NHL Draft Combine

Jujhar Khaira is the highest ranked BCHL player
in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft

With the NHL Draft coming up on June 23rd in Pittsburgh, 105 players have been invited to the annual NHL Draft Combine in Toronto during the week of May 28 to June 2. On the list of players vying for an extra look from all of the NHL teams is Spruce Kings power forward, Jujhar Khaira (pronounced Juh-JAR CARE-ah).

A realitve unknown until he impressed at the Spruce Kings training camp in August 2010, now Khaira is a much sought after power forward with great puck possession skills and the ability to turn a scoring chance out of any play. Khaira is as dedicated off the ice as he is on the ice in both his physical conditioning and academic studies.

As a rookie with the Spruce Kings, Khaira impressed so much that he earned a NCAA Division 1 four year scholarship commitment to Michigan Tech that starts with the 2012-13 season. Playing with a skill set above his age, he also possessed the strength that left onlookers with the impression they were watching an 18 or 19 year old player.

In that first season with the Spruce Kings, the player that had been skipped over at the Bantam Draft went on to finish second in team scoring. A year later he had a breakout season playing on arguably the best line in the British Columbia Hockey League. The trio of Paul De Jersey, Michael Colantone and Jujhar Khaira combined for a total of 103 goals and 148 assists with Khaira finishing with 29 goals and 50 assists.

In the previous off-season Khaira worked hard at building muscle mass and came back to Prince George a few inches taller, 15 lbs heavier and the ability to use all of it to move and protect the puck. His dedication to being the best player he can has this draft eligible player working even harder this off-season looking for his opportunity to impress at the NHL Draft Combine and beyond.

All players at the Combine will be put through a series of physical tests from the bench test to the VO2 Max test and also interviews with potentially every NHL team. Jujhar Khaira knows that every aspect of the Combine will be tough, but he is determined to give it his all.

"It's a great honour to be invited to the Combine," said Khaira. "I've been training really hard to try to make a good impression there and I'll keep training all summer. I've also been preparing for the interview portion getting asked questions from a person that does that sort of stuff."

A true diamond in the rough, Jujhar Khaira has earned this chance to shine through hard work and determination. Good luck Jujhar.