The Canadian | Flattering words for Guhle

(Toronto) Shea Weber and Kaiden Guhle have never played together. When Guhle took his first steps in the NHL, in 2022, Weber had already unofficially retired for a year.

They therefore never crossed paths in training. But that doesn’t stop Weber from being well aware of the Canadian’s young defender.

“I love his game. He skates well, he’s hard to tackle, he’s big and has talent, he moves the puck well. I was able to meet him when he was younger. He will have a great career in the NHL,” Weber predicted in his press scrum on Friday at the Hall of Fame.

We transport ourselves to a corner of the visitors’ locker room at Scotiabank Arena, Saturday morning, after the Habs’ morning training. Here is Guhle, in the nook as you enter on the left, chatting to a trio of journalists from Montreal. Weber’s words were then reported to him.

“He said that?” asked Guhle, as if to make sure he wasn’t the victim of a hoax.

“Wow. It’s cool. I didn’t know it. It’s special. He’s in the Hall of Fame now. To hear that from him, it’s cool. I don’t know if he will watch the match, but it would be cool to win in front of him. »

In some ways, there are indeed comparisons to be drawn between the two. They come from Western Canada, play in the defense position, have each participated twice in the Memorial Cup and they conclude their press briefings with a “thank you” in French.

“There are things from him that I try to implement,” Guhle admitted. But I don’t think we’re the same player. He’s a few inches and 40 lbs taller than me. Maybe in junior we were more similar, because I was among the biggest.

“But above all I try to reproduce his qualities as a leader. We had the same coaches in junior [Marc Habscheid et Jeff Truit] and I learned from them how Shea was as a leader. And on the ice, he played honestly, tough, he didn’t back down from anyone. »

On the ice, however, Weber was ahead of Guhle at the same age. After 123 games, he totaled 56 points, showed a +15 performance and played nearly 19 minutes per game. Guhle plays more (average of 21 minutes) and is -27, two reminders that the Predators of the mid-2000s were a much more mature team than the Canadiens of the last two years.

Guhle has been struggling somewhat since his return to the game. In four games, he has a differential of -4. That said, it continues to be used on the right. We can also believe that the fact of being caught on his opposite side led to a loss of the puck on Thursday, an action which led to Ondrej Palat’s goal.

See the sequence

Martin St-Louis says that Guhle’s employment on the right is “not something that worries me a lot.”

“His effort is good. His touches with the puck are perhaps not as good as he would like, but we always have confidence in what he will give us when he plays,” added the Canadiens head coach.

The fact remains that CH will need the best version of Guhle to end two ugly streaks. The first, more anecdotal, is the club’s series of failures in Toronto. The last victory of Montrealers in the 416? Game 7 of the first-round series between the two teams in 2021. Since then, the Maple Leafs have won five times, including decisive triumphs of 5-1 and 7-1 in 2023.

This means that Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Juraj Slafkovsky and other young people of this generation have never won here.

The other sequence is that, much more disturbing, of five defeats in a row at the present moment. That’s why Leafs head coach Craig Berube said he expects an opponent who will play “with the energy of desperation.”

“It’s a Saturday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. There is nothing better than that to prepare you, to motivate you, recalled St-Louis. We need a victory and where we are, it will give us energy. »

St-Louis does not intend to make any changes to its formation compared to the last match. Samuel Montembeault will face Joseph Woll in front of the net.