It appears to be Friday again, or as it’s becoming known around this office: “Underage Boyfriend Day.”
Foxy Friday: Erik Gudbranson
My, how big your hands are…
Erik is a 21-year old defenseman for the Floria Panthers. (I accidentally typed 12-year old defenseman. My brain loves Damn You, Autocorrect!)
I think he should also be their mascot, because tickets to Saturday’s game vs. Tampa Bay are $11 on StubHub. That’s $11 to see this:
Though he’ll probably wear a shirt. Is there a $15 ticket package where he doesn’t? I will mail you $5 – you can tuck the last dollar into his hockey shorts.
If you were going to choose a place to professionally play your favorite sport, you could do worse than Florida. Yesterday I had to scrape the ice off my car door with a credit card just to get to the ice scraper inside.
Erik doesn’t have that problem. He probably drives a Jeep with no doors on it while wearing flip flops and a really tan left arm.
Erik made his sophomore season debut with the Panthers just last week. He missed the first 9 games of the year recovering from a September wakeboarding crash, which he admitted to his team.
Since the injury was non-hockey related, he was suspended – and thus unpaid – for the duration of the lockout. His honesty about the event seems to have gone a long way with his teammates and the press [link].
Honest, charming… go ahead and sigh.
Does that make you want to give him a hug?
Now Erik is back in the lineup and earning his way to full ice time [link]. Last season he had 2G/6A in 72 games.
Gudbranson was selected 3rd overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. I couldn’t see him over the screaming for Taylor Hall (#1) and Tyler Seguin (#2), so it’s taken me a while to get to Erik. Still not sure how this escaped my attention.
.gif by stu-bickel.tumblr.com
He was the 2010 OHL Scholastic Player of the Year, for the athlete who “best combines high standards of play and academic excellence.” [link] If they had an award for holding babies, he’d have won that too.
Erik does a lot of charity work for cancer fundraising – even shaving his head to benefit St. Baldrick’s in February 2012 [video]. His youngest brother Dennis is a leukemia survivor.
The start:
The finish:
That’s pretty foxy… or literally Fox-y. Fox-esque?
Honestly, what are the chances you’re still reading the words on this page?
Here’s Erik talking junior hockey. Enjoy it while you plan the rest of your life around the Panthers schedule and following Erik on Twitter – @Guddy44.
PS: A while back, someone suggested Erik for Foxy Friday. I had *just* seen him in the Gongshow catalog the day before. Thanks to whoever that was for reminding me!
Tags: Erik Gudbranson, Florida Panthers
The dog photo… *melt*
I will take the blame for nominating him! Although it wouldn’t surprise me if I was not the only one. I mean, hello.
I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the 2010 Draft Class of Doom for cursing me with terrible cougar-like tendencies. I won’t list off the other boys from that draft because that would just be creepy. But one of them just got called up to the Penguins this week and he’s a delight on Twitter. That’s all I’ll say 🙂
Beau Bennett. No shame. I actually have to start paying attention to the Penguins now.
Speaking of the class of 2010… THIS ONE. http://blackhawks.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8475879 I saw him play with the Portland Winterhawks last weekend in Vancouver. My friend and I were sitting right beside the bench (he wasn’t playing that day) and could not stop staring. He is GORGEOUS. Future Foxy Friday FOR SURE.
If you’re going to start paying attention to the Penguins, start here:
No more “for sure.” Say it like Tyler Kennedy, “fershure,” and say it all the time.
LOL I am with you on that one!
I am going to blame Gary Bettman, the lockout and the AHL for 90% of my feelings on this matter because I have had access to too many of these “kids” and their glorious faces.
No kidding!!! Mac Carruth is definitely something to look at, and I can totally see a Foxy Friday in his future! I saw him up close this summer at the Blackhawks Prospect Camp, and it was delightful, his eyes are just as stunning as the rest of him!
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SO MANY COMMENTS! And my bosses aren’t here this morning so I will share all of them.
I too had forgotten about Hot Erik. I mean, I kept seeing pictures of him playing bridesmaid to the love fest that was Hall/Seguin, but I think he was broken and didn’t even play for much of the 2010/2011 season? Either that, or just… Florida Panthers, right?
He was always liminal to my hockey hot boy radar, and last week I think it was, he tweeted that he was making an appearance on some show called “Hit the Ice” on APTN in Canada (Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network… buried deep in the channels that everyone gets but no one watches), so I was like “I’ll PVR that, see what the deal is.” The deal was HE IS SO OUTRAGEOUSLY HOT I ACTUALLY SQUEALED AND FELL OF MY COUCH. HE IS A REAL LIFE DISNEY PRINCE. As much as we like to say that Taylor and Tyler are not the children they chronologically are, THIS ONE. THIS HOT ERIK. THIS IS NOT A CHILD. HE IS SO TALL AND SO HANDSOME. I am going out on a limb and declaring that he is Handsome Years Old. Sharp, Lundqvist, Hamm, and now Gudbranson. This is good company to keep.
And, as I am a good Canadian friend to y’all. I have found a preview his episode of Hit The Ice on the internets: http://www.hittheice.tv/ (Episode 5). The part where he’s all “You’re not lazy but you can look it”… he followed that by saying to be a good defensemen you have to be an asshole and “That’s how I got where I am. I’m a prick.” I may have recorded that whole part of the TV with my phone for posterity…
/cougar rant over
You are consistently funnier in comments than I am in posts. I’d be jealous but I’m laughing too hard.
These last few Foxy Fridays have read exactly like my to do list.
Oh good god.
And definitely far too young for me.
Gosh darn it
And just like that, I’m a Panthers fan.
I just want to run my fingers through that hair, and over those tattoos, and those abs…
Thanks Pants for bringing this gorgeous creature to my attention:P
Goodness, at least it’s not hot flashes for me.
I saw him last weekend. He is an ACTUAL real life Prince Eric (or Prince Erik as Jess and I refer to him as).
It disappoints me that he doesn’t wear a visor. I don’t care if he’s a D-man and they tend to not wear visors.
Protect that face!
I showed my mom this guy and told her he’s hotter than Seguin and I could forget all about Segs for him. She called me fickle and how I’m so easily swayed by a pretty face.
Yes. Yes, I am. And I’m okay with that.
wow. how am i just hearing about him?
yum.
I can’t believe I didn’t know about him until now either!
So how do we get to meet him?!? He is gorgeous! I’m single and 20…so I think we’re a perfect match! lol And I love that he does charity work and gives to the cancer foundations I think it’s a great way to give back. I actually donate my hair for wigs for cancer patients and I know I feel great being able to give even just a little so I can only imagine how he must feel giving to the foundation that saved his brothers life, so incredible!
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