Oil Kings’ Guhle saluted in return to Prince Albert

Edmonton powers past Raiders 5-2

Kaiden Guhle (#4) had a memorable return to Prince Albert.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – While he was no long wearing his #6 Prince Albert Raiders jersey, Kaiden Guhle still soaked in his homecoming to “Hockey Town North.”

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.

Kaiden Guhle mans the point for the Oil Kings.

He played eight games for the Raiders on a call up basis during his 15-year-old season in 2017-18. Guhle proceeded to be an important regular as a 16-year-old rookie in the 2018-19 campaign helping the Raiders win their second WHL championship.

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 16^th overall selection. He proceeded to sign an NHL entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

The Raiders play a video tribute for Kaiden Guhle on their scoreboard.

While he had been draft by the Canadiens, Guhle returned to Prince Albert to keep improving for his future career in the professional ranks. All total, he played 156 career regular season games with the Raiders piling up 17 goals, 58 assists and a plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department.

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.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) waves to the Art Hauser Centre crowd.

Guhle sat on the boards of the Oil Kings bench to watch the tribute. The 2,322 spectators in the 2,580 seat building rose to salute Guhle.

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.”

Kaiden Guhle (#4) breaks into the offensive zone on a rush.

The Oil Kings led 1-0 at the time of the video tribute thanks to a power-play goal from 20-year-old right-winger Josh Williams. The visitors would ultimately cruise to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash holding a big 40-19 edge in shots on goal and going 3-for-7 on the power play.

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.

Josh Williams scored the Oil Kings first goal on Saturday.

“It was just a lot of memories a lot of good memories that kind of rush through my mind. It was really special.”

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.

Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif (#42) fights through a check.

“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.

“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.

Cale Sanders scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

“He (Guhle) is a class guy,” said Habscheid. “He is a big part of the organization and part of the 2019 (WHL championship) team.

“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.

Jalen Luypen scored the Oil Kings fifth goal on Saturday.

If there were thoughts of a comeback, it wasn’t to be.

The Oil Kings sealed the deal when captain Jake Neighbours potted his 12^th 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.

Jakub Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings on Saturday.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 15-24-1-1 having lost six straight. Kolby Hay stopped 17 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who lead the WHL’s Central Division with a 31-11-2-1.

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.

Tikhon Chaika made 35 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

“We lost a bunch recently, so we have to battle back somehow,” said Sanders. “We’re in a slump.

“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.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) and the Oil Kings enjoy their win on Saturday.

“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.

“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.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Spark out of nowhere results in Blades 4-3 OT comeback win

Tristen Robins (#11) scores the Blades OT winner.

The Saskatoon Blades proved you don’t always need to be great to pull out a game in the WHL regular season.

On Tuesday night at the SaskTel Centre, “The Bridge City” bunch showed all you need is a spark out of nowhere to find a great finishing kick to skate to a miraculous comeback.

With six minutes remaining in the third, the Blades trailed the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1, and it looked like Edmonton was a lock for a victory.

The Oil Kings had controlled play from the start of the second period up to that point in the third period. It seemed like the Blades were skating in quick sand.

Tristen Robins, right, celebrates his OT winner.

Just when it appeared the Blades were out of it, they seemingly got back into the contest out of nowhere. With 5:12 remaining in the third, the Oil Kings coughed the puck up in their own zone to Blades star overage centre Tristen Robins, who was alone beside the Edmonton goal along with linemate Brandon Lisowsky.

Robins had the puck by the right side of Edmonton net and passed it across the face of the goal to Lisowsky. Lisowsky buried a shot into an open cage to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-2.

From that point, momentum turned full force on the side of the Blades.

Just 52 second later, Lisowsky potted his second of the contest to tie things up at 3-3, when he blew down the left wing and wired home a shot past Oil Kings netminder Sebastian Cossa.

Tristen Robins had a goal and an assist for the Blades on Tuesday.

Inside of the final minute of the third, the Blades had the Oil Kings net under siege, and Cossa had to first rob Robins and then Lisowsky on close in chances to allow the contest to go to overtime.

