Need any last minute gift ideas? Perhaps the Nashville Predators can provide some inspiration.
A stroll around the locker room following Friday’s practice at Bridgestone Arena posed one simple question: “What is the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?”
For a young hockey player, waking to find a shiny new stick under the Christmas tree is tough to beat, and while some chose that path, not every youngster who grew up to be an NHLer stuck to the sporting goods angle.
Here’s what a handful of those on the Preds roster had to say about the present that still sticks with them today.
Brady Skjei:
“I had one year, I got six Christian Brothers wooden sticks and they all had my name on them. I thought that was really cool… And I got a [Minnesota Wild] Marian Gaborik jersey one time.”
Roman Josi:
“One I remember from my childhood is a soccer jersey I got from my hometown team, my favorite player at the time… That’s the one I remember as my favorite gift at the time.”
Michael McCarron:
“I got one of those big wheels when I was probably like 7 or 8… It’s like a bike, you pedal and then go in a 360 [degree spin]. But that Christmas, we had a really snowy Christmas, and I remember I put my snowsuit on and I was in my driveway for like four hours. Because it throws you into a 360, but with the snow, you keep going in circles… You get dizzy, but you’re a kid. It was the coolest thing ever. You go so fast and then pull those handles - that was pretty fun.”
Nic Hague:
“I got lots of cool stuff growing up. I usually got like one big thing you couldn’t even wrap up. I got an air hockey table one year, one year it was a hockey net. I got lots of sticks and that sort of thing. Most of it had to do with hockey… But probably the nicest gift I ever got was a hand-me-down car. When I moved away from home to play junior, for the first half of the year I didn’t have a car, and then I went home for Christmas that year and I got a car to take back with me, which was very helpful. Mom and dad came in clutch on that one. That was probably the most outlandish gift I’ve ever received… It was a Lincoln SUV. It was my dad’s and then my mom was driving it, and then it went to me.”
Nick Perbix:
“I was always jacked when you’d go downstairs and there’d be sticks next to the stockings… We’d have presents under the tree and then in our basement would be the stockings. So we’d do the presents under the tree, and then we’d go downstairs to the basement and the stick would be next to the stockings. Me and my brother would always sneak downstairs before my parents woke up… I had a bow, but I hardly ever used it. I wasn’t strong enough to pull it back… I was fired up about that… It was always very hockey centric, but we all loved it. We’d always go up to my grandparents house and skate, so my dad would cut the sticks for us and we’d get to use it later that day.”
Tyson Jost:
“Whenever I got a custom hockey stick, I’d say that was probably my favorite. I’d always get gifts that were outdoor gifts that I could use that day like a GT racer or sled or something like that. I’d be pumped to put it on the outdoor rink or go tobogganing or get pulled behind the scooter or whatever. So, that, for sure.”
Ryan O’Reilly:
“I got a paintball gun when I was 13 or 14. That was pretty cool. I had a bunch of buddies that we all paint-balled, so I felt pretty darn cool that Christmas.”
Luke Evangelista:
“I’d probably say my first hockey stick, I remember that one. It was like a blue TPS Rick Nash curve, my dad got me that for Christmas, so that would probably be up there… I was definitely a big jersey guy. Luke Schenn, Darcy Tucker was a big one, I had an [Alex] Ovechkin one growing up; I think every Christmas I was asking for at least one jersey.”
Adam Wilsby:
“I remember getting a pair of hockey pants one time, and I just walked around with them at home for the next month. So I think I was probably like 11 or 12. [My favorite gift] should probably be a hockey stick, and I probably got that as well, but those pants really stick out. They were the Reebok 7K pants. I thought they looked so cool. I wore them, not even much to hockey, mostly outside.”
Matthew Wood:
“I still have it and I still use it almost every day - PlayStation 4… I got a couple sticks, jerseys, but the PlayStation is hard to beat. I play a lot of Fortnite, I would say, and then I like playing NHL and NBA games, too.”
Reid Schaefer:
"Honestly, it's got to be the [PlayStation 5] like four years ago. They were hard to get, and my dad got his hands on one, so I was pretty juiced."
