The tradition of gift-giving in the NHL apparently is bigger than some might realize. And according to The Athletic’s Joe McDonald, the Boston Bruins are no stranger to it whatsoever.
Patrice Bergeron, for instance, presented his teammates with diamond necklaces shortly after playing in the 1,000th game of his career. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
Torey Krug hopes to treat his teammates in a similar way should he sign a long-term contract with the B’s.
“I haven’t given out a gift yet,” he told McDonald with a laugh.
McDonald asked Bruins players about other interesting gifts they’ve received from teammates in the past, and he received some hilarious responses:
Brad Marchand: “A bottle of Captain Morgan from a Secret Santa. … I’ve given somebody a good watch before; I won’t name names. All I know is I’ve heard (Nicklas) Backstrom bought the whole team (Washington Capitals) an iPad, so I’m expecting an iPad from McAvoy and Carlo, one for each of my kids.”
Matt Grzelcyk: “We do a Secret Santa every year and those are always funny. I can remember when I was in Ann Arbor (U.S. National Team Development Program) someone gave me, as a joke, a McDonald’s gift card because I was so skinny, probably 140 pounds when I first got there. So I thought that was kind of funny. I used it too. I ordered a couple of double quarter pounders. I put on 30 pounds that year, so that was probably the start of it.”
Chris Wagner: “(Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf) gave us all headphones back in the day. It was cool, especially since it was him because he’s a big deal in the league. I was a young kid and didn’t really know him. So that was huge for me, and I needed headphones.”
Stephan Kampfer: “Last year I lost two teeth right before we had our gift exchange and Brandon Carlo got me mouthwash and a toothbrush. So that’s kind of funny.”
Zdeno Chara: “A hug.”
The Bruins continue their preseason slate by welcoming the New Jersey Devils to TD Garden on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
