My name is Ryan Gunn, better know by most people in my life as ‘Gunner’. As hockey players, we love our nicknames and we love adding ‘er’ or ‘y’ to the end of names. Gunner was given to me at a young age by my teammates and it is something that has stuck to this day with many of my friends.
This is my blog about Hockey where I talk about the game that I love.
A little bit of backstory about my life in Hockey. I started skating when I was only a few years old and fell in love with the game.
For most of my youth, I played AA in my hometown of Orangeville, Ontario. For a couple of years during my minor career, I played AAA outside of my hometown, for the Grey Bruce Highlanders. After that, I returned to Orangeville and played there until I aged out. I also played high school hockey for my local team.
Looking back, I just didn’t have the drive required at a young age to make it to a high level in hockey. I was never a fan of dryland training to improve my fitness. I only watched games on TV for entertainment and never really tried to learn anything or apply it to my game.
I played hockey to have fun. I loved being in the dressing room with the guys, busting each others chops with chirps. I loved going to tournaments and loved having fun in the hotels. As I got older, I loved drinking beers with my team and enjoyed partying with them on weekends. I think that is a story that many players can relate to.
I don’t regret anything looking back. I made a lot of great memories and still have many great friends from my hockey career in my life. I am not suggesting I would have made the NHL but when you get older you realize how much dedication it takes to make it.
As far as my fandom, I am a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan. I grew up less than an hour from downtown Toronto, and was able to go to some games. My parents are die-hard fans as well and it is some that we have always bonded over, even if the team always breaks out hearts.
Outside of Hockey, I started my first blog back in 2015 (shoutout to IWNerd.com). I have gone on to create several other successful sites in different niches. I decided to create a site based on hockey, which lead to HockeyGunner.com.