Gunderson, now in his third season with the Swiss side, has had his own successful run to begin Fribourg’s fourth CHL campaign. The American defenceman currently sits second on the team in scoring and paces all Fribourg blueliners with two tallies and five helpers through seven contests.

His offensive upside aside, Gunderson’s defensive numbers are just as well with the left-shot pointman sporting a positive plus/minus with plus nine, tied for first with Sparta Prague’s Michal Moravčík. His success on the backend is, for Gunderson, a product of the success of the system he plays in.

“Defensively we try and get three guys in there right away and get the puck back and then from the offensive standpoint it’s taking care of the puck, get it in there end and make sure we get it deep and try and spend some long shifts and try and grind them down,” he explained.

According to Gunderson, this method works because, ultimately, “The more time with the puck we can control, the more time we’re going to spend in the other team’s end.”

Throughout his decade-long career on European ice, the 36-year-old has been a consistent contributor regardless of the sweater he wears; and due to his time in the different leagues it would appear Gunderson would be in a prime position to embrace a leadership role. But he doesn't agree.

“I’m not the most vocal guy in the room to be honest. For me, it’s more a lead by example and just kind of doing the right things to help lead in that way and show guys how to take care of themselves and what to do off the ice and then have the right habits on the ice.”    

For his part, Gunderson is okay being the veteran who leads by example. A testament to the work ethic that he’s subscribed to since his days growing up with the game splitting time between the forward and defensive positions before ultimately cementing himself on the backend in university.

“When you move from forward to defence, you just see so much more of the ice and I’m not so much of a puck carrier as a puck mover so I think I use vision to my advantage and try and find guys with good timing to get them the puck in the right spots so they can make plays,” he said.

Making things happen at both ends of the ice is an ability that has paid dividends for his club and is something Gunderson is immensely proud of, especially as it has helped him get to where he is now.

“At this point in my career,” he says, “my role is carved out that I need to be producing and contributing so it’s one of those things where it’s important to me to be able to do that. If I’m not, it feels like I’m not necessarily doing my job right.”

Skating in Europe for several seasons now, Gunderson has played against most of what each league has to offer. But part of what makes the CHL, in particular, so special to play in is being able to compete against clubs players wouldn’t normally meet in their domestic leagues.

“I think most European leagues you’re playing just within your own country so there are players here who’ve played 15 years and if they don’t play in the CHL they may never play a team from a different country,” he explained. “So the CHL gives you the opportunity to see different things, different teams and stylistically I think a lot of leagues play a lot differently.”

With a tough match-up just over the horizon, Fribourg will have to prepare for a completely different style and a completely different system. Regardless of the opponent, however, the message around the locker room remains the same.

“We know it’s gonna get tougher as we go on so the message is mainly keep doing what we’ve been doing and what’s made us successful and not get too complacent.”

This means taking care of all the minute details. According to Gunderson, “It’s the small things like everyone always says but it’s the battles, the blocking shots, and those things and as long as you continue to do those, you know, the games will get tougher but you give yourself a pretty good chance every night.”

And while the defenceman isn’t too familiar with Fribourg’s upcoming opponents in Red Bull Munich, he is aware of the brand of hockey the Germans bring to the table.

“In general, the German league is a lot of bigger players, a little more physical, a little bit more kind of North-South than some of the other leagues in Europe,” says Gunderson, who expects “a physical game and a quick up and down the ice” from the German club.

As 32 teams are reduced to 16 and games carry even more weight, players are asked to give a little more, to prove a little more, if they hope to continue on the path to the European Trophy. This, of course, is what’s being asked of Fribourg going forward, but Gunderson is confident his team can rise to the occassion.

“I think it’s pretty important to just show that we have a good league here and we’re able to compete with the best teams in Europe every night so we saw ourselves getting through, we wanted to get through and it’s a good starting point but at the same time I don’t think we’re done here.”