Player speaks to 'surreal' Memorial Cup and hopes to follow in brother's NHL footsteps

Ask Sahvan Khaira about his days of hockey playing, and he brings up his family as a big factor in his and his brother's success.

"The endless early mornings, late night travel, travel to different countries, different cities, all over the place," recalled Khaira, a Swift Current Bronco playing at the Memorial Cup, of his parents' involvement. "They sacrificed a lot of their social lives, their personal lives for us to be successful."

The sport itself didn't exactly endear itself to him right off the bat when he was a young kid in Surrey, B.C.

"Honestly, the first time I didn't enjoy it all. You're constantly falling down, you don't really know what you're doing," said the 20-year-old. "I got to skate with my brother growing up and that kind of helped me get back into it."

That brother would be Jujhar Khaira, his older brother by four years who's now a forward with the Edmonton Oilers — only the third person of Punjabi descent to make it to the NHL.

The younger Khaira knows just what it took for his brother to get to that level.

"I get to see firsthand all the hard work he puts in. I'm just extremely proud of him," he said.

Over the years, his brother's example, along with his own burgeoning hockey success, led Sahvan to dedicate more and more over himself to improving his own hockey play, and he joined the Western Hockey League four years ago with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Memorial Cup highlight

This year will be his most successful yet, with the Broncos bringing home Saskatchewan's first Western Hockey League title in 25 years, and now playing in the Memorial Cup.

The experience is one Sahvan calls "surreal."

"I know a lot of kids watching the Western Hockey League or any CHL league growing up, they kind of dream of that step right there, trying to move onto a professional league.

"Honestly, it's like a dream come true."

While he'd like to follow in his brother's footsteps once more and become part of the NHL, Khaira's focus right now is being with the Broncos, and bringing home the Memorial Cup.

Win or lose, this year has been an incredible one, with the support of the Swift Current Broncos' fan base and his team, he said.

"Such a fun year with a great people and I wouldn't exchange it for anything else."