Tribute Carl Gunnarsson

[Eye of Ra]

What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

St Louis Blues fans loved him.

Click to read more...

 

[Amadeus]

Solid bottom pairing guy.

 

[ACC1224]

is he ok?

 

[wingman75]

is he ok?

Assumed he had passed...

 

[ACC1224]

Assumed he had passed...

Me too.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Fairly underrated.

He was a good partner and presence for Phaneuf, who was often erratic and inconsistent.

 

[Gallagbi]

Getting boarded by Lucic which opened the door for our Game 7 collapse

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Forgot he existed.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Like LIljegren today. Controversial and seen as disposable for the right price. Then they got terrible value and he hit his potential elsewhere.

Story of the Leafs as a franchise post expansion

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Like LIljegren today. Controversial and seen as disposable for the right price. Then they got terrible value and he hit his potential elsewhere.

Story of the Leafs as a franchise post expansion

You've compared him to Stralman and now Gunnarsson. Is it because they're Swedish?

 

[Buds17]

A steady presence who was stretched beyond his means playing on the top pairing alongside Phaneuf.

 

[Mr_Fun]

I think ol' Gunnarhea found his stride the second he left town. I thought he was mostly meh when he was here.

 

[HockeyVirus]

You've compared him to Stralman and now Gunnarsson. Is it because they're Swedish?

It's because I think they are dependable defensive dmen who can move the puck well and his offense is coming

 

[TMLegend]

He was ok. Next to no offense, generally pretty reliable in his own end. Not very physical even though he had decent size. Average plus skater.

In the end he was tasked with too big of a role in Toronto, and excelled once he started playing bottom pair minutes in St. Louis.

If Liljegren could become Gunnarsson 2.0 I'd be content at this point. Liljegren has a fatal flaw though in that he's soft, and definitely hears footsteps at times.

 

[ITM]

Dog days being what they are...

Gunnarsson was a good foot soldier. Maybe a gentler not quite as good Joel Edmundson type (and not just because he's Swedish, although I can confirm: In Toronto we have a genetic predisposition for wanting our Swedish defencemen to succeed - on account of the King.)?

But I confess, I have never had the following as a passing or obsessive thought: You know who needs a tribute thread? Carl Gunnarsson.

But I also have to confess, I have a fascination with pre-game meals and Russians and I've often wondered if soup is their universal go-to and for our purposes wondered what Dmitri Mironov's favourite soup was; Often balked at the returning idea that its borscht or shchi.

Then one HFBoards long evening, finally had a eureka moment of my own, thinking: Russian defencemen that eat borscht and shchi don't play like Dmitri Mironov - obviously they eat gribno-kartofel'nyy, ya dumb shit, lol!

 

[notDatsyuk]

Solid and very unexciting defensive player.

The kind that a goaltender or defence coach love, and everyone else can't see.

He was always in position, excellent at using his body (without being a 'hitter'), and very good at separating a player from the puck. He was the perfect foil for Phaneuf, covering up so many defensive gaffes.

With more of an offensive side he would have been very popular here.

He scored one playoff goal in his NHL career - in overtime against Boston when the Blues won the Cup.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Dog days being what they are...

Gunnarsson was a good foot soldier. Maybe a gentler not quite as good Joel Edmundson type (and not just because he's Swedish, although I can confirm: In Toronto we have a genetic predisposition for wanting our Swedish defencemen to succeed - on account of the King.)?

But I confess, I have never had the following as a passing or obsessive thought: You know who needs a tribute thread? Carl Gunnarsson.

But I also have to confess, I have a fascination with pre-game meals and Russians and I've often wondered if soup is their universal go-to and for our purposes wondered what Dmitri Mironov's favourite soup was; Often balked at the returning idea that its borscht or shchi.

Then one HFBoards long evening, finally had a eureka moment of my own, thinking: Russian defencemen that eat borscht and shchi don't play like Dmitri Mironov - obviously they eat gribno-kartofel'nyy, ya dumb shit, lol!