Task 01: (Written, 3 TPE)
I was honestly a little embarrassed about this because I don’t think I’ve done anything worth anybody labeling me a hero about yet. I’ve been drafted twice, made it to (and lost) one four star cup final, and haven’t even played in the SHL yet. But once I got back to Luleå, it turned out that it was actually something my mom totally made up so she and my sisters could throw a surprise belated birthday party for me. I was so relieved, honestly, there’s still so much stuff I want to do to make my entire hometown proud of me, I hope I haven’t peaked just yet. It was a great day, though; my mom had a whole banner on the front of the house that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR HERO GUNNAR” and all of my little nieces and nephews came out and shot me with squirt guns (it’s a family tradition). We had cake, and everybody had little presents for me (mostly handmade stuff from the kids, and my mom gave me a sweater she made for me, and my sisters had all gotten me a really nice watch. It was honestly better than any public celebration could have been - but someday when I’ve actually accomplished stuff, maybe I’ll be a real hometown hero!

Task 03: (Written, 3 TPE)
I’m not quite ready yet. I know I’m not, which is why I’m staying with the Knights for another season. I want to take one more crack at a cup here, and there are some people I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to yet. I know I can still get better, I can still put in more time and training so I’m not quite as overwhelmed when I get to the SHL as I was when I got here. I’m not in a rush; I know some guys want to get up there and get started as soon as possible, but I have unfinished business here and I’m not ready to give up on it quite yet. The city of Kelowna has been so welcoming to me, and I want to take one more try at bringing home a championship for them before I head off to Florida. I know I have a lot of work to do on my endurance and my skating before I’m at the same level as the guys in the SHL, so I want to take my time and get it right before I go there. I am super excited, though, to get there eventually, because I’ve already been talking with a lot of the guys there and they all seem really great. Also, beaches!!

Task 05: (Written, up to 6 TPE [1])
5. After trading off their best players and declaring themselves in a full rebuild back in S45, The Calgary Dragons have made it to the S47 finals.. just 2 seasons later.  Choose: ('No surprise', 'mild surprise', 'major surprise' or 'in shock') and explain why.

I am going to say this is no surprise to me, for several reasons. One reason is that I haven’t really been around long enough to have any expectations to be blown away. A second reason is they have Kelowna’s own Barry Batsbak now, and Barry is amazing. And finally, they’re dragons. Dragons are badass. Hasn’t anyone watched Game of Thrones? Dragons just come in and burn stuff to the ground. This is a no-brainer for me.


Task 07: (Written, 3 TPE)
For Calgary’s home games, I have Sean Kingston come out and sing both anthems, after which he immediately launches into his definitely-not-dated hit “Fire Burning.” The performance is accompanied by numerous dancing people in full body dragon costumes, and one of those sweet on-ice projections that makes it look like the whole floor is on fire. (Ice on fire! How cool is that!? Totally not cliched or overdone or anything).

For West Kendall’s home games, I make sure there are a lot of cannons. I get the Lonely Island to come and sing the anthems, but they rap them, and Andy Samberg probably falls down on the ice intentionally to be funny. Then they sing a new song they’ve written just for this occasion, called Cannons In Florida, in which they somehow manage to rhyme stuff with “census-designated place” and “unincorporated community” and everyone is incredibly impressed. Did I mention there are a lot of cannons? No real cannonballs, of course, but there are people dressed like cannonballs. Because they only have to skate in a straight line and don’t actually have to be particularly good at the skating, I hold a contest beforehand to have local people from the community enter to do the job, and a bunch of locals get to try skating for the first time.

Task 09: (Written, 3 TPE)
Gonna go with my own organization here for sure, because, I mean, nobody else’s team’s disappointment could feel as personal, right? The Knights had such a great season last year, went all the way to the final, and it was such a disappointment to not only not get the job done this year, but to not even get as far as we did the year before. I know there are plenty of reasons why we didn’t get there - we had a bunch of really good players get called up this season that we had to learn how to play without, and I think that was the main thing. I think it’s sort of a cycle - you have to get your team as good as you can and hope you’re good enough to get past everybody else who’s on an upswing as well. There are a lot of us now who’ve been here a couple of seasons, though, and I think we’ve found our game, so we’re going to stick with it and hopefully we get right back into the final next year.

Task 13 (trivia answers sent, 3tpe)