Guindon Hitting Stride Entering Playoffs
Nailers’ Netminder Set to Face Former Team in First Round
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WHEELING -- Wheeling Nailers' goalie Louis-Philip Guindon celebrates his 27th birthday today but the greatest gift he has received to this point in the season was a 35-save, playoff-clinching victory on the road against Kalamazoo last week.
He was also named the Warrior Hockey/ECHL Goaltender of the Week the week before that.
However, Guindon has experienced his fair share of ups and downs this season, but the netminder has been hitting his stride down the stretch and is a key reason that the team is gearing up for its first playoff series since 2016 when the Nailers open up at Fort Wayne on Friday to begin the 2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Guindon dealt with injuries to begin the campaign and once he returned to full health, he was called up to the AHL with the Laval Rocket. It wasn't until his return to Wheeling that he started getting his feet under him and once he did, the rest was history.
"It was definitely awkward for me at the start of the season," Guindon said. "I had the injury and I was trying to figure it out. Then getting called up to Laval -- it was a formidable experience but I didn't get a chance to play a lot but when I came back, just playing in a lot of games got me into the game shape that I want to be in."
Guindon carries a 9-5-2 record, a .906 save percentage and a 2.74 goals against average into the postseason.
Nailers coach Derek Army had a feeling during the 2021 campaign that Guindon was going to be a special player. It seems he was right.
"Looking back at last year, I kind of had a feeling this was our guy," Army said. "As we got going this year, unfortunately he ran into some injury trouble and some sickness. He just couldn't get to a stretch where he was healthy. We finally got him playing right before Christmas and then he went to Laval. I'm sure that helped him a lot. He's played great for us. In March we needed someone to really come in and take the net and backstop for us and he did just that."
While Guindon's performance between the pipes has been outstanding, he also credits the play of the Nailers' defense for much of his success.
"Our d-core is incredible," Guindon said. "We are a young group but if you look at (Chris) Ortiz, Mac (Dylan MacPherson), Foles (Matt Foley), Smitty (Adam Smith) and (Josh) Maniscalco - our whole d-core is great. We have a fast team so forwards have the ability to come back fast. I'm pretty confident with the team we have."
Guindon actually spent the beginning of the 2021 campaign with Fort Wayne, where he posted a 6-4-1 mark with a 2.98 GAA and one shutout in 11 games, before slipping on the Wheeling uniform and leading the Nailers to the postseason to face the Komets.
"It was a great feeling when we confirmed our spot when we won against Kalamazoo," Guindon said. "As a team, to accomplish this -- throughout the last few months everyone was looking at the standings and where we had to be. Our motto was just 'pitch-by-pitch' as Derek said. That has been our mindset and we have to enter the playoffs the same way."