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***sköldpaddor*** · 04-18-2021, 09:46 PM

Hey everybody, Gunnar here again. Hard to believe it’s time to write another one of these again already. Life really does kind of go in cycles, doesn’t it? This year marks the tenth full season since I was called up to Tampa (not counting the like...three playoff games I played at the end of S48), which absolutely blows my mind. Ten years I’ve been living my childhood dreams, and even though you do sort of fall into those cycles, the lather/rinse/repeat of it all, I still wake up every morning and am a little overwhelmed by how lucky I am that I get to do this for a living.

Another interesting little stat - this will be my sixth season in Chicago - which means that for the first time, I have played for this team longer than I have played anywhere else in my career. And if we’re being realistic, it would be pretty unlikely for anything to change that at this point. I’m not close to retiring just yet, but I’d be pleasantly surprised if I had another six seasons left in me even if I ended up somewhere else tomorrow (which I really must stress I absolutely do not want to do). So I think every game I play this season is just going to further the legacy this city and this team have left in my heart. Chicago is home - it has been for a while now and I think it will be, maybe forever, it’s just as much a part of me as Luleå where I grew up.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about really existential nonsense. I’m going to be twenty-nine this season, and I know that’s not really that old in the big picture, but it’s old enough that I have to start thinking about what comes next. So I have, and I think I know. I know where I want to go and what I want to do, and who I want to do it with, and even if all of it doesn’t pan out, I have a plan, and that’s pretty comforting because I’ve started putting in the work to get things ready. So I can just really focus on being the best player I can be for the seasons I have left, and know that I have a whole other purpose after that, waiting for me.

I am also spending a lot more time these days working on mindfulness and that kind of thing. I think anybody who knows me really well has realized by now that I have spent my life letting my heart lead me through just about everything. I like to think I still have most of that passion, but I’m trying to let my head do a little of the decision-making too now. I think the older you get, the smarter you have to be about the decisions you make, especially when it comes to focusing on different things during the off season. It’s impossible to prioritize basically EVERYTHING like I could when I was younger, so I have to put a lot more thought into figuring out what’s going to make me most valuable to the team.

Another fun thing that seems to be happening to me as I get older is that the lines that divide me from other people seem to be getting a little...I don’t know, softer? That seems like a weird word for it. I mean, like, the other Great Lakes teams are our rivals, and that’s still enough to light a fire under my ass in a game any day of the week. But even there, it’s like...you see so many of the guys at worlds, or just during the offseason, it starts to feel like...we are all just hockey players and people, and we have way more in common than we have differences, no matter what SHL team we play on. And I’m not just saying that because Carpy let me live with him for like 75% of the playoffs, but I did have a really good time bandwagoning the North Stars this year - gave me something to do, something to keep me engaged when our own season ended before I was ready to stop being around hockey for the season. I guess if you follow me on Twitter you probably know all of that (and have probably already had enough of it), but I really did have the best time and I’m glad I have Carpy in my life to be a bad influence on even if he does like his cinnamon buns weird-shaped. Okay enough of that mushy stuff, moving on.

I’m doing a lot of cooking lately, and that’s a lot of fun. I’ve always really liked cooking for friends and I used to do it a lot more back when I had roommates, but I haven’t had a roommate since I moved to Chicago and as a result I sort of stopped doing it as much there for a while, because it didn’t seem worth the effort if I was just going to be eating alone. But I’ve been trying to invite people over or just cook good stuff for myself lately, and I’ve really enjoyed it, so I’m glad I’ve gotten back into it. Side note: if you are reading this and we are even remotely acquaintances and you are ever in Chicago and you want a home-cooked meal, please just give me a call, I love entertaining and I would be happy to have you over. You can pet the dogs, I get to cook, so it’s really a win-win for both of us.

I’m trying to think of what else is happening in my life that might be interesting enough to put in here. So many of the things I’ve been working on lately are just little personal improvements. Focusing on like…I don’t know, making connections with people that will outlast my career, because I know I can’t do this forever but I do want to keep a lot of my friends forever, so I’ve been really making an effort to connect with people over things other than the fact that we both play hockey (even though basically all of my friends are also hockey players). Oh! I did end up starting that D&D group with some guys from Chicago and Colorado, we’re a couple of sessions in and I’m having a lot of fun so far (I hope they are too). It’s funny how well I still get along with the guys in Colorado even though I only played there for a minute. Just goes to show that you never really know where you’re going to put down roots unless you open yourself up to it and let it happen.

Anyway, the season starts tomorrow. I don’t know why, but this offseason seems to have gone a little faster than some have in the past, even though we weren’t in the playoffs and I’ve had more time off than usual. I guess when you’re spending time with people you like and you’re having fun, the time tends to slide by a little quicker. Also, holy god, I have got to stop talking about how old I am. I’m not even thirty and I’m over here talking about retiring every third sentence, I have got to just quit that. That’s my resolution for this season, to not even think about retirement even once.

I am feeling so alive and I am so ready to go shatter all my own personal bests, so let’s do this.

Be well, be safe, be happy.
-Gunnar
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trella · 04-18-2021, 09:50 PM

always enjoy your medias jess Smile

Thanks to @karey and @JSS for the sigs!

Former USA Fed Head, Carolina Kraken Co-GM, Tampa Bay Barracuda GM

*Carpy48* · 04-19-2021, 01:44 AM

It was likely only a matter of time until I got featured in one of these. I also hope nobody reads our Twitter conversations Biggrin

***SDCore*** · 04-19-2021, 02:18 PM

Wait, free food and I'm not invited? WTF

***sköldpaddor*** · 04-19-2021, 02:23 PM

04-19-2021, 02:18 PMSDCore Wrote: Wait, free food and I'm not invited? WTF

you're not invited because I know you're just going to show up randomly anyway so just come whenever you feel like it Tongue

***SDCore*** · 04-19-2021, 03:01 PM

04-19-2021, 02:23 PMsköldpaddor Wrote:
04-19-2021, 02:18 PMSDCore Wrote: Wait, free food and I'm not invited? WTF

you're not invited because I know you're just going to show up randomly anyway so just come whenever you feel like it

This is a fair assessment of our relationship.

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