Olympic hockey hopeful has gold on her mind

Huntington Beach resident and U.S. hockey team goalie Chanda Gunn takes to the ice in Turin.Turin is nine time zones away from the ice-skating rink Linda Anderson opens each morning but, for a few hours a week, the Italian city seems that bit closer to home as she watches her favorite hockey player live on the Olympic ice.

“Goal! Yes!” she screams after members of the U.S. women’s hockey team tied the score in the first minutes of their game against Finland. “All right 1-1. Back to anyone’s game.”

A lifelong hockey fan, Tuesday’s game held a special significance for Anderson. Her co-worker and longtime friend Chanda Gunn was the game’s starting goalie. After years watching Gunn help other girls improve their hockey game, it was finally time to see Gunn enjoy her moment in the spotlight.

“It’s really amazing to see her achieve something at such a high level,” Anderson said.

Gunn, 26, is making her debut with the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team after years of training and preparation at Northeastern University. The Edison High School graduate practically grew up on the ice; her parents own the Skate Zone in north Huntington Beach and Gunn started playing hockey when she was 16.

Today she is widely recognized as one of the sport’s up-and-coming female goalies, earning two Olympic shutouts against Switzerland and later Germany, before giving up three goals early against Finland. Down 1-3 after the second period, Gunn’s teammates rallied to 7-3 for the win.

Friends say she wasn’t always a hockey star. Gunn was an avid swimmer to the age of 9 when she had her first epileptic seizure. She switched to soccer and then eventually hockey -- her doctor took comfort that she would be protected by a helmet if she had another seizure.

The story goes that Gunn became a goalie because of a sibling rivalry with her brother. She couldn’t skate or shoot at his level, but she could block anything he fired her way.

She was also an avid Olympic hockey fan and idolized U.S. team captain Cammi Granato, who led her team to the gold in 1998 and the silver in 2002. The two were teammates in 2003 and 2004 on the national team, but Granato was cut during the Olympic tryouts. Friends said Gunn was shocked but continued to maintain a strong relationship with her old teammate.

At home, Gunn is best known for her hockey clinics with the Cal Select girls team that practices at Skate Zone.

“The first things out Chanda [Gunn’s] mouth is always do your best and be a good sportsman,” said Melinda Koppel, whose daughter plays with the 14-and-under team. “She’s great at giving girls words of encouragement. It’s amazing what a giving, thoughtful person she is.”

Figure skating coach Necia Kroger said there’s always a void whenever Gunn is absent from the rink.

“She definitely has a presence around here,” she said, while taking time out to watch her game Tuesday. “You don’t get that caliber of a role model very often. She’s incredibly humble, even with the kids.”

Kroger said Gunn even made fans of the young figure skaters, an odd accomplishment in the ice world where skaters and hockey players enjoy a healthy rivalry.

“They’re all totally freaking out that she’s on television,” Kroger said. “It’s pretty funny to see figure skaters watching hockey.”20060216iupdfincDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / INDEPENDENT(LA)A board at Huntington Beach’s Skate Zone is adorned with messages of support for Chanda Gunn, the goalie for the U.S. women’s hockey team. 20060216iupdi6ncChandra Gunn, goalie for the U.S. women’s hockey team, appears on TV during the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.