Just 50 seconds into overtime, Robins took a pass at the right side of the Edmonton goal and faced Cossa one-on-one. The Clear Lake, Man., product proceeded to pop home the winning goal to deliver the Blades to a 4-3 victory to the delightful surprise of the 2,380 spectators in attendance.

The win allowed the Blades, who are rated eight in the CHL Top 10 rankings, to improve to 10-4-1. The Oil Kings, who are rated third in the CHL Top 10 rankings, saw their record move to 9-3-2-1.

Brandon Lisowsky (#8) had a pair of goals for the Blades.

During the course of a 68-game regular season, teams have to find ways to win games, when they are not at their best.

The Blades did that at an opportune time on Tuesday. Having lost their previous two straight games to their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders by a combined score of 10-3, the Blades were looking at going into a stretch of playing nine straight games on the road on a three-game skid.

The Blades are vacating their home rink as the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials will take place at the SaskTel Centre from November 20 to 28.

They hit the road for nine straight games beginning on Friday, when they stop in Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 600 CJWW).

The Blades celebrate an equalizer from Brandon Lisowsky (#8).

The next game at the SaskTel Centre for the Blades is on Friday, December 10 at 7 p.m. against the Calgary Hitmen.

Thanks to Tuesday’s miraculous comeback win, the Blades will head on the road with optimism and not have work against getting overly caught up in trying to get off a down stretch.

With that said, the Blades looked like they were going to have a good outing as they got out to a strong start Tuesday keeping the Oil Kings pinned in their own zone for most of the first seven minutes of the contest.

Despite that pressure by Saskatoon, the Oil Kings got the first best scoring chance of the contest, when right-winger Dylan Guenther was denied on a wraparound counting as his team’s first shot coming at the 7:09 mark of the frame.

Jakub Demek had a goal for the Oil Kings.

The Blades proceeded to apply pressure after that chance, and Robins got robbed close in by Cossa near the end of the opening frame, which saw the Blades hold an 8-5 edge in shots on goal.

The Oil Kings found another gear in the second period keeping the Blades pinned in their own zone for most of the frame.

The visitors broke through on the scoreboard at the 10:54 mark of the second period. On a rush into the Saskatoon zone, Oil Kings left-winger Jalen Luypen broke down the left wing and found right-winger Josh Williams with a smart pass at the right side of the Blades net.

Williams received the pass with a little breathing room and the 20-year-old tucked home his seventh of the season to give the Oil Kings a 1-0 edge.

Dylan Guenther scored the Oil Kings second goal.

Just under two minutes later, the Oil Kings struck on the power play as Guenther slipped home a shot off the post and in to increase the advantage of the visitors to 2-0.

Edmonton held a 17-5 edge in shots on goal in the second period.

When it seemed everything was going the Oil Kings way, the Blades appeared to get a traction moment at the 2:34 mark of the third. With the Oil Kings on the power play, Blades 18-year-old centre Jayden Wiens collected a loose puck on the Edmonton blue-line by the left wing boards.

Blades G Nolan Maier makes one of his 29 saves.

Wiens burst up ice, cut across the front of the Edmonton goal and slipped home a backhand shot for a short-handed tally that cut the Oil Kings edge to 2-1.

That traction moment evaporated quickly. 

Just over four minutes later, Oil Kings import centre Jakub Demek snuck in a shot from a bad angle at the left side of the Blades net short side to give the visitors a 3-1 edge.

At that point, Edmonton seemed in complete control. It only set the scene for the Blades to pull out victory with their dramatics at the end.

Jayden Wiens (#9) jets win a puck battle.

Nolan Maier made29 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, which was his 99^th career victory in regular season play. Maier is trying to become the first Blades netminder to even record 100 career regular season wins.

Sebastian Cossa turned away 20 shots in net for the Oil Kings.

Following the Blades dramatic comeback, all the Oil Kings could do was look to get back on track when they return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Tristen Robins (#11) is all smiles after the Blades OT victory.

As for the Blades, they likely can’t wait to get back on the ice to keep building on the momentum they’ve gained.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.