United Beyond the Ice: Alagsantere Grønvold

[VattghernCZ 1,166]

(A video transcript. Inspired by the Becoming Wild series of YouTube videos produced by the Minnesota Wild)

 

The camera fades in from black and reveals a quiet suburban street in Hampton, London. It's still dark, not quite dawn yet, the streetlights giving everything a warm yellow hue. The camera zooms in on a red brick semi-detached house with a simple, but neatly kept front yard, and a pale blue sports car parked in a driveway. The lights inside the house flicker on. A few seconds later, the front door opens and a tall, rugged man wearing a London United hoodie and sweatpants steps out. The man stretches his arms, yawns and waves at the camera with a grin.

 

“Took you long enough, it's ten past five already! (chuckles) Let's not waste any more time, welcome to a day in my life.”

 

The name “Alagsantere Grønvold, Defense” flashes on the screen along with the team logo, with the United goal horn blasting in the background.

 

The camera follows Grønvold inside the house, through a small entry corridor that looks like a hockey gear shop and through a modern, cozy living room. In the living room, the camera slowly pans across framed autographed hockey jerseys on the wall - there's Brian Payne, Jake Thunder, Pierre Emile Bouchard, Tommy Sleeves, Aurelien Moreau, Callum Gary Yannick Janser, Felicia Hardy or Guntis Gavilrovs - and across a bookshelf loaded with novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, J. R. R. Tolkien, G. R. R. Martin, David Gemmell, Stephen King or Joe Abercrombie, along with the full set of D&D 5e rulebooks. Through the entry hall and the living room, Grønvold and the camera arrive in a small room with a huge tub filled with water with a pond-like filtration system.

 

“This is Zamboni.”

 

Grønvold points at the tub. The camera zooms in and focuses on a massive, prehistoric looking turtle slowly moving towards the approaching man.

 

“Morning, buddy. He's an alligator snapping turtle. Kinda looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a tank. He's metal as f**k. I started calling him Zamboni ‘cause he's big and clumsy. A lot like me. (chuckles) I always feed him and take care of him the first thing in the morning.”

 

Grønvold grabs a de-frozen fish that's been lying on top of a freezer next to the tub, and throws it in the water. The camera follows the slowly sinking fish until a set of razor sharp jaws grabs it with lightning speed. Then the camera focuses back on Grønvold.

 

“Good boy. He doesn't do much, but I respect that. People usually get a cat or a dog. I got this guy. My dad - adoptive dad, I mean - has always been into snakes, I guess the reptiles just stuck with me. I wanted something different. But I don't think I can afford to house a croc yet. (chuckles)”

 

 

***

 

The camera cuts to Grønvold tying his Altra FWD running shoes. Upbeat music starts playing in the background of a few cuts of Grønvold jogging through the sleeping suburbs. The record scratch sound effect plays as the music stops when Grønvold runs past an elderly man walking his elderly golden retriever. The man waves at Grønvold.

 

“Nice and early as always!”

 

“You know me, Richard! Say hi to Mrs. Cox for me!”

 

The music continues playing and more cuts of Grønvold jogging are played.

 

***

 

The camera cuts to a frying pan with sizzling bacon.

 

“I'm on keto. No carbs for me.”

 

Grønvold moves the crispy bacon from the pan on a plate, cracks four eggs in the pan and starts mashing avocado in a bowl.

 

“Eggs, bacon and some avocado, that's my go-to breakfast. Sometimes I mix it up with some steak or smoked salmon. Sometimes I just have some almonds or Brazil nuts and a protein shake. Or some cottage cheese.”

 

Grønvold chops some cilantro and adds it to the mashed avocado.

 

“Mom always tries to get me to eat some paczki, it's like Polish doughnuts, or potato pancakes for breakfast when I'm in Vancouver. It's hard to resist but you gotta do what you gotta do.”

 

He squeezes some lime juice in the avocado bowl, moves sunny side up eggs from the pan on the plate and seasons everything with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.

 

“Bon appetit!”

 

***

 

The camera cuts to Grønvold throwing a sports bag in the trunk of his car, opening the driver side door, sitting down in the car and gently putting his hand on the steering wheel.

