Kaiden Guhle | Two years later, where it all began

Here we are in the Canadiens locker room in Brossard, Tuesday noon. The places are empty; There are only Timothy Gagnon, one of the Canadian’s public relations officers, as well as Kaiden Guhle, the one we find here in a quiet place, in a usually hectic place.

The environment lends itself perfectly to a photo shoot for colleague Martin Chamberland. Guhle sits at his locker for the first shot. “Do you want to do one with your helmet?” » He gets up, stretches his arm on the shelf above to take the blue helmet, which he places on his left, upside down so that the number 21 is visible in front of the lens.

We move in front of the giant CH which covers the floor. Guhle goes to get a stick, joins in the game.

“It’s still a bit strange. I’ve never been a photo guy, but what do you want? » he tells us, resigned.

“We take photos for Tricolore Sports every year. It’s nice, but it’s weird that people do our makeup and do our hair. I never thought I would ever model, but I guess it’s necessary to sell our merchandise!

“The friends I grew up with don’t play hockey anymore and they ask me lots of questions to find out how it’s going. But at the end of the day, I’m still myself. To them I’m not an NHL player, they know I’m just Kaiden. »

Kaiden, therefore, tries to be himself in the summer by playing golf “three times a week”, cooking on the barbecue. “I see my friends that I don’t have time to see in winter, my family too. I’m trying to make up for lost time. »

The fact remains that his life is not that of a typical young adult. Last summer, Guhle signed a 6-year contract, good for $33.3 million. He finished last season in the role of second defenseman of the hockey team possibly the most scrutinized and analyzed because it is in the two languages ​​that we hear in Helene.

Without necessarily breaking the screen, he exudes a certain charisma through his interactions with Cole Caufield, Arber Xhekaj, Juraj Slafkovsky and other players of his generation. His face is therefore often seen in the team’s various publications. He also lends himself to his media obligations, which he generally concludes with a “thank you” in French.

Watch a video of Kaiden Guhle and Juraj Slafkovsky

“For people like you, whose first language is not English, for the fans too, the least I can do is say thank you in French. I’m sure people like it.

“I took French lessons at school, so I can understand it a little, but not enough to speak it, and I wouldn’t want to butcher the language trying to speak. »

Goodbye, social media

The other thing he doesn’t do like the average young adult is that he’s given up on social media, at least publicly. An enlightenment that came to him at the last World Championship, in May, where he represented Canada. It was during a pre-game meal with John Tavares, Owen Power, Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram.

He doesn’t know which of the quartet said these words, but they had an impact on him. “Someone at the table said, imagine how much better you can do if you’re not always on your phone scrolling. It struck me, and I started reading more, even though I had never been a big reader. This conversation was enlightening.

“I’ve never been a social media guy,” he notes. I never had a Twitter account, I had one on Instagram, but I wasn’t very active there and I ended up closing it this summer. I didn’t want social media to play a big role in my life.

“I like not being aware of everything. That way, when the guys talk at the arena, instead of me already knowing what happened, I have to talk to them face to face. It makes me more present in real life. Maybe I’ll go back on my words someday, but right now I don’t really need to. »

A remarkable first match

At the time of our interview, Guhle is about thirty hours away from reliving what he experienced two years ago almost to the day: an opening game at the Bell Center, against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That evening also marked his first NHL game. He, Xhekaj and Slafkovsky experienced their baptism on the same evening. The three had completed the first lap of the ice in the warm-up while their older teammates looked on. But it’s not this moment that comes to mind first when he thinks about October 12, 2022.

His first memory, “it’s Anderson’s goal.” Here it is.

Watch Josh Anderson’s goal

“I was on the ice. It was the first time I experienced the magic of the Bell Center, and I had never experienced anything like it. Every time my friends ask me my favorite place to play, I say the Bell Center. And they tell me: you have no right to answer that. I don’t care, it’s the best place and I’m lucky to play 41 games a year there. It’s special. I tell my family: you think Rogers Place [à Edmonton, sa ville natale] is noisy, but you didn’t see anything. »

Even though it was his first steps in the NHL, he was the player most used by his coach, to the tune of 22:34.

Two years later, here he is again in the same circumstances, facing the same team. In the meantime, he discovered the NHL and its players; John Tavares, one of his rivals this Wednesday, left a strong impression on him at the World Championship with his hard work.

“When you see a player of his status doing so many extra exercises, you understand that no matter what you have accomplished, you always have to work,” he believes.

Guhle should still be among the CH’s busiest, although his teammate Lane Hutson will be the one who hogs the attention. Guhle won’t indulge in feints like the young phenom, but he will nevertheless be called upon to play a crucial role alongside Mike Matheson. And if Matheson or David Savard were to be traded during the season, we would see number 21 even more often on the surface.

For now, however, the young man is recovering from an appendectomy suffered on September 18. Consequently, he played only one preparatory game this fall, and therefore wants to take it one step at a time.

“I feel good, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pump the oil a few times in Ottawa on Saturday! I’m going to get back into shape and I believe that one match, with the adrenaline, will be enough. »

There will be adrenaline. “I’m sure I’ll be nervous. Plus, I only played one preseason game. I can’t wait, our summer has really been too long. »