One minor but extremely underrated tradition in the NHL is the Canadian Thanksgiving Day game. A number of teams play on a Monday afternoon in October as those north of the border celebrate with turkey and those south of the border may or may not have the day off from work.
Most children are off from school, however, and many markets take that opportunity to have a kid-themed gameday experience. That’s exactly what the New Jersey Devils did when they hosted the Florida Panthers on Monday and the results were wonderful. Let’s start with goaltender Cory Schneider bringing his own adorable child to the rink on Monday.
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1183754379050082305
Don’t worry, there’s more kid cuteness with him later. There was also extremely charismatic P.K. Subban giving the kid reporter a very easy job.
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1183756689553723393
But the star of the show was the player introductions the team put up in Prudential Center. They let young Devils fans draw their favorite players and then projected them next to their actual pictures.
So, it’s Kids Day here for #NJDevils and during player warmups introductions, the team is featuring kid-drawn pictures of players. And it is amazing and hilarious! 😂 pic.twitter.com/N8PM5Fo3F2
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) October 14, 2019
The two Swedes 😂 pic.twitter.com/8LNA04jCgk
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) October 14, 2019
Wait, there’s more!
A couple more Kids Day #NJDevils drawings!
I seriously can’t! 😂 pic.twitter.com/q3e13TN51u
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) October 14, 2019
The video of these is incredible, complete with kids announcing their names in the arena.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. That proved true when the kids took charge, and used some creative license to introduce the players on the New Jersey Devils at a recent hockey game. #WhatToWatch pic.twitter.com/9IZ7A2TIOs
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 15, 2019
Tough loss today, but Kids Day at The Rock was a huge success. Shout-out to @bronc53 & @ellllliecarl for finding and guiding our Junior PA announcer Lucas. Awesome job all around! #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/3TzDvOu1bj
— Joe Kuchie (@jkuchie) October 14, 2019
Fans had a lot of fun with this, obviously.
Sami Vatanen or as you may know him better as "That bearded lady from your local carnival" @NJDevils #KidsDay #KidsDrawings #NJDevils #NJDvsFLA pic.twitter.com/8rCeHw7hTq
— DevilsFirm (@DevilsFirm) October 15, 2019
I'm not your buddy guy! 🇨🇦 #MilesWood #KidsDay #KidsDrawings #NJDevils #Canada #SouthPark pic.twitter.com/qx3u4i5LzV
— DevilsFirm (@DevilsFirm) October 15, 2019
As a child who obsessively drew very poor recreations of sports logos growing up (try this Buffalo Sabres logo when you get a moment, it’s not easy!) this is great to see some fine artwork appreciated by the big clubs. What a charming day all around, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get the Devils their first win of the season just yet.
