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Red Wings Prospect Has Path Mapped Out to NHL

Another big goalie in Detroit prospect pipeline

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Red Wings draftee Rudy Guimond of the USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

Detroit Red Wings goalie prospect Rudy Guimond has a plan.



Coming off his best season at the prestigious Taft School in Connecticut, the Quebec-born goalie was trying to get committed to university. Things were starting to come together for this plan.

“I just started playing really, really well,” Guimond said, “and all of a sudden NHL teams were interested, and I didn’t even think that was possible at that point.”

Yale Bound

Guimond would get drafted by Detroit 169th overall and commit to play college hockey at Yale University. Despite his young age, Guimond offers an impressive maturity and intelligence. He’s not intimidated by the long road ahead as he works his way to the NHL, with the Red Wings checking in every two weeks or so.

“It’s exciting how much hockey is in front of me. If I would have gone to the QMJHL or the OHL or something like that, your timeline is pretty short.” Guimond said. “But in going to college you just open up so much more time for yourself.”

First though, the now 19-year-old goalie wanted to get as much experience as possible under his belt in the USHL. Several teams recruited Guimond, but he decided to go with coach Mark Carlson and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

“The plan was always to do two years here at Cedar Rapids. And, I mean, you want to go where you’re wanted, right?”  Guimond said.

Adding Muscle

With the RoughRiders, Guimond started to really see the plan take shape last year as he assumed a greater responsibility for himself. Far from where he’d played as a high school hockey player, coming to Cedar Rapids taught him to be a pro on and off the ice. He couldn’t just be “a guy who plays hockey.” Guimond needed, and wanted, to be a professional goalie. He learned plenty about what that means, and what it takes in his first year.

Now, he wants to build on it. To help with that he added 12 pounds of muscle this past offseason, and plans to add an additional 10 to help fill out his 6-foot-3 frame. The Red Wings seem to have placed an emphasis on size. Their stable of prospects include Carter Gylander (6-foot-4) and Sebastian Cossa (6-foot-6). Trey Augustine is their small guy at 6-foot-1.

Improving Regularly

In-season, he’s focusing with Cedar Rapids’ goalie coach (Brooks DiMarino) on his drift to help with his lateral movements in net. Scouts saw him as a goalie with a high athletic upside. The added muscle hasn’t seemed to slow him down.

Last year, Guimond played in 32 games for the RoughRiders, posting a 3.66 GAA and a .869 save percentage. Starting in net with Cedar Rapids is something that Carlson, takes day-by-day.

Rudy Guimond, Red Wings prospect

Guimond will likely play close to the same number of games he played last season. He posted a shutout in the first game of the season.

“That was a real good game for him. He’s seen really good strides.” Carlson said.

He has posted 117 stops in his five games on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .886 save percentage. Both are better marks (in a very small sample size) than he recorded  last season. Though wins haven’t come with his improved statline, Guimond and the RoughRiders will still be competing, night in and night out.

Said Carlson, “I think, he, no different than for defenseman, works hard every day, getting better every day.”

Every season, Guimond has the same goal for the season:

“My goal is always to win everything,” he said.

Whether that’s in the USHL or at Yale, Guimond’s sights are set on success. If everything goes according to plan, he should be making his way to the AHL or the ECHL by the time he’s leaving Yale in three years.

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