“Those few years for us were really, really hard”: Erik Gudbranson’s wife Sarah opens up on the toll of his injuries in Vancouver

Columbus Blue Jackets alternate captain Erik Gudbranson’s wife, Sarah. made a guest appearance on the latest episode of the Never Offside Podcast with Julie and Kat. During the segment, she talked about the mental toll of her husband’s injuries that he suffered during his stint with the Canucks.

She mentioned that Erik had multiple surgeries during his career including a few in Vancouver, which were an emotionally difficult period for their family.

“I'd say the ones that like, he had a few surgeries in Vancouver, and those few years for us were really, really hard,” she said.

She explained how difficult it was to watch him go through injuries, rehab and the pressure of returning to play.

“So it was just it's really sad because you see them working so hard to kinda to do what they love and to putting everything out there, and it's I mean, it's, yeah, it's definitely such a mental grind for him, I'd say,” she added.

Despite their struggles, Cat mentioned how proud she was of the way Erik handled everything, not just as a player but as a teammate, husband and father.

Sarah also acknowledged the mental toll injuries take on families. She mentioned how special it was for their kids to see Erik back on the ice and that it was an emotional moment that made all the challenges feel worthwhile.

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Erik Gudbranson’s wife shares how he found out about his trade while in a cruise trip

During the same podcast, Sarah Gudbranson shared a story about how her husband learned of his first NHL trade. She disclosed that the trade happened while Erik was on a riverboat cruise without Wi-Fi.

In the summer of 2016, the Florida Panthers traded Gudbranson to the Vancouver Canucks. Sarah mentioned how Erik remained unaware for 12 hours because of the lack of internet access on the cruise trip.

“He was in Africa with one of his teammates on a trip and I was in Florida at an apartment in dental school,” she said. “So I got home from night clinic and I was literally sat down to like make my dinner, sat on the couch and just started like scrolling through Instagram. And I saw that he got traded.” (23:25)

By the time Erik Gudbranson found out, everyone else already knew.

“Erik found out 12 hours later because he was on a river, riverboat cruise with no Wi-Fi. So everybody knew he'd been traded and he had no clue,” she added.

She also pointed out that the trade was unexpected as Erik had at the time just signed a contract extension with the Panthers.