Ozzy Wiesblatt [front] and Kaiden Guhle are off to Europe to compete in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup with Team Canada. (Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images)

By Trevor Redden

Euro trip

High excitement as Raider duo head overseas

Jul 31, 2019 | 3:00 PM

Wednesday started in Calgary and will end on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean for Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt, with a stop in Vancouver on the way.

The duo is among 22 Canadians who will be representing the country next week at the annual Hlinka Gretzky Cup, a competition of the best players the world has to offer at the under-18 level, which will take place in Piestany, Slovakia and Breclav, Czech Republic.

For Guhle, there’s only one thing that he is predicting for sure when he arrives overseas.

“I expect to be pretty tired [laughs]. The time change will probably work me up a bit. I’ve heard lots of great things about Europe and it will be my first time so I’m real excited to get going,” Guhle said.

The travel day is immediately followed by the five-day selection camp, with Hockey Canada evaluating a total of 44 players, ultimately paring it down to 22.

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The Raiders were one of two CHL teams in the country to have three players among the 44 invitees, with Jakob Brook joining Guhle and Wiesblatt at camp. Brook scored a goal in one of two games played, but missed the third game with an apparent injury, and wasn’t selected to the final roster.

Both Guhle and Wiesblatt commented on the skill on display during selection camp and expressed gratitude to be on the final roster that will take part in the international competition.

“You do what you’ve been doing all year, just sticking to your game. Maybe embracing a different role that you haven’t really done before, but I think just adapting to the situation is the biggest part,” Wiesblatt said, adding that he didn’t know yet what would be expected of him, but was open to any role.

The selection camp scrimmages saw Guhle on one team and Wiesblatt and Brook on another. This led to some head-to-head action, highlighted by a big neutral ice hit by Guhle on Wiesblatt.

“No friends on the ice, I guess. I feel like whenever I saw Ozzy and Jakob on the ice, I had to be a little harder on them because they’re my buddies. Me and Ozzy joke about that now, but it’s funny to see how that surfaced,” Guhle said.

“Everybody’s trying to make the team,” Wiesblatt replied. “I’ve hit him a couple times, so I guess he had to get me back there.”

Team Canada gets started on Saturday with a pre-tournament showdown against Slovakia in Piestany before setting up in Breclav for the preliminary round.

The tournament has been good to Canada over the years, as 10 of the last 11 gold medals have been brought back to Canadian soil – or kept here as was the case in last year’s tournament in Edmonton. The opportunity to wear the maple leaf isn’t lost on the players involved.

“It’s an honour to get selected to go play for Team Canada in Europe. Every time you get a chance to go do that at any level it’s unbelievable, so I’m really excited to get going,” Guhle said.

Canada will face Finland on Monday at 7:30 a.m., Switzerland on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., and Czech Republic on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The semifinals will be held on Friday, and the gold medal and third place games on Saturday. All games will be nationally televised on TSN.

Once the team returns from Europe, it will be just weeks until players convene in Prince Albert for Raiders training camp ahead of the 2019-20 WHL season.

“Obviously it was a short offseason, but I love it,” Guhle said. “I’m really excited to get back to P.A. and back to hockey.”

“I’m honestly super excited,” Wiesblatt echoed. “I think [there is opportunity] for a bigger role with all the guys leaving, maybe stepping up my game a little bit so I’m excited for what’s to come.”

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden