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Around the Rink in the PHF: Hockey Holidays

What is the best, or your favorite, hockey-related gift that you have ever received for the holidays?

I hope everyone out there has had a great holiday season. With no games for a while, I had this idea to ask a bunch of PHF players a hockey-holiday-themed question and after the first few responses, I knew this was going to turn out well! Honestly, the hardest part was keeping this under wraps (no pun intended) as I worked on it and the responses kept pouring in.

So without further ado, here we go!

What is the best, or your favorite, hockey-related gift that you have ever received for the holidays?

Lauren Kelly: I think the most memorable hockey-related gift I received was when I got red, white, and blue street hockey goalie pads! My sister and I played almost every day in the summertime with the neighborhood kids! Playing street hockey with those kids is still one of my greatest memories growing up, so when we got those pads (from Santa) we were both so excited!

Allie Olnowich: My favorite hockey-related gift has to be an authentic bubble hockey set with the working scoreboard and everything.

Catherine Crawley: Tickets to a Chicago Blackhawks-New York Rangers game, because those are my two favorite NHL teams. Otherwise, every new season in college at UConn we’d often get all of our new gear at once and call it ‘Christmas’, which was always the best, too!

Tera Hofmann: My parents used to get me new equipment for Hanukkah, which was always exciting.

Emily Fluke: I’m torn between the air hockey table that me and my three brothers got one year, because that was a lot of fun - but also kinda dangerous on my household haha! Or the two-piece synergy stick, the two-piece sticks were so icon and it was a yellow synergy.

Samantha Ridgewell: Every year for about ten years my parents always got me that year’s Don Cherry Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em DVD! I looked forward to it every year and watched it over and over - especially the top saves.

Mariah Fujimagari: Every year most of my presents are hockey-related! But the most memorable would have to be getting tickets to the Toronto Maple Leafs vs the Detroit Red Wings, Winter Classic game in 2014 with my family and friends. It was SO cold and snowy, with so many people (105,491 - the largest yet) - and with the Leafs winning in OT, it’ll be a memory I never forget.

Katelynn Russ: My best gift was a Jonathan Toews/Chicago Blackhawks 2009 Winter Classic jersey.

Allie Thunstrom: My mom wanted me to be her little princess, ya know pretty standard. And I was all hockey. So she tried to buy me a new winter jacket that was pink and purple. And I cried. For days. (I was like 5). So for Xmas, my dad (Santa) got me a Pittsburgh Penguins starter jacket, the half-zip ones. Might have been the Ducks and my brother had the Penguins.

Emma Vlasic: The best hockey-related gifts growing up were always new sticks. That was always fun when we got the new Bauer stick as a Christmas present.

Shannon Doyle: My dad got me a signed CuJo (Curtis Joseph) goalie stick once! It was so cool - I was going through my, ‘I want to be a goalie’ phase. Haha!

Madison Packer: Back yard ODR!!!

Amanda Leveille: I was in high school and my parents got me a Montreal Canadiens/Carey Price jersey and tickets to a Habs home game against the Coyotes that I went to with my dad. That was pretty cool. It might have been 4-1 Montreal, but also might have been 4-1 Coyotes!

Cailey Hutchison: I got a 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins Winter Classic Sidney Crosby jersey and my dad was able to get Crosby to sign it for me. Pretty exciting that my brother is a part of the Penguins organization right now.

Kayla Friesen: Best gift I get at Christmas that’s hockey-related is ALWAYS, coming home to the rink made and ready to go in the backyard for my brother and I to skate on. Physically, a new hockey stick or mini stick growing up.

Missy Segall: When I was really little I got a pink Boston Bruins jersey that I loved!

Kendall Cornine: Probably a new stick. But I’ll let you know if I think of something less boring haha!

Jessica Strack: I had to think about this (I blanked on every present I’ve ever gotten as soon as I read the question haha). Since I’m from the Boston area I obviously grew up a Bruins fan. I remember a handful of years ago my cousin had a co-worker with season tickets, so my cousin got tickets for a game during the holiday break and took me as a Christmas present. Definitely a super fun time.

Kaleigh Fratkin: Probably a signed Toronto Maple Leafs/Mats Sundin jersey when I was like 8 haha. I was a massive fan when I was super young.

Emma Keenan: My favorite hockey gift was a Calgary Flames jersey.

Cassidy Vinkle: My favorite gift would be tickets to the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend in Ottawa!

Taylor Accursi: Hmmmmm best hockey-related gift…..my first ever stick! I remember my dad bringing it home for me and the entire stick was taped white so I didn’t see a sliver!

Tori Sullivan: Hmmmm gosh I would probably have to say new mini sticks set that came with a hockey rink carpet, that was definitely a fav.

