The Toronto Maple Leafs want to get a closer look at Taylor Gauthier.
The 20-year-old Prince George Cougars goalie plans to accept the Leafs’ offer to attend their development camp in early September. The Leafs were among several NHL teams that showed an interest in the Calgary native who went undrafted in all three years of his eligibility.
As he prepares for what would be his final season with the Cougars, Gauthier goal to play pro hockey is at the heart of all he does to improve his puck-stopping prowess.
“Obviously my goal going into this past year was to get drafted, but I knew regardless of what happens, at the end of the day the draft is just a couple of letters beside your name on the gamesheet, it doesn’t define you as a player,” said Gauthier.
“I know the abilities I have and all I’m looking for is an opportunity. I’m looking forward to going out there and showing my stuff and hopefully I can earn a contract with a team, and if not, I’m looking forward to coming back and putting in a good year. I’m looking to improve on my stats and on my performance, trying to get to where I want to be one day, playing in the NHL.”
Last winter over the Christmas break, Gauthier cracked the Team Canada roster as the third goaltender at the IIHF world junior championship in Edmonton. He did not play in the tournament as Canada advanced to the championship game, which ended in a 2-0 loss to the United States.
The Cougars (9-10-2-1) finished as the top-ranked wild-card team in the Western Conference in their pandemic-abbreviated WHL season which ended April 30. Gauthier recorded a career-best 2.74 goals against average. He finished with a .917 save percentage playing 15 of his team’s 22 games and compiled a 7-8-0 record. In 2019-20, he played in 50 of the Cougars 68 games and posted a 16-26-7 record.
In all four seasons as a Cougar, the team has finished with more losses than wins. Gauthier says that won’t happen again under his watch and has no reason to doubt the team will end its five-year playoff drought in 2022.
Early picks in the bantam draft the past four years have allowed the Cougars to restock the talent pool and that’s produced a stable of budding junior stars, which includes goalie Tyler Brennan; defencemen Keaton Dowhaniuk, Jarin Brinson and Hudson Thornton; and forwards Koehn Ziemmer, Kyren Gronick, Riley Heidt and Craig Armstrong.
Gauthier is certainly encouraged by what he saw last season on the ice.
“I think we made a lot of big strides with the team this past year,” Gauthier said. “Management and the ownership group has really done a good job of making Prince George a place where players want to come and play. I know when I came into the league it didn’t have the positive comments and all the good things that players want in a WHL team, but in the last couple years I think they’ve done a really good job of changing the culture on the team and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do here.
“It all starts in the draft and scouting and in the last couple years I think Mark (Lamb, the Cougars head coach and general manager) and all of our scouts have done a great job getting out to see the players and making the right choices at the draft based on what the team needs and you saw it last year. We had a really good group of young guys come in and they know what it takes to win. I think we’ll take a couple teams by surprise and I’m real excited to see where this team goes.”
He’s hoping Cougar fans will show their appreciation for the team’s efforts to win by buying tickets for their games at CN Centre.
“People want to come and watch a team win, that want to cheer for a team that’s winning and we’ve had a bit of trouble doing that,” said Gauthier. “We’ve always been a competitive team but we just didn’t know how to win sometimes when the going got tough. I think we’ve finally figured it out and we’re going to be really good team in this league. The expectations are going to be high this year and I’m looking forward to seeing where the team goes.”
Gauthier and defenceman Ethan Samson are the two Cougars going to NHL camps in September. Samson, who turns 18 on Aug. 23, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round of the NHL draft a month ago.
“He’s a really good young player and I think he has lots of upside in his game,” said Gauthier. “He’s put in a lot of work the last couple years and it’s really good to see his hard work get rewarded. I’m super-happy for him and super-excited he got to hear his name called and I’m looking forward to seeing what that confidence brings him this year.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Former Cougar head coach Mark Holick is back in the WHL, hired this past week by the Kamloops Blazers as an associate coach. Holick, who called the shots behind the Cougars bench for three seasons from 2013-16, coached the U-18 prep team the past three seasons at Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford. Holick also served as head coach of the Kootenay Ice (2007-10) and was the WHL coach of the year in 2010… The Cougars open their home schedule Oct. 2 against the Blazers and will face Kamloops on Teddy and Toque Toss Night on Dec. 11. The Cougars’ game Nov. 13 against the Kelowna Rockets will recognize the efforts of essential workers in the community during the pandemic. The Portland Winterhawks will be in town Feb. 26 for Mardi Gras Night.
