Dear Santa,

Is it too late for a trade-in – even if only for a store credit – at the favorite hockey team shop?  Sure, it’s been a good decade or so with my Ducks (you even brought me that silver cup I asked for two years ago), but now I want the latest and greatest.  And Santa, to be honest, my old team just isn’t cutting it anymore.

When I first got my new team, you were probably surprised I liked it.  My boys in burgundy – the Colorado Avalanche – were perennial winners, so what did I want with an eggplant-clad bunch of outcasts and misfits who had a hard enough time just making the playoffs?  I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with Wildwing Flashblade – the coolest, most badass mascot in hockey (incidentally, Santa, you never did bring me the Wildwing mask I asked you for).  In spite of the undeniable awe an anthropomorphic cartoon mallard commands, none of my friends wanted to share my team.

None of that mattered in 2003 though, because the team was too busy winning to care what people thought of them.  I stopped caring what people thought, too, but I still wasn’t brave enough to flash my gang colors around town (I’m sure the eggplant would have been fine, but the jade was a little sketchy).  I didn’t get my silver cup that year, but I never really asked for it, so it was a decidedly good time for my team nonetheless.

When I started complaining to you about my Ducks after the lockout, you listened.  You brought me lots of wins for Christmas, and a snazzy new outfit the very next year.  Even that impossible silver dream, complete with visions of ticker tape parades, wasn’t too much and you brought it all to me, Santa.

The last few years have been tougher, though.  I had to part ways with a few of my favorite things – the hardest part was giving up my Chris Pronger with its two gigantic actuating elbows.  I have not dared to ask for another silver cup, preferring instead to keep my hopes low and not be disappointed.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore because my team isn’t even meeting my new expectations.  It looks like there will be no Christmas in Anaheim this year, and what is a diehard fan to do?

So please, Santa, reach into that big bag of gifts you have and see if there’s something in there for me.  A few wins, a glimmer of hope, or some medicated band-aids for my friend Teemu.  Right now, my team needs all the help it can get.

Wait a minute; did I just say my team?

I guess it still is my team.  Forget what I said before about wanting a new one, Santa.  It may not be the biggest or toughest team around, and it may not be the fastest or highest-scoring – but it has brought me more than my deserved share of happy moments and bragging rights.

That’s all I want, Santa.  More happy moments, less tears, and maybe world peace while you’re at it.

Love,
Patrick

P.S. Jonas says he doesn’t believe in you, but I decided to ask for him anyway.  Santa, could you please bring him some super glue for his goalie pads?  Oh, and Giggy said something about wanting a bigger chest protector, but I’m not sure how much room you have.