Game's elite matched with Halloween candy, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen

Everyone has their favorite Halloween candies. And if you're a parent like me, you stake a claim to the REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups right when the kids get home from trick or treating and they empty their bags on the kitchen table.

Surely, everyone reading this has their favorite NHL players.

Let's blend the two.

Halloween is Saturday, so it's time to do some NHL-style trick or treating. Here I pick the player, or players, that best match some of my favorite Halloween candy.

REESE'S Peanut Butter Cup -- Wayne Gretzky

The GOATs. 

I'll leave open the possibility that people might be allergic to chocolate or peanut butter, or both, but I'm not and there's no debating me on this one, the REESE'S Peanut Butter Cup is the greatest candy.

And, of course, Gretzky is, by his very nickname, Great.

Snickers -- Mario Lemieux

Layers of greatness.

A Snickers bar combines nougat, caramel, roasted peanuts and milk chocolate. The wrapper is classic. It stops your hunger. It comes in king size, regular size or fun size. It's got it all.

Lemieux is on hockey's Mount Rushmore because of his combination of size, skill, hockey IQ, leadership, mental toughness, resilience and, later in his career, business acumen.  He saved the Pittsburgh Penguins more than once. He had it all.

M&Ms -- Sidney Crosby

Elite versatility and great in any situation. 

Pick any flavor of M&Ms from the classic chocolate and peanut to pretzel, caramel, dark chocolate peanut, peanut butter, almond and whatever else, and you'll keep wanting more and more and more. 

Watch Crosby play in any era, with any linemate, in any zone, in any situation and you'll keep wanting more and more and more.

Hershey's milk chocolate bar -- Alex Ovechkin

One flavor, powerful, and always delivers.

Nobody in history has blasted a puck past the goalie as well as Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer.

The Hershey's milk chocolate bar has the best one-timer in the candy business, blasting a classic chocolate-lover's flavor with every bite.

HERSHEY'S KISSES -- Jaromir Jagr

Legends in every era.

You can change the color of the aluminum foil wrapper, but that little bite-sized teardrop piece of chocolate bliss is always elite, and it has been that way for decades.

Jagr could change his team, but No. 68, regardless of what jersey it's on, always meant elite hockey, an insatiable work ethic, a classic scorer and sometimes an all-world mullet. He was that way for decades.

Nerds -- Nikita Kucherov

Elite hockey IQ.

Kucherov is like a box of Nerds, two compartments of different flavors, or for him goals on one side and assists on the other, pouring out throughout every season, each little one evidence of his work ethic and constant desire to make him and his teammates the very best they can be.

And the very nature of the name of the candy, Nerds, showcases what he does best -- think and see the game better than anyone else.

Nerds Gummy Clusters -- Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer

They're new, gaining in popularity with each passing year, and they're the glue that brings it all together.

Nerds Gummy Clusters, those bites of nerds all stuck to a gummy center, have quickly risen to become one of the most popular gummy candies.

Celebrini, the 20-year-old center playing for the San Jose Sharks, and Schaefer, the New York Islanders' 19-year-old defenseman, have quickly become two of the most popular players in the League and the centerpieces of their team, so good that everyone else knows they better stick to them.

Candy Corn -- Brad Marchand

You say you don't like it, but deep down you know that's a lie and maybe you just don't want to admit the truth, that you love shoveling candy corn in your mouth and you can't ever take your eyes off Marchand on the ice.

Love Marchand when he's on your team; hate him when he's playing against you.

Love candy corn when you have a bag of it at home; hate it when asked if you want some.

You get the picture.

100 Grand Bar -- Patrice Bergeron

Underrated greatness.

The 100 Grand Bar has the milk chocolate coating with crunchy crisp rice protecting a layer of delicious caramel. It should be the 100 Million Bar, it's that good, but for some reason it has never quite gotten the same love as a Snickers, Milky Way, 3 MUSKETEERS and others.

It belongs in the candy bar Hall of Fame.

Bergeron played with a protective mindset and was a six-time Selke Trophy-winner voted as the best defensive forward in the NHL, but underneath was an elite offensive skill set that never quite got the same notoriety as many of his superstar peers.

He is going into the Hockey Hall of Fame next month.

Charleston Chew -- Gordie Howe

Tougher than everyone, a bit scary, and always good.

Take a bite into a Charleston Chew and you put your teeth at risk. Take an elbow from Howe and your teeth might fall out.

Take a bite into a Charleston Chew, get your chompers chewing, and you'll discover a delicious, marshmallowy and chocolatey flavor.

Get past Howe's rough playing style, his famous elbows, and you'll find one of the hockey's greatest goal-scorers, the player Gretzky himself calls the best to ever play the game.

KitKat -- Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl

They're great together or if you want to break them apart.

No further explanation is needed.

McDavid might also be a Starburst. If he's open, he'll burst right by you.

Twix -- Henrik and Daniel Sedin

Where there is one, there is the other.

Twix has two bars in the same pack. They look and taste the same. It's just double the deliciousness.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin always seem to be together, and while they had different intangibles on the ice, they looked and played the same. It was double the fun for the Vancouver Canucks and double the dilemma for the opponent.

Sour Patch Kids -- Nathan MacKinnon

Elite and sour, but you can't get enough of both.

Sour Patch Kids come in different flavors and they're all good even if they leave sugar on your hands and a sour taste in your mouth.

MacKinnon can do everything well on the ice and never looks like he's fully satisfied, dare we say a little sour. It's a personality trait in his game, not in the way he is off the ice, that helps to make him as good as he is.

Ironically, MacKinnon would probably never touch Sour Patch Kids because he's known for his healthy-eating lifestyle.

3 MUSKETEERS -- Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin

This is all about the name of the candy bar in relation to the three Penguins teammates. What is in the 3 MUSKETEERS bar and how it tastes (blah) is not the comparison here.

Crosby, Letang and Malkin are in their 21st season together, making them the longest-tenured trio of teammates in the history of major North American professional sports. 

They are the Three Musketeers of the NHL.

Swedish Fish -- Nicklas Lidstrom

Originated in Sweden, legendary in North America.

Swedish Fish were developed by a Swedish candy maker, Malaco, and designed to be a staple of the candy world in North America. They're elite.

Lidstrom was born and trained in Sweden, where he developed into a top two-way defenseman, all so he could rise to fame and prominence in Detroit, where he played his entire 20-season career (1991 to 2012), becoming known as arguably the greatest Swede to ever play in the NHL.

SKITTLES -- Johnny Gaudreau

This is an ode to the late Gaudreau, the former Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets forward who died tragically with his brother, Matthew, on Aug. 29, 2024.

The small, fruit-flavored, chewy candy became part of Gaudreau's learn to skate program. When he was a toddler, his dad, Guy, would put them on the ice as incentive for Johnny skate to each candy. He'd crawl first but eventually the candy enticed him to get up and skate.

Fans left bags of SKITTLES at the memorial for the Gaudreau brothers outside of Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary in the days following their death.