The place settings are arranged at the home of Kris Draper, and they are bountiful.
In addition to Draper, his wife and their three children, invitations for Thanksgiving dinner today were extended to Red Wings teammates Todd Bertuzzi and his family, Dan Cleary and his family, rookies Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader, and relative newcomer Patrick Eaves.
“We’ve got a pretty good table set,” Draper said, smiling. “Helmer and Abby are going to sit with my two oldest kids, Kennedi and Kienan, and Bert’s two kids. … We enjoy having some of the guys over and then just watching football and just hanging out and enjoying the day. It’s nice to be able to open up our house to them.”
Draper said he carves the turkey and makes mashed potatoes, which makes him far more active than goalie Jimmy Howard.
“I get up from bed,” he said, “and go from the couch to the table to back to the couch.”
Howard is one of just four Americans on the team, but nationality hasn’t stopped the Wings as a whole from celebrating the annual feast.
“You go through the amount of Americans we have on our team, and it’s not many, and yet I think it’s a great tradition because you get to eat too much and lay on the couch and watch football,” Mike Babcock said. “So that’s a good thing.”
With his wife and youngest kid out of town, Babcock — who said there’d be no practice today — plans to put up Christmas lights with his two oldest kids because “we’re the only one in our neighborhood who hasn’t done it.”
Chris Osgood will be at his in-laws, “watching football and eating. I love gravy and potatoes, that’s my favorite.”
Johan Franzen plans to cook a turkey for the first time, with or without the help of Niklas Kronwall. The two former roommates have recently been united by knee injuries.
“It’s five weeks now, and there’s like 12 to go,” Franzen said. “But I’ve got company now in Kronner, my roommate’s back, so, we’re riding down together and we’re on the same schedule to return.”
Swedish, American or Canadian, the Wings enjoy this day — regardless of where they’re seated.
“Maybe there’s a section in between kids and adults where I can sit,” Helm said, laughing. “You know, it’s really nice, especially for guys that don’t live around here, that we have a place to go and eat good food. … It’s nice to be a part of that, and that’s what this team is really all about, being a family.”
I love this team so much.
Agreed. So awesome in every way.