In America, it’s that time of year where we stuff our selves with food and, if your family is That Family, go around the table and announce what each of us are giving thanks for. In case you are wondering, we at High Heels & High Sticks are definitely That Family, so here we each give thanks for five things in hockey. 

Jonesy

1. As entertaining in some ways as he was (and horrible as he was in others), I’m very grateful that the only remnant of Sean Avery in the NHL is The Avery Rule. Which I love.
2. Due to weird NHL Store sizing (I swear one day I’ll write a whole post on this), I can fit into youth-sized clothing and thus buy sweatshirts for like twenty dollars cheaper.
3. I’m pretty thankful for Sidney Crosby. We know Sidney Crosby is good, or at least all sane hockey fans acknowledge that he’s good, but sometimes I’m unsure if I properly appreciate the fact that I am watching likely one of the top NHL players of all time. Is it that his team hasn’t been as dominant as Gretzky’s Oilers? Or his injuries? Regardless, the fact that we can just go ahead and pencil him in as the Hart favorite every year tells you something.
4. Paul Kariya! Who we are kind of shameless fans of here, but I’ve mentioned that I’m drawn to him particularly because we come from similar family backgrounds, and he’s also a smaller hockey player who nevertheless helped define one of the California teams during the 90s.
5. Also, Julie Chu and her Bounty commercial. This was absolutely my favorite part of the Olympics: seeing Julie Chu on television at random times. It’s awesome that Bounty had her be in their commercial, and it was great to see her getting that much visibility.

Hannah

1. Sidney Crosby (I love him more than Jonesy does).
2. The US women’s team (phrasing it like this so I don’t have to choose between Knight/Kessel/Chu/the Lamoureuxs/Bellamy/Duggan/etc etc etc, I am thankful for ALL OF THEM).
3. The 10-3 Penguins playoff game against the Flyers wherein Matt Niskanen scored a goal off Sidney Crosby’s ass.
4. Marc-Andre Fleury’s existence.
5. Knowing Pascal Dupuis is going to be safe and healthy long-term.

Tasha

1. The Rangers coming back from being down 3-1 in last year’s playoff series against the Penguins. I apologize for losing faith after they went down three games, walking home from somewhere around Lafayette Street. The rivalry it’s reignited (especially between Sidney Crosby and Henrik Lundqvist) is good as well.
2. Pekka Rinne’s hip being healthy and his goaltending being back to good (if currently unsustainable) form.
3. Marc-Andre Fleury being re-signed long-term.
4. The Nashville Predators posting a photo gallery of their entire team as drawn by elementary school children.
5. College hockey, and possibly getting to watch some records being set this year.

To our fellow Americans, have a wonderful holiday and a safe Black Friday. To our Canadian readers, this is all old news to you and have a nice Thursday!