashmere Prasad - Punjab Mail, CA
- Amrita Singh - INDTVUSA
- Ravi Kumar - DiyaTV