Kaiden Guhle. (Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Captain Kaiden

Raiders captain Kaiden Guhle says all systems are go for Raiders’ season debut tonight

Mar 12, 2021 | 12:00 PM

Today is the day. It’s finally come to this as the Prince Albert Raiders will finally get back on the ice at 8 p.m. against the Regina Pats in the Regina hub centre.

Newly-minted Raider captain Kaiden Guhle gauged the excitement level among the team and it’s nothing that he has ever seen before.

“I think it’s breaking the scale. Everybody is so fired up to get back. This is a lot of guys’ first game of the year,” Guhle said. “I know everybody is excited to get back with the guys and back with the staff. I think we’re all fired up and will be ready to go.”

While most WHL players were scrambling to get some ice or find a place to play on loan in the Junior A ranks, Guhle actually managed to have quite the wild ride.

He was drafted and signed by the Montreal Canadiens. He played all seven games with Team Canada at the World Juniors. Then after that, Guhle made his professional hockey debut, playing in three games for the Laval Rocket—the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate.

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“[The World Juniors] was an unbelievable experience and a dream come true. It was awesome to get to do that. And afterwards, going right to Laval was also another unreal experience—getting to be around pro guys and getting to play a few games at the pro level,” Guhle said. “It’s been a little bit different of an offseason, a little hectic at times, but I am very grateful and very fortunate that I even had somewhere to skate and had coaches to guide me in a certain way.”

At the World Juniors in Edmonton, right next door to his hometown of Sherwood Park, Guhle scored a pair of goals and added an assist in seven tournament games for Canada. Canada was downright dominant throughout the tournament—until they met the Americans in the final and lost 2-0.

Kaiden Guhle. (Canadian Press).

“It just would have been nice to get a gold medal. You can have any kind of tournament—you can have a good tournament or a bad tournament—but what makes it is winning the gold medal,” Guhle said when asked how he thought he performed in the tournament. “I don’t look at it as how I did. I look at it as coming away with the silver medal and that feeling. Hopefully, we can bring that kind of fire and wanting to win into next year’s tournament.”

Guhle will be sure to bring that fire this season with the Raiders, as he leads the Raiders in his first year as captain. He also anchors a defensive group that is, by all accounts, a talented blueline with the emerging offensive weapons of second-year blueliners Nolan Allan and Landon Kosior, and the steadiness of third-year Remy Aquilon.

Guhle has also been impressed with the three rookie defencemen on the team with highly touted rookie Graydon Gotaas (second-round pick in 2019), Adam McNutt (fourth-rounder in 2018), and Tayem Gislason (sixth-rounder in 2018).

“I think we’re doing good. The first couple of skates, everybody was getting the rust out but after that, they looked good. They’re learning lots, they’re learning quick,” Guhle said. “Our systems are different. They’re learning that but they’re doing good. They always have questions and they’re always looking to get better. The young guys so far have been great.”

The Raiders will begin their season at 8 p.m. against the Pats. Tune in to the Voice of the Raiders Trevor Redden’s call on CKBI radio or on WHL Live. Also, check out our new LiveBlog on paNOW.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW