Next Christmas, I'll Be A Father

As I lay in my bed, I could always hear it.
As a kid, I would be so excited for Christmas. I couldn't wait to see what presents would be waiting for me under the tree. I would lay in bed, thinking I would never fall asleep. Every year. But I always did, somehow.
Although I could always hear the footsteps. Santa was on our roof!
I found out later that it was my father, not Santa. Every year, he'd dress in all red and walk across the roof of our house. He'd be wearing those jingly things, so we'd think it was Santa on our roof. When I think of some of the thing my parents did for me and my brothers and sisters to believe in Santa, it was crazy.
As an adult now, Christmas is different. Especially knowing that next Christmas, I'll be a father.

This Christmas is going to be different for me. It'll be good. We're not really having people over. My wife and I are spending it by ourselves.
It won't be like the Christmases we had back in Sweden.
I moved to Sweden when I was 21 to play hockey. I remember my first Christmas there. I didn't know anybody. My family was back in France, where I'm from. I was all by myself. My family, they put me on FaceTime. Then they put me on the mantle, next to their table. I had prepared the same dish that they were eating, and it was as if I was at the table with them. I could see the whole table.
But I was on the mantle. It wasn't the same. The weather was also different. In Sweden, December 20 is the shortest day of the year. You only see the sun for two hours. It's snowy. In France, I grew up outside of Paris. It would be chilly at Christmas, but we didn't usually have snow. If there was snow on Christmas, you were lucky.
When I got to Sweden, that's what it was like for me. Then I met Hannah.
Hannah and I met in Sweden. I was supposed to go on the national team. Something happened where I was supposed to go, but I missed my connection. When I should have been with the team is when I met Hannah. Now I feel so lucky to spend my life with such an unbelievable woman. We are expecting our first child on the 28th. We already have a name picked out. But it's a surprise!
Hannah and I are spending this Christmas together by ourselves because this is the last one we'll have by ourselves.
We just moved into a new house at the beginning of this week, too. When I played for Philadelphia, we weren't allowed to have a Christmas tree in our apartment. Hannah loves Christmas trees. She was born in LA, but moved to Sweden when she was young. She has both the American and Swedish customs.

She wants us to have a big Christmas tree. Now that we are in a new house, we can have as big of a tree as we want and can keep it for as long as we want.
We'll probably FaceTime with my family again. Maybe not on the mantle, but we'll FaceTime so we can enjoy them. I think that's what Christmas is about. As an adult, it's not as much about the presents as it is about being with the people you care about. So I am going to be with my wife. Although next year, we're going to be with our family. Our own family. Our new family. I'm excited.
She has the American and Swedish customs, and I have my customs from France. In France, it's not like the United States. Back when I was a kid, people in France didn't really decorate their houses. There'd be decorations in town, but not on houses. Except we had a Christmas tree.
We want Christmas to be as special for our child as it was for us when we were kids.
I remember every year, waking up to the smell of hot cocoa. Made with chocolate, how they do it in the Caribbean. I'd wake up with the smell of hot cocoa in my nose and couldn't wait to go downstairs and see how many presents were for me. When I close my eyes and think about it, I still have that smell in my nose.
In France, we had ornaments on our tree made of chocolate. You weren't supposed to eat them until Christmas. I am one of five siblings. I have a brother and three sisters. I am in the middle. With five kids, all the chocolates would be eaten way before Christmas. My mom would lose it!
I remember the hot cocoa and the ornaments made of chocolate. I remember watching the movie, Home Alone. My favorite part was when Kevin realizes that he's all by himself in the house and starts running around touching his brother's things that he wasn't allowed to touch.
I could relate to that. I remember my older brother would never let me touch his things. But you know what they say. When the cat is away, the mice will play!
I remember the first time I got my own hockey stick. A new one. It was on Christmas. It was the Koho Revolution. It was black and yellow. I think it was the Jagr model. I remember getting that stick on Christmas and playing hockey with my brother. When I was growing up, not many kids in France played hockey. Other kids would usually play in the forest. My sister wanted to try hockey and then my brother and I followed along.

I played with that Koho stick everywhere. On the ice. In the backyard. I played with it so much that the blade got so worn down. It was as thin as a knife when I was done with it.
We didn't get to watch a lot of hockey in my house. The games weren't really on, except in the Olympics. The cable wasn't there, and this was before the internet was a thing. We played the NHL video games instead. We had 93, 94, 95, 96. NHL '95 was the one where you could always score on the wraparounds. I can't remember what team I played as. I think Detroit.
I remember baking the butterbread with my mother the day before Christmas. That's what I think of this time of year. My wife's background is different. In Sweden, it's like a Christmas table. You have a buffet. You can bake or cook, but you go up and get your food. They do it more on the 24th. Presents at like 4:00. It's a little bit different. I know she's really excited about her grandma's Christmas dish. I'm excited about my hot cocoa.
For our child, we are going to try to have it be a blend of all the Christmas traditions in our family.
This year will be different in other ways also. We'll be in Las Vegas. Being in a place with palm trees for Christmas is a little different. It's not like how it was in Sweden when it was dark all the time. Or how it was for me growing up in France. But although it's different, I'm excited about it. As hockey players, we get to travel so much. We get to see so many things. See so many places.
I didn't get into the NHL until I was 29. If you asked me 10 years ago that I'd be here, I'd never believe it. I'm playing for this team. We're one of the most exciting teams in the league. We are playing the right way. I just got a house. We just moved in. I have an unbelievable woman. And I have a kid coming.

I don't know if I'll ever dress in red and walk on the roof so our child thinks I am Santa like my father did.

I guess I'll have to see if my wife lets me.