Holiday havoc with the Leafs
The boys share some of their
Christmas traditions
By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun
Jyrki Lumme and Jonas Hoglund dispute whether Santa Claus lives in Finland or Sweden.
Alex Mogilny suspects the fat man's movements were rigidly controlled by authorities in the old Soviet Union.
Wade Belak knows only that he brought him too many pairs of dress socks.
But whether they call him Kris Kringle, Jultomte or Mikulas, there are a colourful quilt of Christmas stories and traditions among the eight nationalities in the Maple Leafs dressing room:
JYRKI LUMME, FINLAND: "Of course Santa Claus is Finnish," Lumme said, almost insulted by the question. "He has a big centre in Joulupukki in the north (apparently something like Santa's Village in Bracebridge)."
Gift-giving usually takes place late on Christmas Eve.
"You try to hang in until midnight when you'd open them," Lumme said.
"The kids had to be told to go to bed or (Santa) wasn't coming. We had a big dinner, of course. Ham, casseroles with liver, carrots, rutabagas and naturally lots of salmon or herring."
ALEX MOGILNY, RUSSIA: In Russia, New Year's is a bigger holiday than Christmas. The Santa legend was a lot more mysterious to kids who grew up in the old communist system.
"Does he live in the north? I don't know where the hell he lives, really," Mogilny said. "They never told us. Maybe he's in one of those government project buildings.
"But he comes from somewhere."
New Year's Eve is more festive, with a low-key exchange of gifts and a high capacity of alcohol consumption.
"You put presents under the tree and hopefully, by the time you (sober) up the next evening, something is still there," Mogilny said.
ROBERT SVEHLA, SLOVAKIA: "We have two celebrations -- Mikulas on Dec. 6 (Mikulas is a Santa figure who gives presents to good children) and Jezisko on Dec. 24th (the birth of Jesus)," Svehla said. "We start with a 5 p.m. dinner (on the 24th) with soups and a lot of meats."
TOM FITZGERALD, UNITED STATES: Fitzgerald and his family are spending their first Christmas in Canada. While the weather here is more conducive to building a backyard rink than his previous stop in Nashville or even his boyhood days around Boston, most other aspects of the holiday are the same in both countries.
"You went to somebody's house on Christmas Eve, either an aunt or uncle, but on Christmas Day, we always went to my grandmother's house," he said. "She lived in a little one-bedroom apartment, but she'd have 11 grandkids there and put dinner on. Every year, I'd go to bed on Christmas Eve dreaming of getting goalie equipment.
"But I never got any."
JONAS HOGLUND, SWEDEN: "Santa Claus could never be Finnish," Hoglund declared when told of Lumme's claim. "He's too nice a guy."
In Sweden, he actually is known as Jultomte, though he's in competition with Mickey Mouse on Christmas Eve.
"There's a (Disney) movie with Donald Duck, Mickey and Goofy that's on around 3 p.m., a tradition for kids," Hoglund said. "Our Christmas dinner usually features ham and meatballs."
NIK ANTROPOV, KHAZAKSTAN: Antropov says his country mirrors Russian custom at this time of year, except the party gets started earlier.
"It goes Dec. 29 to Jan. 1, even longer sometimes," Antropov said. "We have a Christmas celebration the first week of New Year's. Everyone gives presents and there's a big dinner."
KAREL PILAR, CZECH REPUBLIC: "On the evening of the 24th we have a special dinner, with potato salad and something such as chicken parmigiana," Pilar said. "We have a Christmas tree like here, with all the ornaments and midnight mass. The 25th is for visiting parents or grandparents."
WADE BELAK, CANADA: Before finally getting the G.I. Joe action figure he craved, Belak remembers Santa showered him with socks, and not even the hockey variety either.
"You hated them, but needed them just the same," Belak said.
One family tradition would be to go to an uncle's house on Christmas Eve for a big spread of Chinese food. Not the easiest thing to order in rural Saskatchewan.
"He gets it every year, but from where I have no idea," he said.
