No matter which team wins, a Surrey-raised player or two will lift the Calder Cup as American Hockey League champion.
A pair of locals, Arshdeep Bains and Jujhar Khaira, scored big goals to lead Abbotsford Canucks to a Cup final berth Sunday (June 8) in a thrilling, series-ending comeback win over Texas Stars at Abbotsford Centre.
Now, in a best-of-seven series starting Friday (June 13) in North Carolina, they'll face Charlotte Checkers and Justin Sourdif, the Surrey-raised forward and Florida Panthers prospect.
So far in these playoffs the 23-year-old Sourdif has scored three goals and three assists in 12 games while racking up 28 penalty minutes for the AHL's Eastern Conference champs.
In Charlotte over the past three seasons, the former Vancouver Giants captain has become a dynamic player who can break open a game with his great mix of skill and physicality.
The Now-Leader caught up with Sourdif in a phone call Saturday (June 7), four days after the Checkers advanced to the Calder Cup final and a day before Abbotsford Canucks did the same.
"This is my first time in the (AHL) finals and it's pretty good hockey, really intense," he said. "It's why you play, right, trying to win a championship. We're focused on winning.
"We've been watching the (Abbotsford-Texas) series," he added, "and it's really good. I'm sure there's a lot of buzz back home, especially in Abbotsford. They get good fans out.… Abbotsford's a really good team as well as Texas."
Sourdif's parents still live in Boundary Park, where he was raised and first played hockey with Surrey Minor. At Burnaby Winter Club, he was teammates with Bains, 24.
"We played peewee there, and then after that I was on the varsity team at Delta Hockey Academy and he was on the prep team, so I'd see him there," Sourdif said of the Canucks prospect. "In midget we played at Valley West before he was called up, I think around Christmastime, to Red Deer (of the WHL) for the rest of the season.
"We keep in touch, but not so much during the season," he added. "When I return home we'll get together and make it out for a couple rounds of golf, something like that, with some of our friends. And I've skated with him in the summer, too. It's been a long time since we first played together, time flies. He's a great talent and he's had a a heck of a career so far, so I'm happy for him."
The Calder Cup final starts with two weekend games in Charlotte (Friday and Sunday), followed by three Canucks home games Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (June 17, 19, 21). If needed, the final two games of the series will be played back in Charlotte on June 23 and 25.
In Nashville on Feb. 25, Sourdif was called up by the Panthers for one game and scored his first NHL goal on a nice rush and give-and-go play with Jesper Boqvist. The next day, the Panthers reassigned him to the AHL Checkers, where he's played well all season.
This winter he hopes to play more NHL games with Florida, of course, but right now Sourdif says the Calder Cup is his only focus.
"I'm not too concerned about next season right now, I just want to help my team win a championship," he underlined.
