The Prince Albert Raiders packed up their gear quickly Friday night after their 4-2 loss to the Prince George Cougars and boarded the bus back to Saskatchewan.
Without their star defenceman.
Minutes after Brendan Guhle was picked the third star in the game, the Raiders announced in their dressing room that the 19-year-old Buffalo Sabres draft pick had been dealt in a blockbuster trade to the Cougars in exchange for 17-year-old defenceman Max Martin, 18-year-old left winger Kolby Johnson, the Cougars’ first-round draft pick in 2018 and a third-rounder in 2019.
Guhle, the last defenceman cut by the NHL Sabres this season, said goodbye to his Raider teammates, walked down the hall and stepped into the Cougars dressing room to meet his new team.
“Obviously I’m excited – it was mixed emotions at first when I found out, but they’re obviously a great team, looking at their record they’re 17-4 and I’m excited to join a team that’s already very good,” said the six-foot-three, 195-pound Guhle, whose Raiders (5-16-1-0) rank last overall in the Western Hockey League.
“I was obviously a little upset at first, I got drafted by Prince Albert (third overall in 2011) and have been there four-and-a-half years and it was tough, they were great to me and the coaching staff is awesome.
“But I’m excited to hopefully win a championship here in Prince George. My Number 1 goal coming back from Buffalo this year was to win a championship. It didn’t happen in Prince Albert and they were generous enough to let me go to a place where they felt I could win and put me in a good position here and I’m excited about that.”
In 15 games with the Raiders this season since he returned from the Sabres' camp, Guhle had two goals, two assists and 10 penalty minutes. He was the Raiders' top-scoring defenceman laxt season with 10 goals and 28 points in 63 games. He had three assists in five playoff games.
Guhle is looking forward to working with Cougars coaches Richard Matvichuk and Shawn Chambers, both former NHL defencemen who won Stanley Cups with their teams. He’s also relieved the Raiders made the deal well in advance of the Jan. 10 trade deadline, which gives him more time to get to know the Cougar players and learn the systems.
“Brendan is a guy I’ve been watching right from Day 1 since I got hired (in June) and he does it all,” said Matvichuk, the Cougars head coach. “He’s a power-play guy, he’s a penalty-kill guy and plays all special situations. It’s just his awareness, his communication inside the D-zone, his feet positioning and his one-on-one battle. He runs their power play and makes a really good first pass.
“For a 19-year-old kid he’s just so calm, cool and collected. He’s a born leader, he’s a class act and we’re excited to get him. On the flipside, we lost two quality players but we feel this was the missing piece that we needed.”
Guhle was a standout on defence for Team WHL two weeks ago in the CIBC Canada-Russia Series, which opened with Game 1 in Prince George. He came close to making the Sabres in training camp the past two seasons and has played six games in the AHL. He scored a goal and picked up three assists last season with the Rochester Americans.
Cougars defenceman and team captain Sam Ruopp was suspended for Friday’s game and watched Guhle on the ice from the press box. Ruopp can’t wait to see him playing in a Cougars uniform.
“His skating stands out most, he makes it look effortless,” said Ruopp. “He’s an all-around player who can play power play, PK, anything, so he’s a great addition to the team. All we have is championship on our mind and we’ll do anything it takes to make the team do just that.”
Guhle will play his first game with the Cougars Tuesday night at CN Centre against the Regina Pats, a team he knows well from his time with the Raiders. With all the depth the Cougars now have on defence, he won’t have to play half the game like he did Friday night. The Pats (16-1-3-0) are one point behind the first-overall Cougars but have played three fewer games. Their first regulation loss came Saturday night in Victoria when they fell 5-3 to the Royals.
“I played against them probably 25 times and I know who their best players are and who we have to keep an eye on and the way they play,” he said. “They’re fast and they’re physical but it’ll be nice to have home ice here and with my first game here, it’ll be awesome.”
Cougars centre Jansen Harkins played two games in the Canada-Russia Series with Guhle and they played together on Team Pacific at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2014 and against each other in minor hockey. Harkins knows firsthand what Guhle is capable of accomplishing on the ice.
“Any time you can add a d-man to the team, especially someone who skates like Brendan, it’s going to help us out,” said Harkins. “We already have a real deep D lineup now and he brings a lot to our team and I’m sure we’re going to use him a lot. He’s just a really smart, reliable defenceman who skates well. He’s a pretty big guy and makes a good quick pass and he’s played pro so that’s a good thing to add to our team.”
The Cougars gave up a chunk of their future to get Guhle. The offensive-minded Martin, a six-foot, 180-pound Winnipeg native, is in his first full season in the WHL after missing all but 10 games last year after shoulder surgery. He had three goals and seven points and was a plus-14 in 19 games this season. Martin was a second-round bantam pick of the Cougars in 2014.
The six-foot-two, 212-pound Johnson, picked by the Cats in the third round in 2013, saw limited action in six games this season and was held without a point. In 47 games over four seasons with the Cougars the native of Kerrobert, Sask., picked up a goal and three assists.
Both know they will get a lot more ice time playing for a rebuilding Raiders team. They were told about the trade before Friday’s game but were told to keep the news to themselves to avoid it distracting their teammates during the game.
“It was a weird situation because I came to the rink and my old team was battling my new team and I was just wondering who to cheer for,” said the ever-smiling Johnson. “It’s hard because every year since I was 14 I’ve been coming to this camp and I’ve been putting on that jersey for a few years now. These are the only guys I know and we’re so close together. It’s such a unique experience here because we travel so much and we’re always together.”
Like Johnson, Martin is sorry to be leaving his friends on the Cougars but he’s moving closer to home in Winnipeg and is looking forward to making an impact as one of the Raiders’ go-to defenceman.
“We’re leaving our family in Prince George but we’re becoming part of a new one in Prince Albert,” said Martin. “It’s kind of a weird feeling. We’re both going to get a better opportunity on Prince Albert. Being a younger team, they’re not the greatest, but I think their record is better than what their record shows and I’m excited. It’ll be good for both of us to go there and play lots and develop as players.”
Martin says the Guhle deal puts the Cougars into a good position, ahead of the rest of the pack in the WHL.
“He’s the real-deal defenceman and he’ll just put this team over the top,” said Martin. “They’re a Memorial Cup contender if not one of the favourites. He’ll just really boost them that much.”
