Chanda Gunn
Athlete Bio#
Age
45
Hometown
Huntington Beach
The Short List
- 2006 Olympic bronze medalist
- 2005 World champion, honored with top goaltender of the tournament (0.52 goals-against average); 2004 World Championships silver medalist (0.86 GAA)
- Stopped 60 of 62 shots including 26 saves in the final at the 2005 World Championships
- 2005 Four Nations Cup silver medalist
Did You Know?
- Tied her own school record during her senior year for number of saves in a single period ... stopped all 28 Uconn shots in a Huskies win 3-0 scoring the third shutout of the season and her 11th career shutout
- Captained Northeastern University's hockey squad her last year and was selected as co-MVP and voted first-team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association
- Save percentage of 0.931 in 2004, 0.928 in 2003, 0.95 in 2002 playing for Northeastern University
- Named 2004 NCAA Female Sportsmanship Award, Humanitarian Award, three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award (2002-2004) - first athlete to be a finalist in these three awards at the same time
- Started her collegiate career at University of Wisconsin playing only seven games before leaving to deal with her epilepsy - "There weren't a lot of college hockey teams in the market for a goalie who had been in and out of the hospital," said Gunn
- Chose to be a goalie because her brother was a forward - "This was a way I could outdo him when we played in the frontyard," Gunn told LATimes.com
- "For the first week I walked around muttering to myself, 'My daughter is a goaltender,'" Rod Gunn said to LATimes.com. "I didn't try to stop her. She had always been active and her mother had taken swimming away from her because of the epilepsy."
- Had first seizure at age 9 - "I was pretty scared at first mostly because my parents were really upset and I felt as if I had done something wrong," Gunn told epilepsy.com. "I remember my Mom crying and I kept saying ‘I'll be good Mom, I promise.'"
- Enjoys roller hockey and soccer; coaches hockey for young girls
It's Every Day
Chanda Gunn isn't a stranger to the Olympic team. After watching two-time Olympian Cammi Granato win the first Olympic gold medal for women's ice hockey, Gunn wrote to Granato every single day for four years. Gunn told Granato everyday things from what she ate for breakfast to how she played that night in a game. "I would not want to re-read one of those letters," Gunn said laughing. When she finally got to get Granato's autograph she was real anxious. "I don't think I could remember my name," she said. "I was looking down at the ground, real nervous."
Quote
On the admiration of young players: "Once they get to know me and find out I'm just a big dork who wears goal pads," she said. "It's not as exciting."