Nice Pass, Santa!

As we prepare for the holidays, we thought it would be nice to share some of our favourite hockey-related Christmases. We’ve got our staff here at NM to tell us about the time Santa really delivered, like a saucer pass from Henrik to Daniel.

Beggsy - This was the first Christmas gift I ever remember getting, but my parents bought me a table hockey set when I was five years old back in 1998.

I kept that thing for years. My family and I even taped up the old paddles as they started to break.

Towards the end of the table’s life, I think only half of the players in the set could take slapshots...

As we know, 1998 was a dark, dark time to be a fan of the Canucks. Thankfully, I have no recollection of the Messier era. And, as my memories the the Canucks grew, the team was actually good (enough to watch...).

Westy - Christmas and World Juniors went hand in hand when I was a kid (Well I guess Boxing Day.) Hockey cards with bubble gum in the pack, hockey sticks, hockey tape and mitts were the gifts of the day with a homemade skating rink across the street.

When I moved to the Lower Mainland, “Yuling with the Page” from the guys from Sportspage, was the highlight of Christmas Eve.

Markus - I got hooked on the Canucks as a kid during the 2011 run, and so the 2011-12 season — in which they won their second consecutive President’s Trophy — was my first full season really following the club.

That Christmas, I got my first Canucks jersey, a Markus Naslund blue orca jersey. Of course, me and Naslund share a name, so it was an easy choice. Jersey doesn’t fit quite as well these days, but it was a great time.

Kent- I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of great memories with hockey gifts at Christmas time: My first hockey stick, my first Canucks jersey (stick in rink, straight outta the Sears Wish Book, baby!), but my favorite holiday hockey memory isn’t something I got, but something I gave. I was able to score some amazing tickets thanks to my daughter in law, whose father’s employer had a season pack. My son Matt was 13, and this was going to be his first NHL game. I placed the tickets in an envelope, then into a large box, weighted with all manner of things that would shift around and make noise whenever he shook it. He had absolutely no clue, and had to dig through everything to get to the envelope at the bottom of the box. His jaw dropped when he opened it to see the tickets, and I will never forget the look on his face. And the game? A 2-0 Canucks win over Nashville. Roberto Luongo shutout, Jan Bulis GWG, and a goal from Canucks legend Tommi Santala!

Got a holiday hockey memory you wanna share? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments.

From all of us at Nucks Misconduct, here’s to all of you having a safe and happy holiday season. We’ll be back at it tomorrow as we get updated on the NHL’s return to play, and get you set up for Team Canada taking on Czechia at the World Juniors in Edmonton.