Today’s Sunday Upgrade is my first TTM (through the mail) success, and it couldn’t involve a nicer guy. Dampy Brar (@dampy.brar 🇮🇳🇨🇦) is a tremendous role model and leader in the South Asian hockey community. As the co-founder of @apnahockey (with @lali.toor) and recipient of the @nhl Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, Dampy has worked tirelessly to promote diversity and inclusion in the sport of hockey. Dampy has been an awesome supporter of this account, and he has been a true gentlemen in all of our conversations.

Prior bio: This smooth operator is the famed Dampy Brar @dampy.brar - 

1. “Damps” was a talented, highly skilled Indo Canadian winger from Sparwood, BC. He began playing hockey shooting a plastic puck into an empty bucket at his parents’ home. He then started skating at the age of 5. 

2. Dampy’s junior career commenced with 2 seasons in the @rmjhl playing for the @kijhlghostriders, where he scored 86 points in 92 games. 

3. He played 1 season with @concordiauniversity (notching 29 points in 21 games) before turning pro. Dampy then enjoyed a 7-year pro career where he averaged over a point a game and played for teams in the @echlhockey, IHL, CHL and WCHL. In addition, he won a WCHL championship with the Tacoma Sabercats in 1998-99 and finished as the franchise’s all time leading scorer with 330 points in 297 games. 

4. After retiring from pro ice hockey in 2003, Dampy was a prolific Team India ball hockey player in international competition. 

5. Dampy is also a dedicated ambassador of the game and a champion of diversity, as illustrated by the fact he won the 2020 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award for his work as a co-founder of @apnahockey (which translates to “our” in Punjabi), a community-based organization dedicated to using hockey as a channel for South Asian communities to promote inclusion and develop life skills. Despite never making it to the Show, Dampy is one of the most respected South Asian players and serves as a role model for children of all colors throughout Canada