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Vancouver Canucks rookie Arshdeep Bains received a special shoutout from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after scoring his first professional hockey goal. Bains, born in 2001 to an Indo-Canadian Sikh family, made headlines for this significant milestone. Many congratulated him, but Trudeau's message stood out.The Prime Minister took to X, saying:
"A hometown hero in the making. Congrats on your first NHL goal, Arshdeep!"
Bains capitalized on a loose puck in the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After dropping a pass to Daniel Sprong, whose shot was saved, the puck bounced back to Bains. He tapped it into an open net, marking his first goal and sealing the win for the team.
Reflecting on his achievement, Bains noted that his teammates had been encouraging him to score soon. He said:
"I'd been hearing that from a couple guys. They're all pretty happy for me. And it almost felt like it was meant to be."
Describing the moment, he added:
“I can't really even put it in words. It just happened so fast and all the guys were so happy. It's just a special moment."
Fellow winger Kiefer Sherwood expressed a wish for Bains to show more excitement after the goal:
"I wish he had a bigger smile on his goal. But you see the guys' reaction on the bench — I think we were happier than he was. But he's been a guy that's just put his nose down and continued to go to work. … So it really, really feels good for everyone to kind of support him and watch him go about his thing.”
The Canucks' victory marked a strong start to the season, bringing their record to 4-1-2. They are set to face the Carolina Hurricanes next, aiming to build on their momentum and Bains' success.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet was pleased to see all his lines generating offence and converting on looks and plays they’ve been working on in practice.
“I think there's some good plays out there, there's some good possession time. We're converting on some nice plays, the two-on-one was a big play for us. The conversion, the plays, some of the concepts we've talked about training camp, and especially last week, you can see guys trying to apply it out there, so that's nice to see,” Tocchet said.