 

“I love this thing. It's a 2010 Aston Martin DB9. I got it second-hand, but it's been just awesome. And man…look at it. Dad’s always been into small Italian sports cars. Mostly Alfas. He used to have a Brera and a 4C or an 8C. Now he’s driving a Ferrari. It's Portofino, I think, I don't know my Ferraris like he does. I’m sure he'd like me to follow in his footsteps and drive something like an Alfa too, but I just had to go the GT route. Almost got a Maserati, but come on, this is an Aston!”

 

Grønvold starts the engine with a grin on his face.

 

“V12 baby.”

 

A few hero shots of the car follow. The Aston Martin badge, still with drops of condensation, catching the morning Sun rays. Grønvold tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. The exhaust shaking and rumbling, as the 5.9-litre V12 comes to life.

 

With upbeat music in the background, a few cuts of the pale blue DB9 weaving its way through the morning London traffic are played.

 

 

***

 

Camera cuts to drone shots of the London United training facility, showing it from every angle, before descending to the parking lot to capture Grønvold's arriving car.

 

Grønvold gets out of his car and grabs his bag from the trunk.

 

“Almost 10 a.m., time for a morning skate. There's usu-”

 

“Hey Grøner! You a celebrity now or what?”

 

The camera quickly pans to locate the source of the sound. There is Grønvold's teammate exiting another car, a bag on his shoulder. The subtitles say “Drosmis Sarkanis, forward” @Mr Bohannan.

 

“Sarky? The hell are you doing here, it's not 11 yet!”

 

With a laugh, Sarkanis continues on his way, gesturing “keep talking” Grønvold's way. The camera pans back to the defenseman.

 

“That's Drosmis. He arrived a few minutes late to practice last week, we're not gonna let him live that down for at least another week. As I was saying, there's usually a few guys attending these morning skates. They're not quite mandatory, but it's a good way to maybe try different line combos and stuff, and keep the healthy scratches sharp. Alright, let's have some fun!”

 

***

 

The next shot shows Grønvold, this time in his full hockey gear and a practice jersey, stepping on the ice with a strong stride, joining other 11 players.

 

The shaky, somewhat chaotic camera shots really accentuate the fast pace of the sport, as the camera crew tries their best to keep up with with speed bursts and stickhandling drills.

 

At one point, Grønvold almost finishes first in a blue line to blue line speed bursts, when a mic catches Grønvold replying to Steve French @Seabass - “Dammit Frenchie, could you let me have just one?”

 

After speed and puck handling drills, there are a few shots of puck battle drills. In a Grønvold vs Jacob Longstreet @Dynamicmlb_42 board battle, a mic catches Longstreet saying “F**k me, you're fat”, to which Grønvold replies “Part of the job, Longs” as he moves his teammate from the puck and passes it to Alexandros Mograine @sliceruser on the blue line.

 

Next up, 2-on-1 drills. As Grønvold suits up against Pelayo Bolivar @SMYLS4 and Cash Carti @v.2, he looks at the camera - “Boli and Carti, give these two a year or two and they're the next Molly-Triller. Already hard to stop.” As Bolivar carries the puck towards the net, Grønvold effectively takes away his passing lane to Carti and pressures him to the outside, leaving him with a difficult angle to shoot which resulted in a save by Chazz Michael Michaels @Xflexz. “Nice one, Mikey!” Grønvold taps the goaltender’s pads.

 

***

 

After the morning practice, the camera cuts to Grønvold with a few teammates arriving in a nearby restaurant to have a lunch. The team sits around a table and Grønvold orders two servings of grilled salmon with creamy sauce and some sautéed veggies.

 

“Lunch, that's tons of protein and fats for me, I’m a big guy. No carbs, of course. Usually a steak or salmon and something green.”

 

“You're missing out man,” says Grønvold’s teammate, while double-handing a massive hamburger.

 

“You enjoy your carbs, I enjoy my 30 minutes a night,” smirks Grønvold and a few teammates chuckle.

 

***

 

On the way from the lunch, there are some more cuts of Grønvold's DB9 weaving through London traffic and arriving to a farmer’s market.

