What did Santa bring the Devils when they were young?

The Devils and the rest of the NHL have the next two days off for Christmas. This holiday has a way of making us reflect back on our childhood, so I asked a few of the Devils what was the best gift Santa brought them as a child.

In an attempt to make it more interesting, I made them limit their answers to non-hockey-related gifts. Otherwise, the answers all would have been sticks, skates and jerseys.

That made it more difficult for the players than I anticipated.

"All of my gifts were hockey related," left wing Zach Parise said.

Anyway, here are the answers from those Devils I asked who were able to come up with one.

Scott Clemmensen: Nintendo. "Me and my brother would play Super Mario Brothers and Zelda for hours."

Mike Mottau: Nintendo. "It was unbelievable because I didn't think I was going to get it and Santa came through."

John Madden: Atari. "I was pretty good at Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. The graphics were unbelievable." (He was joking).

Travis Zajac: Playstation. (Note the generation gap between Madden and Zajac, who said he had "heard of" Atari).

Brian Gionta: An ATV. "It was a small one - a three-wheeler. My uncle gave it to me."

David Clarkson: A snowboard. "When I was younger, I loved it." (He doesn't snowboard anymore).

Jamie Langenbrunner:  Playmobil guys. "I had them all set up under the tree."

Mike Rupp: Nintendo. "I was the best at Rad Racer."

Johnny Oduya: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. "I got one of them and I was pretty pumped for that. I was young -- five or six." 

For me, it was this big GI Joe kite. I think it was called the Skyhawk. I had the GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip. (the old kind, not the one from the TV show). There was a place for him to sit in the Skyhawk and it would fly like a regular kite. Joe survived that, but he later met an unforunate end. I also had a parachute for Joe and once threw him up in the air in my backyard, imagining he would float gently back to the ground with his parachute. Alas, the chute did not open and Joe landed on his head, which snapped off.

Poor Joe.

Now, it's your turn. What was your favorite holiday gift as a kid? To make it fair to the Devils, limit it to non-hockey-related gifts.

Happy Holidays to all of you and your families.

Comments

[Pearl Jammed]

OK maybe i am dating myself a bit here, and also dating TG here a bit too, but the best christmas ever was christmas of either 1985 or 1986. I got the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier(which for once made me the envy of all the kids at school because it was 100 bucks and was SOOO expensive!) and an Alf stuffed animal which was VERY tough to get. I still have that Alf Stuffie because my grandfather gave it to me and that was his last christmas

[Pearl Jammed]

it was christmas 1986.....

[Pearl Jammed]

And Merry Christmas to all the Devils fans here i hope Santa is good to you all and your families, and Happy Hannukah to all as well.

Merry Christmas to you as well TG, enjoy the 2 days of relative calm before the teams schedule starts to get crazy

[rinkrat]

I can't decide if Zach's answer is sad or hilarious. Or both.

[Mike in Idaho]

I have to agree with Madden, the Atari 2600 was THE gift to get in the late 1970s/early 80s when I was a kid. Good God, how old is Madden???

[Rico Suave]

similar to the devils, the best xmas was original nintendo with blades of steel, wrestlemania, and mike tyson's punch out as the games.

my best gift of all time was when the devils won in '95. you know those 10" mini stanley cups they sell? well my grandmother bought me one of those and etched every single player on the '95 team onto the cup...she had to do each letter individually. she placed it in a nice glass protector and remains my favorite and most thoughtful gift.

happy holidays to all!

[Tull]

Happy Holidays to everyone - and a special Happy Holidays to TG who's like Santa to Devils fans every day!! :-)

My best gift was in '88 when my dad got me 2 tickets to four Devils home games; a big deal since my dad is a NYR fan. He bought the tix from a season ticket holder & they were down on the ice - my feet get numb just remembering it!

I still remember when my older brother got Atari/Pong for Christmas... it's the holidays so please stop saying everyone that remembers Atari is old, i'm going to cry ;)

[Pat D'Amico]

The best gift I got was probably Nintendo 64, I played Star Fox and Star Wars Pod Racer for hours on end. Anyway I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/Happy Hannakauh sp? and a Happy New Year.

[MaLockFan]

Hmmm Mid Seventies someplace and I got A Realistic 40 Channel CB Radio for Christmas. My friends all had one and I was the last to get one..Think of it like if you got the internet now you youngins..lol

[MoonDragn]

I think the best x-mas gift I got was a model railroad set. HO scale I think.

I didn't get a lot of x-mas gifts. We just didn't celebrate x-mas that much.

[fred]

Johnny Bench Batter-up. Used to perfect your little leage swing. You had to mix and pour cement to make the base. Ended up weighing 150 lbs. Years later I had to smash with a sledgehammer to get rid of it.

[Kevin]

best gift ever: GameGear, Sega's to the GameBoy. It was a battery KILLER but it was still awesome

[AS]

Madden is 35 and Atari was the best.

[Jason]

Technically a 3 wheeler is an ATC, not an ATV. My cousin's had them as well.

[DP]

toughie for me cuz all my favorite gifts were basically devils or hockey related

[Craigwell]

Either 1988 or 1989 I got a Sega Master System. I was stoked! But the unit was defective, and it had to go back. The Store was SOLD OUT by then, and my parents brought back an Atari 2600 instead!!

Thankfully they waited until the next order came in, and got me my Master System. I got a few years out of that one. Then came the Genesis era, before my last console: The Sega Dreamcast. Now at 30, I don't play much for video games.

In 1986 I got a Bicycle that looked like a Dirtbike.. Plastic Gas tank, shocks, etc. Loved that one too.

[RadioRinkside]

TG, I had the talking G.I. Joe ("i have a tough assignment for you...") with the Mobile Support Vehicle. Wish I still had them, they would probably do well on ebay.

[mike in pa]

Had to be a sega genesis with NHL 94 (yes i know hockey-related, but im going to cheat a little) and Sonic 2, I was 8 or 9 at the time and I dont think anyone saw me for a good 3 days after christmas

[Vishal]

For me personally it's a toss up between my Ninja Turtles or my Playstation. So bonus to Trav and Johnny.

TG can you ask Mr. O who his favorite Turtle is/was?

[J-Remy]

Here's an odd one for ya.
Sega Dreamcast.
With NHL 2K. Shanahan on the cover. Devils team with Souray, Nemchinov, Oliwa, and all the normal guys.

[J-Remy]

Plus Crazy Taxi.

[Speedz]

I just got a Devils sweater from my grandma and a devils jacket from my parents. Woo!!

[lash26]

My best was the original Game Boy (black & white) with Tetris and TMNT games - I really wanted one that Christmas and my parents hid the gift "Christmas Story-style" for my last present (after I had thought all were gone). Best Christmas hands down --

My brother also got TurboGrafix that year for Christmas - Bonks Adventure was great.

[Robbie]

Best Christmas peresent, Vishnevski jersey lol

[embo slice]

a red ryder bb gun