Carolina Hurricanes: The Perfect Holiday Gifts for the Defenders

The Carolina Hurricanes are going into the holiday season on a high note. That means it is time to start picking out gifts for the players moving on to our favorite defenders!

It is the season of giving folks! That’s right, regardless of what you wish to believe in this winter month there is some gift giving going around. That means it is time for to gift our favorite players with exactly what they want this season before the new years is rung in. That means figuring out exactly what they want.

But what do you get the players who have everything? Well a Stanley Cup win doesn’t hurt but we can’t get to that until the summer. So what can we get them between now and the end of the Holidays? Turns out there is plenty to get our favorite Hurricanes. So much I had to break it down into multiple articles.

You read that right, as we only confer towards what the defenders will get this holiday season, feel free to go back and read what we are getting our forwards and  stay tuned for the  goalies and maybe even staff! After all, everyone deserves something this holiday season. So what would we get our esteemed Defenders? Glad you asked let’s find out together!

Haydn Fleury: A Dedicated Roster Spot

There is no secret that the rotating door that is the final defensive spot for the Carolina Hurricanes is extremely taxing to the careers of both Haydn Fleury and Trevor van Riemsdyk. While TVR has established himself as great defender having won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, Fleury is still trying to prove he is worth the first round pick used to pick him up.

Our gift to him this holiday season is a chance to be a mainstay on this Hurricanes roster and perhaps go out and get himself another goal or thirty before the end of the season. How that will happen is uncertain, we definitely don’t want to go back to a 11/7 situation that has resulted in a single win in all attempts, but we also don’t want to give up any of the other defenders on this list.

Perhaps we might need some Holiday Magic?

Trevor van Riemsdyk: A Retractable Mouth Guard.

If you are a fan of Trevor van Riemsdyk and his shenanigans, you may have noticed something when it comes to his mouthguard, it never stays in his mouth. No, instead he chews on it the way my dog goes after his favorite plastic toy all game. Each day it seems like the mouthguard is straying further and further away.

So, and I am not completely sure if this could ever be truly achieved, his gift will be a retractable mouth guard that makes its way back into his mouth every time he feels the need to push it out and chew on it. While this may not seem like a gift he would enjoy, let’s be honest, its for his own good.

Joel Edmundson: A Lifetime Supply of his Favorite Bauer Stick

Joel Edmundson is a streaky player. When he is on, he is on. He has had more than a few streaks in his career including a long five game point streak with the Carolina Hurricanes. When asked about it, he proclaimed that the stick he had picked up play with, a much lighter Bauer, has been the reasoning behind it. The problem is, he kept breaking them:

So in light of that, we are getting him a lifetime supply of this stick. Break as many as you want Joel, as long as the points keep racking up and we never get shut out again. We will hold as many memorials to them as we need to. Do not hold back buddy.

Jake Gardiner: A Good Luck Charm

Jake Gardiner has been on the wrong end of some bad plays recently. While the eye test says that he has been a possible liability to the team and perhaps even the answer to Haydn Fleury’s Christmas request to Santa Waddell, the deep analytics reveal that in fact, he has been the victim of some really bad luck:

https://twitter.com/CardiacCane/status/1205590069773389825

So this holiday season we are going to try and counter that bad luck with a good luck charm. Maybe not something wild like a rabbit’s foot (our ECHL team would not appreciate that) but maybe he can take a page out of Michael Jordan’s playbook and go find his old shorts he wore in Wisconsin? Someone go find out if they still exist!

Brett Pesce: A Golden Frame for “The Stick”

Joel Edmundson isn’t the only player with a favorite stick. Except when it comes to Brett Pesce he has a single stick that sounds like he will never ever use again. Why? Because he scored his favorite goal of all time with it on a wicked shot from the point. So what does he plan to do with said stick? Check it out:

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1199109987139817472

We hear you loud and clear brother. So for the Holiday season expect a nice golden frame for said stick along with an engraved placard saying “The Hardest Shooting Stick in the East”.  Place that in your hall of trophies alongside your soon to come Stanley Cup rings. Yes. Plural.

Jaccob Slavin: Norris Trophy Recognition

This one took me the longest to figure out. What do you get the man who has it all? A loving family, to include two perfect little puppies, and a great spirit. Not to mention explosive defensive play which by all rights should make him one of the best, if not the best natural defender in the league. That is when it hit me.

The only thing you can get a man like Jaccob Slavin is what he already deserves and has already earned with his hard work day in and day out. Sure he isn’t scoring tons of goals, but he is setting them up for his team and stopping them from going in from the other teams. At the very least a Norris Trophy consideration. He has earned it.

If that fails perhaps we can get him this book so next time he looks a little less silly on the Jumbotron.

Dougie Hamilton: A Lifetime Membership to Each NC Museum

It’s no secret that Dougie Hamilton likes going to the Museum. It’s been a source of pride and mockery for our favorite defender. But forget the haters, let us show our love for Dougie Hamilton and get him a lifetime membership to each and every north Carolina Museum. That is right folks EVERY SINGLE ONE.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

Where is the Canes Scooter Gang going this weekend? Roll the wheel of Museums, tick tick tick tick… NC Museum of Art. Andrei Svechnikov and Warren Foegele are going to learn today! By the time Dougie Hamilton retires as a Carolina Hurricane in about 15 years both of those kids will have honorary degrees and Dougie will have the freedom to curate any Museum he so chooses.

So there you have it folks, gifts for all your favorite Defenders! Unlike the offense which has seen its fair share of cameos and guest appearances by AHL players, the most recent being Julien Gauthier, this has been the defense that has been featured in all 31 games so far this season.

Question for CC Readers: What gifts would you get your favorite Defenders this Holiday season?