Sometimes life — and hockey — isn’t fair.
That’s what I was thinking Wednesday when the Canadiens announced that defenceman Kaiden Guhle would be sidelined indefinitely after having surgery to repair a lacerated quadricep muscle suffered during Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre.
Guhle is one of the nicest young men you could ever meet — in hockey or anywhere else — and the 23-year-old has been developing into an outstanding NHL defenceman with a very bright future ahead of him. But injuries keep getting in the way.
This season got off to a tough start for Guhle when he underwent surgery to remove his appendix on Sept. 18, the day before training camp started. He recovered from that in time to play in the season opener on Oct. 9 — a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Guhle would miss five games at the end of October with an upper-body injury and one more game in early December because he was sick.
Guhle’s game really took off after the Canadiens acquired 28-year-old veteran Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 18 and they became defence partners. Guhle’s intelligence and calmness on the ice impressed Carrier — especially for such a young player.
“He’s so smart with the puck and he doesn’t put himself in a lot of trouble,” Carrier said. “He closes on guys with his feet and his stick. He’s so calm on the ice and he’s playing tough minutes against the best players — starting in his own zone most of the time. Just the way he carries himself. Sometimes as a younger player you’re trying to force things or you’re trying to make a play when it’s not there. I haven’t seen that. He’s super-calm with the puck, he makes good decisions.”
It certainly looks like Guhle’s season could be over because of the lacerated quadricep muscle and it will be very difficult for the Canadiens to make the playoffs without him in the lineup. It was a freak injury as Guhle’s left skate appeared to hit a rut as he went after a loose puck in the corner of the offensive zone and then he fell awkwardly with his left skate appearing to cut his right leg just above the shin pad and below his pants.
Guhle ranked third on the team in ice time with an average of 21:14 — trailing Mike Matheson (24:39) and Lane Hutson (22:39) — and second in blocked shots with 100 — nine less than David Savard. In 44 games, Guhle had 4-10-14 totals and a plus-2 differential while most often matched up against the opposition’s top line.
Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre is Kaiden Guhle Bobblehead Night and he won’t be there.
Teammate Arber Xhekaj is one of Guhle’s closest friends.
“It’s tough on all of us,” Xhekaj said after Thursday’s optional morning skate. “I’m really close to him, so it’s a little personal for me. It’s bad luck and we got to keep going, we got to keep playing for him because I know he’d want that for us.”
Guhle was released from hospital on Wednesday and some teammates brought him dinner that night.
“Pezzy (Michael Pezzetta) made some lasagna,” said Xhekaj, who turned 24 on Thursday. “I grabbed some steaks. So we had a good meal at his house. It was nice. … He’s been through some injuries, so he kind of knows what it takes to get back. He’s in good spirits right now, so we got to keep that up.”
Guhle was limited to 44 games during his 2022-23 rookie season when he suffered knee, upper-body and ankle injuries. He missed 12 games last season with upper-body injuries — and now this.
“It was obviously sad the past couple of days,” Xhekaj said. “He wants us to keep going and keep playing. He had a big role on our team. Chewed up big minutes, played PK and was a great defender for our team and, obviously, one of the best D. So it’s tough to lose a guy like that, but everyone on the back end’s got to step up.”
Xhekaj had been playing on the third defence pair with David Savard and can now expect to see his ice time increase from the 14:54 he had been averaging.
“Obviously, there’s going to be more opportunity and I got to step up,” Xhekaj said. “I got to fill that kind of void that he had and keep playing my game and not try and change anything and just be solid defensively.”
Canadiens fans know what Guhle can do on the ice and so does Xhekaj, who also knows first-hand what kind of person Guhle is off the ice.
“He’s just the best guy,” Xhekaj said. “He’s always willing to do anything for the guys. Just a cool guy to hang around. He’s super-chill and not really stressed at all about anything. That’s kind of like me, too, so we get along well. He’s a great guy.”
This really isn’t fair — but it’s life.