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In part two of our conversation with Harry Mahesh, former MJHL player and coach now with the Calder Cup Champion Abbottsford Canucks, he talks about coaching professional players, winning a championship and how none of it would be possible without his family.
After spending time in the NHL, Mahesh made the move back to the bench with Abbotsford, he has high praise for the staff he goes to work with every day and says that friendship is a big reason for the success. "We all became friends," he says with a smile. "The players are one thing and I remember being a player, you'd go for dinners but as a staff, we were really close. This playoff run we had a routine when it came to our dinners and spending time together. We all really wanted to win but we also leaned on each other to take our minds off the game. Sure, we enjoyed the moments and I learned a ton from our other assistant coach Jordan Smith, he had experience in the league. I worked with (Head Coach) Manny (Malhotra) last year in Toronto, so just the fact that he trusted me and then obviously (General Manager) "RJ", Ryan Johnson, believing in me, just hiring me and giving me a chance with so little experience. Wanting to start fresh, we had a whole new staff from top to bottom, from video coach to goalie coach to medical, he really took a leap of faith, not just on myself but on the buy in, believing we could start from fresh. The fact it all worked out, it's just a really fun time. Those are the memories I'm going to really take away from this playoff run, just the fun we had as a coaching staff."
Being a coach in a championship game can be a mix of emotions and Mahesh says he waited a long time to be behind the bench, watching the clock tick down to a championship and the wait was worth it. "I envisioned that moment when the buzzer goes a million times," he says with a laugh. "You just prep for the celebration. The game itself, we were on eggshells. We went down 2-0 pretty quick, came back to make it 3-2 going into the third. We had a chance to win it at home the night before, we were up 3-2 but we lost in overtime off a really fluky bounce, so to be in that situation, 48 hours later and in their barn, it was a nail biter. It came down to the wire, they pulled the goalie, six seconds left there's an offside, at that point you're thinking okay, we got this. They won the faceoff and shot the puck down, at that point you have one eye on the clock and one eye on the corner, but as soon as the buzzer went, it was like the weight of the world came off your shoulders. I remember because we were on the away bench, there were only five of us there, everyone else was in the corner and they came running across the ice. It was a really great moment to share with just the group that was on the bench. It was an unforgettable feeling, that's for sure."
Through it all, there's always been a constant for Mahesh, through the highs and lows, the wins and the questions, family has been at the core of it all and he says he'd have nothing without them and he's loving being in dad-mode again. "I mean, first and foremost, my wife, I met her just as I was stating my coaching career, so she's been through all the ups and downs, starting with coaching in Pilot Mound, Manitoba, to Calgary, me moving across to Toronto while she was pregnant and from all the pitstops in between. The fact I've had a lot of stops along the way, she's backed me through all of it. From minor hockey to academy hockey to junior hockey to pro, there's no way, the fact she stuck with me through it all means a lot. At the same time, my parents, they've been there from day one. Through the struggles as a player, the ups and downs of that journey and now as a coach, there as well. When a lot of parents would have told their kids to move on from the game a long time ago, and most spouses probably wouldn't have stuck around with the amount of moving I've had to do, I'm so fortunate to have unbelievable support from both sides."
Winning the Calder Cup is the ultimate goal, but right there with that championship is the sense of home and a sense of peace, belonging and family, all of which Mahesh says will keep him right where he is for as long as he can be. "I'll be back in Abbotsford and I've said it all year long, this is the first time in my life that I have a job I'm trying to keep as opposed to trying to move away from," he says with a chuckle. "I absolutely love it here. We're just getting started now, there's a new challenge, at the American League level, there's a lot of roster turnover, so we don't know what the team is going to look like, but it's going to be fun to start over again. We've set an expectation, created a culture and while we came in with a whole new staff, this next year it'll have a totally new feel because we're champions. I'm excited for the first time to have that feeling. I haven't gone back-to-back with the same team too often so I'm really enjoying my summer knowing I have a place to go come September."
In the AHL, Mahesh works with players that are excitedly on the way up to the NHL one day, while also managing players that might top out at that level or be sent down, but when it comes to advice for players that face adversity at any level, his message is simple. "I would say, if you really want it, stop talking about it and work," he says confidently. "I know in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, as a player and as a coach, with the way the hockey world and junior world is now, you have to do everything you can to stand out. Being good enough isn't good enough. You have to dominate. You have to put in the work and there one big thing I've learned at this level, you can't half-heart anything, these guys are all in every day, all day. When you're a young player, you have to see what it takes but once you get around it, you understand it. It's one thing to talk about what you want but it's another thing to do it."
As for advice for young coaches or any coaches, Mahesh jokes that despite where he is, he maybe is still in the listen stages rather than giving any advice. "A lot of the coaches in the MJ are way more experienced than I am," he says laughing. "I talk with (Neepawa Titans Head Coach) Kenny Pearson quite a bit, he's followed the playoff run and he came out and watched a game here. He's been somebody that, even when I coached against him, he's always been a mentor. I owe him a big thank you. He would text me after every game, win or lose in this series and to have a guy like that in your corner after all these years, that's pretty cool."
Safe to say many from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League will be in the corner of Harry Mahesh as he continues his hockey journey with his family at home and his hockey family firmly by his side.