New Dunedin Thunder recruit Ryan Wonfor was looking for a team to play for during his summer break and has popped up in "tropical" Dunedin.
Told you summer takes on a new meaning.
The 26-year-old Canadian defenceman has spent the past two seasons playing in Sweden and was looking at the leagues in Australia and New Zealand to get in some off-season training.
The added bonus is he could get in some travelling with his partner, Abrianna Bowman, who is a travel agent.
He emailed Thunder head coach Guillaume Leclancher and liked what he was hearing.
"Once it started rolling, we did a little more research," Wonfor said
That involved watching some game tape and googling Dunedin.
"We kind of got more excited about it as the process went on."
The proximity of sea lions and penguins helped sealed the deal.
The couple arrived on April 19 and Wonfor has had "three or four" training session with the Thunder.
"For a place where hockey isn’t a major sport, it is cool that they have this programme here. It is honestly more than I expected.
"I was expecting more of a recreational league, I guess, but it is actually as serious as they can make it."
Speaking of serious, the Thunder gets the campaign under way against the defending champion Stampede in Dunedin on May 19.
"That will be quite the game," Wonfor said.
He has had a look at the playing rosters of the other teams and has noted "there are guys that have played all over the world", so expects the standard to be decent.
Wonfor grew up in Mississauga, about 10 minutes from "downtown Toronto".
He moved to the United States and played college ice hockey for Kent State University and Davenport University.
Following his college career, he moved to Sweden to play for Lenhovda in 2021-22 and for Hallefors in 2022-23.
He had opportunities to play professionally in the United States but fancied seeing a bit more of the world.
And after Sweden, which was lovely, he said, Dunedin was "tropical to us"
"We were very far north. It was very dark and very cold, so this is a good change."
Wonfor, who has a bachelor of science in medical case management, may end up staying for longer than a season if everything works out.
"I have heard the university here is like a big medical school. That would be interesting to look at but I don’t think I would pursue it this summer, but in the future maybe."
A more immediate goal is to see as much of the country as possible and win some games.
He is charged with helping shut down threats on the Thunder goal, but he also likes to press forward and present some challenges for his opponents at the other end of the ice.
