Gunn, Daniel Kenneth
(1978 - )
In 2016 [top] and with the Kleiner Cup and the 1998 Victorian league champions [beneath].
CAREER SUMMARY
Birth
January 27th 1978
Clubs
VIHA Melbourne Demons, IHV Melbourne Jets, AIHL Melbourne Ice, OiHAN Melbourne Nite Owls
Goodall Cups
Nil
World Championships
2001, '03 Ice Hockey
Life Memberships
Nil
Won all 6 Premierships in his club's Golden Era. 1997 to '01, '03
BORN JANUARY 27TH 1978, he began ice hockey with the Melbourne Demons in the Junior C (Pee Wee) division of the Victorian league where his father Ken was a vice-president, president and Best Clubman in 1990. Three brothers - David, Stephen and Bradley — also played hockey for the club. He won his club's Most Sportsmanlike player award in 1987 at age 9 and repeated the feat in 1989.
In 1992, he was Jnr B (Bantam) MVP and Best Defenseman and the next season he was Highest Point Scorer and Best Defenseman in the same league. He also won his Club's Most Outstanding Achievement award both years. He tallied 265 junior games, scoring 124 goals 11 assists for an average 0.5 points per game and a meagre 18 penalty minutes.
He was Most Improved Player (Lund & Edwards Trophy) in the Demon's senior A-grade in 1997, another feat he repeated in 2002. In 1998, he was the Victorian league's A-grade Highest Point Scorer and State MVP Runner-up to Doug Stevenson. Three times Demon's A-grade Highest Point Scorer (1996, '98, '02), he never won a Goodall Cup.
He represented Australia as a forward at the senior World Championships at Majadahonda in Spain in 2001 and at Seoul South Korea in 2003. He won Bronze in Spain and scored a total of 2 goals, 4 assists for his country. In 2004 and '05, he played for the Melbourne Ice in the Australian Ice Hockey League.
He returned to the Demons in 2016 where he has played 208 games — 27th Most Games for the Club — and scored 115 goals, 163 assists (278) for an average 1.3 points per game. Among the goals were 9 hat tricks. He is one of only three players to win all 6 Premierships in the club's Golden era — 1997 to 2001 and 2003. The others were Grove Bennett Jnr and captain and club Legend, Jon Moses.
Married to Lyndal, the couple are raising a young family in a seaside town on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. "I was incredibly lucky to grow up and be part of the best community — the ice hockey community," he said in 2017. "The friendship, mateship, rivalries, camaraderie and opportunities over many years have had a massive influence on who I am as a person."
Legend has it Daniel Gunn's celebrated senior hockey career began at the Demons Ice Hockey Club at a very young age. His father, Ken, was vice-president of the Demons in the late-80s and always went to every senior game he could. In 1989 the Demons were invited to an end-of-season round robin tournament in Bendigo in regional Victoria with two Bendigo teams and a team from Dubbo.
"I jokingly asked Ken before the first game if Danny had brought his gear", says team coordinator Paul Rice, "and he said he had, thinking he might get some ice-time between games for a skate". They all agreed Danny could join in and play.
Mark McGregor from Hakoah was along for the ride and he spent much time setting-up Danny to score. Eventually Danny managed to get on the end of one of Mark's set-ups and pop a goal in the final against Bendigo 2, which the Demons went on to win. Danny was 12.
Ross Carpenter, 'Gunn, Daniel Kenneth (1978 - )', Legends of Australian Ice, Melbourne, Australia, http://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_gunn.html, accessed online .
[1] Demons player stats, Paul Rice, club historian. Special thanks.
Demons U12 Premiers
Pennant, Melbourne, 1986
With Demons Snr-A Premiers
Oakleigh, Melbourne, 1998
Demons Snr-A Premiers
Oakleigh, Melbourne, 2001
Demons Snr-A Premiers
Melbourne, 2003
With Lyndal
Melbourne, 2016