Kaiden Guhle is now officially an Edmonton Oil King. (Twitter/Edmonton Oil Kings).

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders Hockey

‘We lost a big family member,’ Raiders play first game after Kaiden Guhle trade

Dec 3, 2021 | 12:22 PM

When they roll into the Art Hauser Centre on Friday to play their lone game this weekend against the Regina Pats, the Prince Albert Raiders will have their first game without Kaiden Guhle.

The Raiders drafted Guhle first overall in the 2017 WHL draft, months after trading older brother Brendan Guhle to the Prince George Cougars as the Raiders started their rebuild. Kaiden was dealt this Wednesday to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid remembers Brendan bringing his younger brother to the rink.

“[Kaiden] is a really good person. Obviously, people see him as a hockey player but I see him as a person. I’ve known this kid since he was 11 years old because his brother brought him in. He was a young blonde-haired kid standing there and Brendan says, ‘one day, he’s going to be better than me.’ He turned out to be a pretty good hockey player, but a better person. We pride ourselves on being a family here, and we lost a big family member. It was a tough day.”

The Raiders are coming off their best weekend of the season so far, taking all four points in a two-game road trip to Manitoba. They defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings 2-1, before a 4-3 overtime victory over the Winnipeg ICE—the best team in the CHL. Sloan Stanick scored in overtime, ending a 10-game winning streak by the ICE and lowering their record to 21-1-1 on the season.

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Belarusian rookie goaltender Tikhon Chaika got both wins in Manitoba, his first two WHL career victories. Chaika made 23 saves on 24 shots for the win in Brandon, before stopping 33 of 36 against the ICE. Chaika now quietly has a 2-1-1 record through seven appearances and has a 2.45 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

The Raiders haven’t faced the Pats since the opening weekend. The Raiders lost both games, 3-1 at the Art Hauser Centre on Oct. 1, before a 5-2 defeat on Oct. 2.

The Raiders are donating the proceeds from the TJ’s Pizza 50/50 for tonight’s game to the family of Matt Swaby, who died on Nov. 26 near Prince Albert following a farming accident.

Swaby played his minor hockey in Prince Albert, and played his U18 AAA years with the Mintos before playing three years in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans from 2004-07, before ending his WHL career as captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2007-2008. Swaby then played three years at the University of Saskatchewan Huskies from 2008-2011.

“I want to talk about the Swaby family. It’s a tough day in Prince Albert. I’ve never met Matt, but our hearts with the staff and organization go out to his wife Carla and their three boys. [Raiders assistant coach] Ryan McDonald knew Matt and the family really well. It hits everybody,” Habscheid said. “You just have to rally around and do what you can. Whatever people can do is great to help the family and help them get through this.”

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW