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dandydoodle · 04-07-2017, 11:47 AM

When Nepal Ice Hockey President, Lok Bahadur Shahi, finally hitched to the IIHF in 2016, he had never dreamed that Nepal would so quickly have their first player cross the waters to play in Canada. In less than one year since joining the federation, Indesvara Magar from Kathmandu was drafted into the Mini league to become a Vancouver Whaler.

With tears in his eyeballs Shahi was interviewed by the Kathmandu Post on Friday afternoon, only hours after watching the draft live.

"I had visions of seeing Nepal send players one day over to play with the great players but never did I think it would happen so soon. We only got hitched to IIHF in May of 2016 and thought it would take many years to see these dreams come true. What Indesvara has done for this country is very exciting and hopefully as we build first indoor arena in Kathmandu over next couple years we will see more kids growing up with Magar jerseys on their backs as they dream of becoming a big star themselves one day."

The President of Nepal Federation had a large smile as he told the story, then sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Indesvara grew up playing on our outdoor rinks. He is great star for the sport but also a good human who went through hardness like many others from Nepal when the earthquake happened. Just like how we are still rebuilding our country from devestation, Indesvara is a good sign of how little can become big in this world. We are very happy for him and hope he can still be a big part of future for Nepal hockey."

The Post caught up with Indesvara himself who did not expect to be drafted so highly, if at all, and was preparing to fly to Canada as soon as possible. When our journalist arrived he was running around house and packing things quickly, but still made time for us to talk.

We asked him how the draft went for him.

"Oh, I was up at 3:30 in the morning to get ready for draft. It was happening at 5:30 in the morning in Kathmandu and we watched it at call centre together with friends and family. They have best internet there and we had able to watch it on computer. It was very exciting but I did not eat much of my morning since my tummy was very nervous that I would not be drafted."

We asked him why he did not think he would be drafted.

"Well Nepal had never had a player go to Canada before to play hockey and so we did not know if they would say no to me and say I should stay in Nepal. It was real worry that I would have to stay here and play more and get better. I would be able to do that and be very happy with playing here but my heart was aching for playing against best in the world and this is the next step to maybe being in the SHL one day. It would be the top of a dream come true. Like climbing Sagarmatha for those from the world, this is my Goddess of the Sky that I have been thinking in my head of since being a kid."

We asked him what he thought of his new team in Vancouver.

"I am very glad to be going to a city like Vancouver. There will be others from Nepal in the city and I have been told that they have a very strong team this year. I do not know what my ice role will be but it will be a big change to be thinking, eating, singing, and dancing, hockey all of the days instead of having to go to call centre during days to work. My friends at call centre celebrated this morning and they cheered for me not having to come back. We all like our job but Tenzig told me he was going to be very unhappy to see me back at work next day. I laughed when he said that. This is so exciting for all of us and Vancouver is a big city so that will feel like Kathmandu in some ways. Very glad to be picked by the Whalers. I do not know much about Whales and hope I do not need to."

We asked him about speaking English.

"Oh as you can see I am very good with English. I started learning it when I was a kid in primary and kept learning right until I received by School Leaving Certificate. I do not worry about speaking with other Vancouver people. I have heard they are warm hearted to people from other countries and so I am glad they will embrace me into their family. It is best place for me to be out of almost any city in the league. I think a place in United States probably would not draft me since I have been told their President Trump does not like to let people from other countries into their country right now. This is very good for me. I will keep practicing my English but think it will not be a bad thing."

We asked him about role on team.

"I have talked very small with team GMs and talked about contracts and things. The people from Vancouver talk about money like it is candy and it is amazing to me! But anyways I have been told I will play on team and have a role so that is exciting. I have always said that I will carry bottles of water for team if needed to be help and will still do that. I hope I can stop pucks, make good passes, and score goals for as much as I can. That will make the team and me happy and all of us win. That is what we want for everyone right?"

We asked him for any final words of thought.

"I just want for Nepal players to know that if they work hard they can make their dreams of doing what they can. No one ever thought a Nepal player would be here and now it is happening. I have one very happy mother right now for sure. Keep working hard and things that are greater than your dreams can be real. Now I need to get to sleep. I have a long day of flying tomorrow and it is all so overwhelming. Thank you for talking to me.

We here at the Kathmandu Post wish Indesvara the greatest of times and look forward to the exciting things to come for him.

Winter is Coming · 04-07-2017, 11:48 AM

This is some really good work, keep it up! Cheers

goilers · 04-07-2017, 12:01 PM

Nice Work! Cheers

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