Bolton Pouliot wasn’t quite ready for even part-time duty in the Western Hockey League, and the Red Deer Rebels saw that as a lose-lose situation.
As a result, head coach/VP of hockey operations Jesse Wallin acquired 18-year-old netminder Dawson Guhle from the Regina Pats Monday in exchange for winger Lane Scheidl, and reassigned Pouliot to the Calgary Royals of the Alberta Midget League.
Pouliot appeared in three games with the Rebels. His won-loss record was 0-2-0-0 and his goals-against average and save percentage were 3.32 and .857.
Clearly, he was in tough as a raw rookie who last season played at the minor midget AAA level. The Calgary native will be the starter with the Royals and very much remains a prime prospect for the Rebels.
“We see Bolton as our goaltender of the future and he won the (backup) spot out of training camp because he was the best guy. But in terms of his development we don’t think it’s the best thing for him to be here, playing eight to 10 games and sitting for long periods of time,” said Wallin.
“With Dawson we’re getting a guy that’s got some experience in the league and was real good at the midget level.”
Guhle, a product of Daysland, was an AMHL all-star with the Sherwood Park Kings in 2008-09, posting a league-best 2.02 GAA and an impressive .922 save percentage while posting a 14-6-4 regular-season record.
Listed by the Pats, Guhle appeared in 29 games as a WHL rookie last season, recording one shutout and a 3.79 GAA to go with a .884 save percentage.
But he was the eventual odd man out in a three-man tandem this fall and last week was reassigned to Melville of the SJHL.
“He showed a lot of promise last year with Regina,” said Wallin.
“He’s had a bit of a tough start this year (a 6.25 GAA and .825 save percentage in five appearances) but he was in a tough situation. He hasn’t really had a great opportunity or really known where he’s stood. Hopefully, coming in here and knowing where he stands, he’ll be able to pick up where he left off last season.
“We look at him as a guy who can bring some experience and depth at that position for us and hopefully be a guy who can carry the mail for us next year as well.”
Guhle was wearing a grin when he arrived in Red Deer Monday afternoon.
“I’m really excited about being here. I didn’t grow up too far from Red Deer and I used to come down to watch the Rebels play,” said Guhle, who celebrated his 18th birthday last month. “I’m just going to come to the rink every day prepared to work hard. “
Guhle knows he’s in Red Deer as a back-up to 20-year-old Darcy Kuemper, who currently owns a league-best GAA of 1.78 and has recorded a league-high 14 wins.
“He told me he wanted to bring in a guy to have ready in case Kuemper got hurt. He said he wanted a guy with some (WHL) experience,” said Guhle, in reference to his phone conversation with Wallin following Monday’s deal.
The Rebels new netminder had yet to meet his teammates Monday afternoon, although he knows fellow Daysland native Justin Weller and has played summer hockey with Turner Elson and Alex Petrovic.
With Josh Cowen slated to return to action Friday against visiting Swift Current after a lengthy bout with mono and rookie Locke Muller on the verge of making his WHL debut after breaking his hand just prior to the start of the season, Scheidl became expendable.
“We gave up who we feel is a pretty good player,” said Wallin. “Scheids has shown potential and I think he’s going to get a better opportunity in Regina. The fact of the matter is we’ve got some depth up front now with Cowen and Muller coming back into the lineup and Scheids was going to be a third-line player here, at best.
“With the lineup decision we were going to have to make, he faced the possibility of being a healthy scratch through no fault of his own. He’s going to get a better opportunity to play more of a role and be a better fit in Regina. He’s a guy who’s on the verge of becoming a pretty good player in the league and I hope it works out for him. He was very committed to our team and fit in well with our group and we’re going to miss him around here for sure, but we’re in a position where we had to make some room (up front) and I think both teams addressed a need here.”
Scheidl, a Saskatoon native who has three goals and six points in 20 games this season, was somewhat disappointed when he received the news Monday morning.
“He really likes Red Deer but at the same time he sees this as an opportunity,” said Wallin. “He was getting frustrated with his ice time and I understand that. He’ll be closer to home now and I think that was important to him, and like all players he wants to play, so he’s excited about that.”
• Rebels defenceman Alex Petrovic will replace Calgary’s Matt MacKenzie as a member of Team WHL for the Subway Super Series game versus Team Russia Wednesday at Kamloops.
MacKenzie is unable to play in the game due to a bout of the flu.
Rebels forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Byron Froese will also suit up with Team WHL and all three Red Deer players will fly to Kamloops today.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com