Happy Thanksgiving!

[Blaayze 25]

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the southern half of North America.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2010/11/host_of_red_wings_players_head.html

ATLANTA -- Mike Modano was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at home for the first time in 25 years. Jiri Hudler is happy to be back in a country that celebrates the holiday.

The Red Wings will take time out to enjoy some turkey and watch football today, sandwiched between road trips to Atlanta and Columbus.

Several players will gather at Kris Draper’s house, as the longtime forward and his wife, Julie, continue their tradition of hosting some of the single players and a couple players with families.

“The tradition is we go to Drapes’ house, have a nice turkey meal and play mini sticks (hockey) with kids in the basement,” Hudler said. “There’s a lot of action going on. It’s a lot of fun.

“Jules does a great job with the food. I missed it last year. I’m so happy to have that turkey again.”

Hudler said there’s no equivalent holiday in his native Czech Republic. He didn’t do anything special on Thanksgiving last year while playing in Russia.

“I don’t eat turkey that much,” Hudler said. “Drapes says it’s a big one this year. I told him I’m going to eat a lot, so make sure he’s ready. I’m not eating breakfast that day. I’m going to be empty and ready to go.”

Said Draper: “We got it all. We got a 25-pound turkey. We got to make a decision if we’re going to get a ham or if we’re going to go with two turkeys. I’ll leave that up to my wife.”

In addition to single players Hudler, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader, Draper planned to have Danny Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi, Patrick Eaves and their families as dinner guests.

“It’s going to challenge my wife, no doubt, but she’s up for it,” Draper said. “Around 20 people, I think that’s the biggest one we’ve had. There’s a kids table, Huds sits there, also Helmer and Abby. We’ll see who pulls rank and gets to sit at the adult table this year.”

“My son (8-year-old Kienan) is the most excited one, to be able to play all these guys in mini sticks. It’s a fun day for the family.”

Helm appreciates being able to celebrate American Thanksgiving.

“I don’t really get a chance to go home on Canadian Thanksgiving (in mid-October) during the season, so it’s nice to be able to go over to some friends that I’m with all the time,” he said.

After spending 21 years in Dallas and several years before that playing junior hockey in Western Canada, Modano said he’ll enjoy spending time with his parents at their Westland home.

“It’s going to be the first (Thanksgiving) in 25-something years. I’m looking forward to it,” Modano said. “It just never worked out schedule-wise that they could get away or we could get away. My sister has kids, so my mom would spend time with them on the holidays. We could never drag them down to Dallas, but it’s nice that it worked out this time.”

Defenseman Ruslan Salei said it’s particularly difficult to be away from his family this time of year. His wife and two young children (5-year-old Alexis and 3-year-old Sandro) are living in California.

“My family is American, so we celebrate with turkey and big dinner,” Salei said. “My wife is an amazing cook. She cooks unbelievable turkey. It’s always enjoyable. And now, my kids love it, too. They’re really excited about it.”

Unfortunately, he can’t be there.

“It’s life,” Salei said. “There’s no complaints. It’s not easy, but that’s the decision we made.”

[55fan 5,133]

Defenseman Ruslan Salei said it’s particularly difficult to be away from his family this time of year. His wife and two young children (5-year-old Alexis and 3-year-old Sandro) are living in California.

“My family is American, so we celebrate with turkey and big dinner,” Salei said. “My wife is an amazing cook. She cooks unbelievable turkey. It’s always enjoyable. And now, my kids love it, too. They’re really excited about it.”

Unfortunately, he can’t be there.

“It’s life,” Salei said. “There’s no complaints. It’s not easy, but that’s the decision we made.”

I think I just fell in love with this guy. What a great attitude, especially the bolded part. If more people thought like that, the world would be a lot less whiny.

Maybe turkey is what Huds has been missing and now he'll go nuts on the ice. Julie Draper for MVP!

[Guest mindfly]

How come canada and u.s got their own version of thanksgiving? canada in october and u.s in november?

[wingslogo19 281]

I think I just fell in love with this guy. What a great attitude, especially the bolded part. If more people thought like that, the world would be a lot less whiny.

Maybe turkey is what Huds has been missing and now he'll go nuts on the ice. Julie Draper for MVP!

But turkey makes you sleepy

[55fan 5,133]

How come canada and u.s got their own version of thanksgiving? canada in october and u.s in november?

It's just an arbitrary date. It's not like Independence Day (July 4th, USA) or Canada Day (July 1, Canada) where something actually happened where they said, "hey, this would make a great holiday."

We have much in common, but we are two distinct countries. The lucky ones live on the border and have relatives in both countries. Turkey times two!

[Rivalred 630]

This team is amazing and I wish Salei was able to spend this day with his family, great attitude.

[KrazyGangsta 79]

Happy thanksgiving to all fellow Wings fans living in the States !!! Hope you guys had a great turkey.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Happy Turkey Day!!!