Markus has never been a big gift giver, seeing as his parents taught him at a young age the value of money, and how much his equipment and tournaments cost them in the long run. He was simply thankful to be able to fully undertake his passion, and now that his career is taking off, he can reward them with much needed vacations. They, of course, decided to follow him in the nine other SMJHL cities in North America. They even toured around Anchorage with him - it was like nothing they had seen back in Switzerland, as the country had no access to the ocean, and thus the Alaskan fishing industry interested them greatly. Another city they particularly appreciated was Charlotte, in which the Kraken play their home games. The density and the ceaseless bustling around reminded them of Bern, where Chrigel, Markus' father, is working as a history teacher at a local school. Markus wished they also could've visited Montréal, the Kraken's old home, because in his few years in North America, it was the city he loved the most, and that felt the most European.

For his teammates, he will keep doing what he does best - making the little gestures, like doing the coffee run at the end of practice before the video sessions, staying a bit longer on the ice to help his backup Steven Vassallo, and taking the tab at the restaurant for the rookies, as the veterans on the team used to do a few seasons ago.

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