“It’s cool to be able to play against those guys and match up against them,” Guhle said. “When you’re on the ice, you don’t really have time to be in awe, so I try my best to just stay in the moment and just play hockey. But it’s really cool when you get to play against those guys. I’ve been watching those guys growing up, especially Crosby and Ovechkin. They’ve been the best in the league for a really long time.”
If Guhle seems a little unfazed by the difficult opponents he’s facing, it might be because he’s used to facing the other team’s best from his time in the WHL. In his later seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders, and in his brief time with the Edmonton Oil Kings, he was relied upon in every situation, including shutting down the opposition’s top lines.
“There are so many good players in that league and it’s such a good league for young players to go into,” Guhle said. “I definitely wouldn’t be here today without playing in that league and having the coaches that I did throughout my career, playing with all the players I got to play with and practice with every day.”
From the time Guhle broke in full-time with the Raiders in 2018-19 to the day he was traded in the 2021-22 season, he worked very closely with Jeff Truitt, who was the team’s assistant coach at the time and has now taken over. Over head coaching duties. Truitt still has extremely high praise for Guhle as a player and person, and Guhle returned the favor.
“He still texts me to this day and checks in here and there,” he said. “He’s a great coach but he’s (also) a good person, someone that all the players can get along with. He’s got so many good stories and he knows the game so well.”
Guhle credits working with Truitt, and then head coach Marc Habscheid, for getting him to the next level. He also still recalls his time in Prince Albert very fondly. He spent parts of five seasons here, starting from his call-up in the 2017-18 season.
“PA was a big part of my life,” Guhle said. “I made a lot of good relationships with coaches and players that I still call buddies to this day. PA was an awesome time, and I loved playing there.”
Life is a little different for Guhle in the NHL than it was in the WHL, from the travel to the size of the crowds to the intensity of the spotlight. Another big difference is playing in a market where English is not the only, sometimes not even the primary, spoken language.
“I hear it (French) a lot and I can pick up on a couple of things,” Guhle said with a laugh. “But I’m still not the best in the French department.”
Despite that, Guhle had nothing but praise for how the city or the Canadiens organization has treated him so far. And while the jump to the NHL has been a big one on and off the ice, relishing that jump and the work building up to it have helped make Guhle into the stalwart defenseman he’s rapidly becoming.
“There are different ways to get to this level and it doesn’t matter which way you take,” Guhle said. “There are players that go undrafted that make the team. I think you’ve got to just keep working hard all the time. It doesn’t really matter your status; if you play well, you’ve got a chance.”
The Canadiens next play tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild at 6 pm Saskatchewan time.
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On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP