L.A. ON ICE
A Guttsy performer
Cole Guttman is redefining success at every level of hockey.
Circumstances have challenged Cole Guttman’s hockey career since his birth.
He was born in Northridge, California, in 1999. He was never tall or particularly physically imposing; he only grew to 5 feet, 9 inches tall. A short guy from Northridge isn’t exactly the most likely to make the NHL. On paper.
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But Guttman descends from Jewish Holocaust survivors. It almost goes without saying: A Guttman learns not to be defeated by circumstances.
As it turned out, only one circumstance he was born into really mattered: His parents loved hockey and brought him to the rink from a young age. Their infectious passion fostered a love for the game within him, too, and the short kid from Northridge began rising above his peers at every level of hockey he played.
He played wherever he could find an opportunity throughout Los Angeles as a youth, eventually earning an opportunity to play semi-professionally for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. In his first season in Dubuque in 2017, Guttman scored 54 points in 53 games.
His consistent contributions to his team’s goal-scoring efforts didn’t make as huge of a wave as one might think, but they did manage to catch the attention of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, who used their sixth-round draft pick on him that year.
The Lightning retained his rights as he elected to attend the University of Denver to continue his development. Guttman’s hockey skill set flourished, and he developed into an exceptional leader as well. He was named captain of the Pioneers in 2021 and captained the team to a National Championship in 2022.
But shockingly, this didn’t impress his NHL club. The Lightning elected not to re-sign Guttman when his draft rights expired in August 2022.
It’s completely baffling why a team would reject the opportunity to have the captain of college hockey’s best team within their NHL or AHL club. It, unfortunately, comes down to what you choose to see: a great player and leader of collegiate hockey’s best team or an undersized kid from an underdeveloped hockey locale.
The Lightning were seemingly blinded by the latter, and Guttman was left in a weird place — extremely accomplished at the amateur level but unable to accomplish a new contract with his NHL club.
He fortunately wasn’t left there for long. The Chicago Blackhawks saw his NHL potential and scooped him up on a two-year contract, assigning him to their AHL club, the Rockford IceHogs.
Guttman has done what he does best in Rockford: Gutt-ing out the circumstances — the Lightning’s rejection — and just continuing to put up points at an impressive clip. During the 2022-23 season, Guttman put up 30 points in 39 games, earning himself a call-up to the Blackhawks in February of 2023.
Guttman continued producing at the NHL level. In his third NHL game, he scored his first goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with several family members in attendance, some of them the same ones that survived the Holocaust all those years ago.
He registered four goals and 6 points in total in 14 games before undergoing a season-ending shoulder surgery in mid-March.
This season, Guttman has been trying to carve out regular NHL time. It’s been tough to rehab from shoulder surgery and compete for ice time at the AHL and NHL levels. But he just received his second call up of the season to the Blackhawks on Nov. 23. If he can carve out playing time, he could become a part of the ’Hawks exciting young core, led by Connor Bedard.
And really, who are we to doubt Guttman when circumstances get a little tough? Do we really think shoulder surgery or competition for playing time are going to stand in his way?
He’s just going to Gutt it out as always.
