NHL players reveal the best gifts they've ever given

'Tis the season for giving, and your favorite NHL players love giving excellent presents to their loved ones. We asked players from around the League for the best gift they've ever given for the holidays and it turns out these guys are pretty thoughtful.

Peter Holland, Arizona Coyotes

"My mom [Jude] loves to do puzzles and there is a puzzle company that turns a photo into a custom puzzle for you. I sent them a picture of our family's cottage a couple of hours north of Toronto, and they turned it into a 1,000-piece puzzle. She was crying so it was pretty cool to find a gift like that. She started working on it the next day."

Marcus Foligno, Buffalo Sabres

"I've got to say I think it was when me and my brother [Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno] gave my dad [former NHL player Mike Foligno] a portrait of his playing career. I think that was probably the coolest and most rewarding gift we've ever given. Dad was pretty excited about it; his two sons giving him a light on his career with pictures and all the teams he's played for (Detroit, Buffalo, Toronto, Florida). So we did this big portrait and gave it to him on Christmas morning. He was pretty excited. It's the season of giving so it's always good to give."

Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames

"I'm pretty good. My agency, CAA, represents [actress] Jennifer Aniston. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift. We are huge Friends fans…[girlfriend] Frida [Engstrom] especially, and Jennifer Aniston is a big idol. I can't remember what it was, but she had a tough day a week prior to Christmas a few years ago. I gave her a pre-Christmas gift. It was a personalized signed Jennifer Aniston photo, and she started crying big-time. Then at Christmas, I gave her a trip that we were going to go to the Friends' stage at Warner Bros. Studios and sit on the couch from the coffee shop. She was pretty excited."

Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames

"The best one is this year. For my son [Jack], I bought him a life-sized remote-controlled tarantula. That's what he's into …snakes and spiders. I'm more excited than him. [Giordano's wife Lauren] has a little bit of a phobia when it comes to centipedes so we'll see when he opens it up. That's the one I'm looking most forward to."

Troy Brouwer, Calgary Flames

"Probably three years ago. My wife's [Carmen] a huge George Strait fan. In the summertime we went to his last concert at AT&T Stadium. It was the "Cowboy Rides Away" tour. So for Christmas I got her an autographed George Strait guitar. I put it beside the tree on a guitar stand with a little bow on it. I told her at the end of the night she had to put everything out. But I made sure she put her gifts under the tree earlier that day so I had the last gift, set it up nice, and it was ready to rock the next morning. Still to this day she talks about it. Three years later I'm still getting credit for it. I don't try to top it."

Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks

"Last year, we gave our daughter [Harper] a "Frozen" castle. So, just to see her face and everything, it was pretty cool when she walked downstairs in the morning. We had a big castle, and then this year we're doing something with "Paw Patrol." I'm the one who's got to set it up. Last year it wasn't too bad. I did it the night before. We had it ready for her in the morning right when she walked down she saw this castle. That was from Santa."

Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche

"My dad [Vince] spent all of his time driving me to hockey, an hour and 15 minutes to practice, minimum, every day. Being from Haliburton [Ontario] we were pretty far away. Also, all that gas money, having to buy a four-wheel drive vehicle for all the snow, hotels, hockey equipment, all that stuff, it topped him out pretty good financially."
"He always wanted a snowmobile and could never afford one. The first year I made the NHL [2009-10] I bought him a snowmobile. He uses it all the time. We have a ton of snow up north right now. That's probably the best thing I ever gave him because he invested so much time in my hockey career, and he didn't do it for me to make the NHL. He did it because he loved me and wanted me to love the game and play the game. He would do anything for me. To be able to give that back to him once I made it was pretty special."

Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets

"I just bought my brother [Brad] a birthday/Christmas gift. It was his 21st birthday. I got him a nice watch. I was pretty excited about that. We're really close.
"It was right before the game at The Joe. His birthday's in early November, but I hadn't seen him and Dec. 9 was sort of in between Christmas and his birthday. I couldn't wait any longer. He needed it."

Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars

"I have lots of women in my family, so I've bought lots of purses."

Jordie Benn, Dallas Stars

"Best Christmas gift I've given? I'd say all of them, because they all come from the heart."

Mark Letestu, Edmonton Oilers

"My dad [Garth], it's his 60th birthday this year, but around Christmas I gave him a plane ticket to Montreal to see us play the Canadiens. The Canadiens were his team growing up, so I got him that to come out and watch us in February. it was something that was on his bucket-list to go see the Canadiens play at home. He would have liked to have gone to the Montreal Forum, but to get to go to the Bell Centre and to watch a game there, I think that it's something pretty cool for him."