 

“I like to do my shopping here, you know, supporting the local farmers and stuff,” explains Grønvold as he enter’s a butcher shop.

 

“Mr. Grønvold! What will it be today, sir? I have some lamb chops, or can I interested you in some rabbit or maybe a cornish hen?”

 

Asks the butcher, showing Grønvold is a regular customer here.

 

“Lamb chops sound nice, I'll take three pounds. Add a pound of bacon and thirty eggs as well, thanks.”

 

In other short cuts, the defenseman is seen talking to other vendord and purchasing some cheese and seasonal vegetables.

 

“Okay, that's my grocery run done, let's get back home,” say Grønvold, exiting the market with a full basket in his hand.

Some more cuts of his DB9 driving through London, into the Hampton suburbs, and parking in his driveway.

 

***

 

After Grønvold puts all the groceries in his fridge, he leans into a kitcher counter top and says: “After lunch, the best thing to do is to have a power nap. See you guys in half an hour!”

 

With these words, the camera follows Grønvold going up the stairs and closing bedroom door behind him. The camera fades out to black.

 

The words “40 minutes later” flash on the screen, as the camera fades in from black and shows Grønvold on his sofa, with feet on the coffee table and a PS controller in his hands. Due to copyright reasons, the camera can't show the TV screen, but sounds of fight and dialogues in Polish, sometimes catching the names like Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer or Jaskier are heard.

 

“I usually do a bit of gaming on the days off, or watch a movie or play some D&D with my friends. I love dark-ish fantasy stuff like The Witcher or Dragon Age. Don't know what it Is about these worlds.”

 

After a few shots of Grønvold's face strained with concentration and of his hands with the controller, he turns the PS off.

 

“Well, that's enough of being lazy for now, let's do some work!”

 

 

***

 

Camera cuts to Grønvold sitting on a gym bench in his home gym, dressed in comforable gym clothes.

 

“You gotta be strong do be a defenseman. You can't move other people if you're not. It's upper body day today.”

 

With upbeat music playing in the background, shots of Grønvold lifting weigths and working out on a few machines. If I could be assed to look up names of different exercises and machines in English, I'd be less vague.

 

“Obviously I don't do strength training every day,” says sweaty defenseman, sitting on a gym bench with a protein shake in his hand. “You need time to recover. But in the days I do work out, I go hard. Now excuse me, I need a shower."

 

***

 

The camera shows Grønvold standing by the Thames river with a fishing rod in his hand, the Sun already close to the horizon.

 

“I love to do some fishing in the evenings. On the ice, it's all speed and chaos, but this…this is peace.”

 

A drone shot of Grønvold casting.

 

“I'm doing some deadbaiting for pike today. Really simple rig - a float, a sinker, a trace wire with two trebles and half a mackerel. Don't know why pike love the mackerel so much.”

 

With a close-up shot of the float, the camera fades out to black.

 

***

 

A kitchen scene again, this time with Grønvold pan-searing lamb chops he had bought earlier.

 

"I go easy on calories in the evening. Lamb, chicken, rabbit, pork chops, anything lean. With lots of green stuff."

 

He throws some asparagus on a grilling pan and flips the lamb chops 

 

"I really enjoy cooking, in case it's not obvious. A weird hobby for a guy. I've learned a lot from my agent, he's a really passionate cook. For example rabbit, I had never tried one, they're considered more of a pet than food in North America. He's Czech, and here in Europe, rabbit is comonly eaten. Cover it in minced garlic, wrap in bacon...delicious."

 

He plates the lamb chops with asparagus, add pan juices and shows his dinner to the camera with a wide smile."

 

***

 

Grønvold is leaning against his kitchen counter, arms crossed.

 

“That's enough about me, it's getting late. I'll have a video call with my old folks in Vancouver, maybe have a glass of gin of two. Then I'll maybe do a bit of reading before going to bed. It's been great having you along for a day, thank you fans for watching and for supporting our team. We wouldn't be here without you. United we stand.”

 

As Grønvold put his fist on his chest, the picture fades out to black, and “United Beyond the Ice” writing appears on the screen.

Edited Sunday at 06:09 PM by VattghernCZ

[VattghernCZ 1,166]

Claim 2/4 for week 4/6