You can add the name of André Tourigny to the list of people who have been amazed by Kaiden Guhle’s game since the start of the season.
In an interview with Jean-Charles Lajoie on Tuesday, the one who knew Guhle with Junior Team Canada gave a whole testimony in favor of his former protege.
“In the next 15 years, no one in Montreal will have more ice time than Kaiden Guhle. He is a guy who is physically strong, who hits hard and skates like the wind. He makes the pass in the right place and at the right time. He’s the kind of guy you’re disappointed to see change. You want it to be like Nintendo and stay on the ice all the time.”
If the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes did not hide his admiration for Guhle, he also wanted to call for calm regarding Juraj Slafkovsky.
“It’s the same case as for Guhle. Guhle, you waited three years. Slafkovsky, you will see that he will be good in three years. If Guhle had played in the NHL three years ago, obviously he wouldn’t be the way he is today. It’s a process, learning your trade. It’s a different style than in Europe. It’s a lot to learn and live with the pressure of being the first choice in Montreal. He doesn’t need to win the Canadiens this year.”
A process with the Coyotes
As for his team, Tourigny believes that the time for experiments is over and the results are starting to come. The Coyotes also caused a surprise by winning once morest the Maple Leafs on Monday in Toronto.
“We have a lot of young players and a lot of new players. We tried several things during the camp. There are matches that we might have won and that we did not win and there it snowballed. Yesterday we found a way to win. They found a way to lose. It is a step in the right direction.”
Even though the Coyotes are rebuilding, the Quebecer firmly believes that they will never be able to become a winning team if they don’t do things the right way.
“What’s important is to keep a championship attitude. What we do today, we would do the same if we had a club that aspired to high honors. We really want to play, train, prepare and compete the right way. We want to make good decisions with or without the puck. Our way of playing should not be different from that of the big teams.
Watch the full interview in the video above.