Matt Dumba, Minnesota Wild

"The smile of a young Matt Dumba on Christmas morning was the gift of joy to my parents."

Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens

"I got my little brother a Bauer Vapor hockey stick. It was his first stick with his name on it and custom-made, so that felt pretty cool because he was a teenager and I think he enjoyed that."

Jeff Petry, Montreal Canadiens

"It's not the best gift, but we had a funny one a couple of years ago. Earlier in the year my wife [Julie] and I were talking about getting a guitar, because I wanted to learn. And, no idea, we've unwrapped every present, and she's like, 'I have one more for you,' and I was like, 'I have one more for you.' She walked upstairs, I walked downstairs, and we both came up with guitars. And neither of us know how to play."

Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators

"The most used one is probably my brother's PS4 that I bought for him a couple of years ago. That's definitely the one that's been the most used."

Ian Cole, Pittsburgh Penguins

"In St. Louis, there was some sort of connection with [former Blues assistant coach] Kirk Muller and something with Canada Goose, like the jackets, and you could get them like 40 percent off or something. Some employee, like his friend, was like director of marketing or something in Canada. I said, 'If anybody wants one for Christmas,' a couple years ago, so I got my whole family Canada Goose jackets. Like 40 percent off and they're never on sale, right? So, that's a gift that everyone still wears all winter long all the time. So, that was a pretty good one. It's functional and will be around for a long time, hopefully."

Timo Meier, San Jose Sharks

"I think it was probably when I was really young, I bought my parents, the first gift I bought them. It was for the key [chain]. It was a [miniature] hockey puck. That's the first gift I remember, just the one that's stayed in my memory. It's the first gift I ever bought with my own money."

Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning

"I really don't keep track of that stuff too much, but a couple of years ago we got the kids a trampoline and they have had a lot of fun with that. That was a good one."

Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs

"My brother Connor is big into technology so I've given him a couple of Go-Pros; stuff like that that he uses for his work. He likes that kind of stuff."

Mitchell Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

"I gave my mom [Bonnie] an angel sculpture it was glass I think something to put in her room I guess. I was 10 or 12 years old at the time so I think it was just the thought that counted."

Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs

"I gave my youngest brother the NHL Slapshot game on Nintendo Wii. I think it was Wayne Gretzky on the cover of the game. It was unreal to see him play it, he was like 5 years old. You have to hold the stick like a real hockey stick and shoot or you can cross check and he was just going nuts. It was a long time ago. He's 11 turning 12 now but he was loving it, playing it all night. It was one of the last Christmases I was home too."

Matt Martin, Toronto Maple Leafs

"I think my favorite gift I've ever given anyone was my sister. I got her her first Louis Vuitton bag so she was pretty pumped when I got her that. I was in my second or third year in the NHL so I guess she was thinking it was one of the only ones she'll ever get so she was pretty excited about it."

Connor Brown, Toronto Maple Leafs

"I gave my dad [Dan] a boat lift. We had a boat lift at our cottage that you had to physically crank to get the boat up out of the water, and he would always be out there cranking it, and of course it would start raining and he'd be miserable, so I got him one where you just press a button and the boat comes up. It was all automated. It was such a dad thing that dad's would be fired up about."

Bo Horvat, Vancouver Canucks

"The best Christmas gift I have ever given somebody would be this year, actually. We had our Hockey Fights Cancer game, and I wore my grandfather's name on the back of my jersey and on this past road trip my grandma was there and I gave it to her as an early Christmas present in memory of him; so it was pretty special to me and, I am sure it was pretty special to her as well."

Mark Scheifele, WInnipeg Jets

"I got my brother a set of irons, that's probably the best I've given. Titleist AP2s."

Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets

"A Tom Brady [New England Patriots] jersey to my brother. He was pretty touched because he's a big Patriots fans. I was playing in Halifax at the time and went home for Christmas. I got him that jersey, and he was pretty excited about that."

Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets

"I was probably 8, and all the kids had opened the presents but the adults hadn't. I had gone a couple days before to buy my dad a DVD player, they were pretty big at the time. It was probably around noon and most of the gifts had been opened. Being an innocent 8-year-old, I went up to him and asked him if he had opened his DVD player. I think he tried to be a good sport about it, but he hadn't opened it. I was pretty upset and felt I ruined his Christmas. There were some tears from me. I guess I spoiled the DVD player, but that's probably my funniest, best gift I've given."