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How to get through the holidays with your pals in the NHL
If you crave hockey during the holidays, the NHL has you covered. Brad Watson/Getty Images

How to get through the holidays with your pals in the NHL

For being a winter sport, you would think that hockey would get a little more love during the holidays. But it doesn’t, at least not here stateside.

Perhaps it’s because the league takes a break around Christmas while there are other sports that choose this time of year to host some of their interesting matchups. Whatever the reason, there is hockey during the holidays that shouldn’t be missed, stretching from before Christmas Eve into the new year.

With that in mind, know that you don’t have to get lost in Christmas Day hoops or the millions of college bowl games. Here are all things hockey that you don't want to skip this holiday season.

Team Holiday Videos

This is quite possibly one of the best things about the holiday season: When the hockey teams release their holiday videos. Some feature original material:

Some parody the best holiday movies ever made:



And some feature Alex Ovechkin in a pink bunny costume.  

Schedule

The league might take a break Christmas weekend, but there are plenty of hard-hitting tilts the following week to carry your interest into New Year’s Day. Think the Pacific Division showdown between the Oilers and Sharks Dec. 23, then the Senators at Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers right after Christmas weekend. Friday the 23rd is also highlighted by the rematch between Montreal and Columbus in the teams' first meeting since the Blue Jackets routed the Habs 10-0 Nov. 4.

There are interesting rumbles between teams that have yet to see each other this season, like the Wednesday night tilt between the Blues and Flyers Dec. 28 and the Capitals vs. the Devils Dec. 29. Then to end the holiday-New Year's schedule madness, Shea Weber makes his return to Bridgestone Arena for the first time since being traded in the offseason when the Canadiens visit the Predators Jan. 3.

Outdoor Games

Sure, the whole outdoor game thing has become something of a “regular” event over the last couple of years, and the Heritage Classic already took place back in October. But it still makes for a great reason to nurse your New Year’s Day hangover in front of the tube. Besides, there are two really good matchups in store.

The Centennial Classic in Toronto gives us a rematch of the 2014 Winter Classic between the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. The face-off between the two Original Six teams is perfect as the kickoff to the NHL’s 100th anniversary celebration, which is supposed to carry throughout 2017. The history between these two teams is stacked to boot. According to NHL.com’s release about the game, “In the 655 all-time regular-season games against each other, Detroit has captured 662 points against Toronto, holding a six-point advantage over Toronto's 656. Additionally, the 117 playoff games between the franchises remains the second most in NHL® history (170, Boston vs. Montreal).”

Then there is, of course, the Winter Classic that takes place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis Jan. 2 for what will hopefully be a nasty brawl between the Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. In addition to the history between the two teams, the current rosters tend to play each other pretty rough. Plus, this is also the venue for the alumni game on New Year' Eve, in which the likes of Brett Hull, Al MacInnis and Wayne Gretzky, among others, will be in attendance. 

Buildup to ASG

Voting for the All-Star Game started Dec. 1, but it typically doesn’t get exciting until the end of the month when rumors start to swirl regarding who has more votes than whom. Will there be another surprise All-Star nominee this season a la John Scott? Will the league try to intervene if there is? (That was meant to be sarcastic. It is hard to imagine a repeat of Scott’s trade from Arizona to Montreal followed by reassignment to the AHL.) 

Broadcast-Ready Holiday-Themed Attire

Don Cherry’s suits always steal the spotlight, and he has indeed already debuted some of his holiday finest. But there are players across the league known to don some festive duds, and that should be reason enough to stick around after the final buzzer to watch post-game interviews. My bet is on Brent Burns to bring the most holiday magic this year.

Can you name every NHL player to win the Calder Trophy?

This does not include the original Rookie of the Year winners, so sorry to Carl Voss, Russ Blinco, Sweeney Schriner, and Mike Karakas.

SCORE:
0/82
TIME:
10:00
1936-37 TOR
Syl Apps
1937-38 CBH
Cully Dahlstrom
1938-39 BOS
Frank Brimsek
1939-40 NYR
Kilby MacDonald
1940-41 MTL
John Quilty
1941-42 NYR
Grant Warwick
1942-43 TOR
Gay Stewart
1943-44 TOR
Gus Bodnar
1944-45 TOR
Frank McCool
1945-46 NYR
Edgar Laprade
1946-47 TOR
Howie Meeker
1947-48 DET
Jim McFadden
1948-49 NYR
Pentti Lund
1949-50 BOS
Jack Gelineau
1950-51 DET
Terry Sawchuk
1951-52 MTL
Bernie Geoffrion
1952-53 NYR
Gump Worsley
1953-54 NYR
Camille Henry
1954-55 TOT
Ed Litzenberger
1955-56 DET
Glenn Hall
1956-57 BOS
Larry Regan
1957-58 TOR
Frank Mahovlich
1958-59 MTL
Ralph Backstrom
1959-60 CBH
Bill Hay
1960-61 TOR
Dave Keon
1961-62 MTL
Bobby Rousseau
1962-63 TOR
Kent Douglas
1963-64 MTL
Jacques Laperriere
1964-65 DET
Roger Crozier
1965-66 TOR
Brit Selby
1966-67 BOS
Bobby Orr
1967-68 BOS
Derek Sanderson
1968-69 MNS
Danny Grant
1969-70 CBH
Tony Esposito
1970-71 BUF
Gilbert Perreault
1971-72 MTL
Ken Dryden
1972-73 NYR
Steve Vickers
1973-74 NYI
Denis Potvin
1974-75 ATF
Eric Vail
1975-76 NYI
Bryan Trottier
1976-77 ATF
Willi Plett
1977-78 NYI
Mike Bossy
1978-79 MNS
Bobby Smith
1979-80 BOS
Ray Bourque
1980-81 QUE
Peter Stastny
1981-82 WIN
Dale Hawerchuk
1982-83 CBH
Steve Larmer
1983-84 BUF
Tom Barrasso
1984-85 PIT
Mario Lemieux
1985-86 CGY
Gary Suter
1986-87 LAK
Luc Robitaille
1987-88 CGY
Joe Nieuwendyk
1988-89 NYR
Brian Leetch
1989-90 CGY
Sergei Makarov
1990-91 CHI
Ed Belfour
1991-92 VAN
Pavel Bure
1992-93 WIN
Teemu Selanne
1993-94 NJD
Martin Brodeur
1994-95 QUE
Peter Forsberg
1995-96 OTT
Daniel Alfredsson
1996-97 NYI
Bryan Berard
1997-98 BOS
Sergei Samsonov
1998-99 COL
Chris Drury
1999-00 NJD
Scott Gomez
2000-01 SJS
Evgeni Nabokov
2001-02 ATL
Dany Heatley
2002-03 STL
Barret Jackman
2003-04 BOS
Andrew Raycroft
2005-06 WSH
Alex Ovechkin
2006-07 PIT
Evgeni Malkin
2007-08 CHI
Patrick Kane
2008-09 CBJ
Steve Mason
2009-10 BUF
Tyler Myers
2010-11 CAR
Jeff Skinner
2011-12 COL
Gabriel Landeskog
2012-13 FLA
Jonathan Huberdeau
2013-14 COL
Nathan MacKinnon
2014-15 FLA
Aaron Ekblad
2015-16 CHI
Artemi Panarin
2016-17 TOR
Auston Matthews
2017-18 NYY
Mathew Barzal
2018-19 VAN
Elias Pettersson

More must-reads:

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