Kaycie Anderson: Hmm probably the NHL jersey of my favorite NHL player, autographed Detroit Red Wings #19 Steve Yzerman red jersey!

Emilie Harley: Roller Blades!

Allie Munroe: Probably the best one I can remember is my parents hid a hockey stick (specifically an Easton Stealth) in the couch one year for me to find.

Saroya Tinker: The best gift I’ve ever gotten was my S 19 Easton hockey stick that I so badly wanted when I was about 13 or 14-years-old when it came out.

Elena Orlando: Probably tickets to the Bruins/Canadiens Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in 2016.

Lovisa Selander: I got my first set of goalie gear when I was 8 or 9 for Christmas! I don’t think I took it off for days haha!

Rebecca Morse: Probably a Martin Brodeur/New Jersey Devils jersey when I was like 8.

Cassandra Goyette: My Henrik Lundqvist/New York Rangers jersey! I wanna say it was a Christmas gift from my parents while I was a sophomore in college, so it was pre-retirement!

Taylor Wasylk: Hmm best hockey gift for the holidays…I think I got a Darren McCarty/Detroit Red Wings jersey one year!

McKenna Brand: Hmmm, great question! I think the best gift I got for Christmas was a USA Hockey jersey and tickets to go watch a USA v Canada game (at Xcel Energy Center). I think I was around 8-years-old.

Allie Morse: Hmmm maybe a Manny Fernandez/Minnesota Wild jersey. I got custom KOVA suspenders which are awesome. I thinkkkkkk I may have gotten my first goalie mask painted, but that also might have been for my birthday!

Amy Budde: I really love the Bauer hockey socks my grandma would get me every year! You can never have enough!

Jillian Dempsey: I’ve received some incredible hockey Christmas gifts over the years, but one that really stands out is when I got a Zbubble stick. That was quite the moment seeing it under the tree!

Theresa Knutson: Minnesota Wild tickets for my friend and I! Parents came with us of course, I was 15.

Caty Flagg: Definitely either a signed skate by Alex Ovechkin or my first set of rollerblades!

Sara Bustad: My dad used to get me a hockey stick for Christmas when I was a kid. He would wrap it and it would sit by the tree for days leading up to December 25. You would know it was a stick because you could see the shape of it but you couldn’t unwrap it or use it until Christmas! It was always my favorite gift!

Carly Jackson: The best hockey-related gift was hockey sticks when I was a kid. We would play with them Christmas morning right in the kitchen with any space we could find, and my dad is a big kid and would always play with us too.

Jenna Rheault: My favorite was tickets to see the Boston Bruins!

Audra Richards: Skates from my grandpa!

Erin Gehen: The best gift was tickets from my mom and stepdad to a Penguins game in Pittsburgh for my entire family.

Brooke Wolejko: I was very fortunate to get goalie pads one year! The pads matched my team colors. It was everything. Best Christmas, hands down!

Taylor Wenczkowski: Best hockey-related gift I got growing up was a new stick! It’s something I’d look forward to most years for Christmas.

Grace Klienbach: To be honest, I haven’t gotten a lot of hockey-related gifts haha! But I like hockey ornaments from the teams I’ve played on. I have a few from the Whale and now I’ll have to get a Beauts one!

Mallory Rushton: My custom Bauer stick when I was 12!

Meaghan Pezon: Oooh that’s a great question! I am going to have to go with a knee hockey set that had the Eden Prairie (my hometown) logos on the sticks and the nets! Lots of knee hockey games were played haha!

Marie-Jo Pelletier: The best hockey-related gift I ever received was a Montreal Canadiens jersey at three-years-old.

Rachael Ade: The best hockey gift was a pair of Pro Glo Eagle gloves. My dad and I both used to wear them, where they had this like plastic covering to make them shiny. There was this new pair that I really wanted but had not told anyone yet, and then there they were under the tree. My parents got them for me, and it was one of my favorite Christmas gifts, let alone hockey gifts! They were like the first brand of gloves where you could wear them the day you bought them without having to break them in. I have always loved colorful things!

Janine Weber: Ooo tough question. A few years ago my mom managed to get me the jersey I had worn at the last World Championships I played in (2018 in France I believe). It was the Christmas during the year I wasn’t playing hockey at all, so it was even more meaningful because I thought it was the last time I had played for Austria.

Anjelica Diffendal: I’d say new skates.

Colleen Murphy: Stick was the best gift. One year specifically I got an Easton Synergy stick, but Santa forgot that he put it behind the tree and I didn’t find it until a couple of days after Christmas.

Mallory Souliotis: I definitely found a lot of sticks under the tree but often times I got them at the beginning of the season and my parents would put them under the tree as Christmas presents.

I think some of the best gifts were the team tracksuits. I remember getting one for my club team and it was embroidered with my name/number. Pretty sure I wore it for a week straight!

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