(Brossard) Defender Kaiden Guhle didn’t need much time to convince himself that he was ready to start the season at the same time as his Montreal Canadiens teammates; his first outing on the ice in Ottawa, eight days ago, was enough.
For a player who was forced to sit out a full week following an appendectomy on September 18, the first day of training camp, Guhle is off to a solid start to the season.
After the Canadian’s first three games, he posted a defensive ratio of +5, the best on the club, and he totaled three points, the result of as many assists. This is one point less than attacker Cole Caufield (4-0-4) and young defender Lane Hutson (0-4-4), the co-leaders for the Habs.
Guhle only participated in one of the Canadiens’ six preparatory games, the one against the Senators on October 5 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Kaiden Guhle during the game at the Bell Center on October 12 against the Ottawa Senators
“After my first appearance on the ice, I felt ready,” Guhle said on Sunday after the Canadian’s training session at the CN Sports Complex.
“The guys were making jokes, saying I made them feel like they had been shot out of a cannon. I told them I only had one game to prepare for the season! “, he said to the handful of journalists who surrounded him in the press scrum.
In the Canadian’s 4-1 victory against the Senators on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, Guhle also stood out by blocking eight shots. In three games, he has already blocked 14 shots, a record in the National League.
“No, I don’t have any bruises!” », assured Guhle when asked the question. “I was lucky; I blocked the shots with my protective gear. »
Throughout his press scrum, Guhle was grateful to the medical team and trainers in the process that led to his recovery after the removal of his appendix. A week later, Guhle was skating solo in Brossard.
“They told me ‘as soon as you feel well, we’ll bring you back with the group’. It was a bit according to my schedule, ultimately. I was surprised how quickly everything fell into place. I won’t complain about it,” Guhle said.
“The first day I stayed in bed because I could barely move. The second day, I was a little more mobile. I showed up at the arena and got to hang out with the guys a little bit,” added Guhle.
David Savard and Justin Barron praised Guhle’s work so far this season.
“Training camp is what it is. It’s sure that it gets you back into the swing of things and helps you find synchronicity,” Savard said on Sunday.
I think the fact that he at least had one match before the start of the season is still important. He managed to practice with us too. We had a good week of work before the start of the year. He’s back exactly where he was last year, and he’s going to continue to improve. It’s the “fun” to see that he’s back exactly where he was supposed to be.
David Savard, defender of the Montreal Canadiens
“He’s like a horse,” Barron compared.
“He can accumulate minutes of play, he excels defensively, he is difficult to face, he is an excellent skater and he is a real team player. He always thinks of the group, first. Obviously he’s a special player and he’s been great so far. »
During Sunday’s training session, which was quite brief, Mike Matheson was the only one absent, for a day of treatments. Furthermore, at the beginning of the afternoon, the Canadian announced that he had placed the name of attacker Alex Barré-Boulet on waivers with the aim of selling him to the Laval Rocket.