Edmonton powers past Raiders 5-2
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| Kaiden Guhle (#4) had a memorable return to Prince Albert. |
On Saturday night, the star defenceman stepped on to the ice at the Art Hauser Centre wearing the colours of the Edmonton Oil Kings. It marked the first time Guhle played in Prince Albert since the Raiders dealt him to Edmonton in a blockbuster deal earlier this season on December 1, 2021.
Way back in what was then known as the WHL Bantam Draft in 2017, the Raiders selected Guhle first overall. The Sherwood Park, Alta., quickly lived up to high expectations.
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| Kaiden Guhle mans the point for the Oil Kings. |
The skilled offensive-defenceman broke into star status posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department in 64 games helping the Raiders finish first in the East Division in 2019-20 before the end of the regular season and the post-season was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round with the 16th overall selection. He proceeded to sign an NHL entry-level contract with the Canadiens.
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| The Raiders play a video tribute for Kaiden Guhle on their scoreboard. |
Guhle was the Raiders captain at the time he was traded to the Oil Kings.
In his return game to Prince Albert, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds, was on the ice to start the contest for the Edmonton side. At the first media break that came at the 9:08 mark of the first period, the Raiders played a video tribute for Guhle on the Art Hauser Centre’s giant video scoreboard.
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| Kaiden Guhle (#4) waves to the Art Hauser Centre crowd. |
As the cheers grew louder as the video continued to play, Guhle gave a wave to the crowd. He gave a second wave at the end of the video with the spectators still cheering the players from both the Raiders and Oil Kings standing on their respective benching giving a stick tap salute.
“It was
pretty special,” said Guhle. “I spent a lot of my career here.
“I wouldn’t
be where I am today without that staff and the guys in the room there. It was
special to get a little recognition from the Raiders. It shows just how good of
a first class organization they are.”
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| Kaiden Guhle (#4) breaks into the offensive zone on a rush. |
When the video tribute played, Guhle said his time with the Raiders seemed to flash before his eyes.
“It was
just nice to get that video from the Raiders,” said Guhle, who turned
20-years-old just past the middle of this past January. “It was just a lot of
memories flashing back from the championship to being in the dressing room with
the guys.
“It was
just a lot of memories a lot of good memories that kind of rush through my
mind. It was really special.”Josh Williams scored the Oil Kings first goal on Saturday.
Guhle said it felt different to walk into the Art Hauser Centre through the doors used by the visiting team, suit up in the visitors’ dressing room and take a spot on the visitors’ bench. When the game started, he got into the groove of the contest where it felt like he was playing another regular season game.
With odds of him moving to the professional ranks being high next season and the Raiders continuing to slip out of playoff contention, Guhle was likely playing his final game at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.
While he may not be playing for the Raiders anymore, it wasn’t lost on Guhle how much the team meant in his life.
“I spent my
whole junior career pretty much here with the same coaches and a lot of the
same guys throughout my whole career,” said Guhle, who was captain of Canada’s
entry at the last world juniors before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19
pandemic in late December 2021. “It was really special.Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif (#42) fights through a check.
“I wouldn’t
be out here without the coaches and the guys in the room. I give a lot of my
credit to those guys in the room and the coaching staff.”
Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Guhle will always have a special place in the history of the Raiders organization. While the veteran bench boss never likes to lose, he said it was special to have Guhle back inside the Art Hauser Centre again.
“He (Guhle)
is a class guy,” said Habscheid. “He is a big part of the organization and part
of the 2019 (WHL championship) team. Cale Sanders scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.
“He will be
a Raider forever. He wears that (Oil Kings) jersey, but he is still a Raider. That
is the way it is.”
A short time after the video tribute for Guhle, Oil Kings star centre Justin Sourdif scored on the power play to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.
Sourdif added his second of the night on another power play at the 5:29 mark of the second period to give Edmonton a 3-0 advantage.
Raiders 19-year-old right-winger Cale Sanders tallied for the Raiders with 2:16 remaining in the second period to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.
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| Jalen Luypen scored the Oil Kings fifth goal on Saturday. |
The Oil Kings sealed the deal when captain Jake Neighbours potted his 12th of the season scoring from the front the Prince Albert goal to increase Edmonton’s lead to 4-1 at the 4:06 mark of the third.
On that play, import centre Jakub Demek caused a turnover by the right boards of the Raiders zone and centred the puck to Neighbours, who promptly put the visitors up three.
Jalen Luypen potted the Oil Kings final goal to give them a 5-1 edge.
Sanders concluded the game’s scoring with his second tally of the night with 5:18 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in Edmonton’s favour.
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| Jakub Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings on Saturday. |
Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings in the win.
The Raiders were playing without star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt on Saturday. He was out with an undisclosed injury suffered late in the Raiders 2-1 loss at home on Friday to the Red Deer Rebels. Wiesblatt is the only player left on the Raiders roster from their 2018-19 WHL championship team.
Sanders said his side is getting sick of the losing in what has become a reloading season for his team.
“We lost a
bunch recently, so we have to battle back somehow,” said Sanders. “We’re in a
slump.Tikhon Chaika made 35 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.
“All of us
are kind of angry. We’re just looking for a little of the bright side.”
The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
The Oil Kings get back into action on Tuesday when they host the Regina Pats at Rogers Place. That contest is the team’s annual game where they host a number of local area schools so it starts at 11 a.m. local time.
As Sherwood Park sits just outside Edmonton’s eastern border, Guhle is playing for his birth family home area WHL team. He knows the potential his Oil Kings team has and wants to help them accomplish big goals like he did with the Raiders in 2019.
“Obviously,
we want to go all the way,” said Guhle, who has five goals, 23 assists and a
plus-eight rating in 29 games this season split between the Raiders and Oil
Kings. “I think we kind of got a lot of good piece throughout the year.Kaiden Guhle (#4) and the Oil Kings enjoy their win on Saturday.
“I think it
is kind of win or bust for us. There are still a lot of new guys in the room
still. We are still getting comfortable with everything.
“I think it
is just win or bust for us.”
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