David Montgomery will miss his dog in Minnesota, Jeff McDowall will miss his neighborhood's house crawl in Canada, and Swedes Calle Brattenberger and Johan Hedlund will miss Donald Duck.
Brian Jacque will be thankful he's not in Europe anymore, Jim Stussy will be thankful he's still chasing a dream, and coach Darren Seid will be thankful he has such dedicated players on his roster.
They and most of the other members of the Chi-Town Shooters, however, will have one thing in common today. They'll all be doing Christmas in Northwest Indiana for the first time.
Other than the few players whose families reside a short ride away, this will be a Christmas of adjustments for the bulk of the players for the first-year Class A All-American Hockey Association minor league hockey franchise.
After practice on Monday and Tuesday the nomadic group of 20-something bachelors received two days off for Christmas.
Some will head to gatherings with local host families; others will lie low. All will reminisce about Christmases past.
"When the road ends for these guys and they are sitting at home with their families, the stories they're going to be telling around the Christmas table are going to be about the years they spent away from their families, and I tell you, these are the best years," said Seid, a native of Long Island, N.Y. "Most guys don't even bat an eye (about missing holidays). It shows their true love and passion for the game and that they're truly committed."
Stussy, 28, is a player and assistant coach who loaded his Honda and moved from Mon Valley, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh, to Schererville in May. The native of Beaver Falls, Pa., has played in several spots in Canada, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and of course Pennsylvania. In addition to the gig with the Shooters, he coaches the Midwest Maniacs youth team and assists with Lake Central High School's team.
He's quite accustomed to the idea of Christmas without his mom, dad or sister, even though he usually makes an effort to get home when possible.
"It's something I'm used to -- you go where there's ice," Stussy said. "I think probably every guy on this team, since they were knee-high, has dreamed of playing hockey for money. If that means they sacrifice six months a year and work straight through ... it's the sacrifice you make."
All for maybe $200 per week in base salary coupled with the priceless opportunity to chase a dream.
"It's not about how much you make," Stussy said. "I get to roll out of bed and come hit the ice, and there's nothing better than that."
Stussy, like most on the team, will spend today with one of several host families in the area. Team equipment manager David Fuehner and his wife host players, and the Werkowskis of Crown Point house five players above their garage. There's also a team house being rented in Hegewisch.
"The Swedes" as they are affectionately known, Brattenberger and Hedlund are staying in Griffith with Mark and Julie Anderson for their first Christmas away from home. Last season they played in Antwerp, Belgium, but had seven days of leave for the holidays and were able to go to their respective hometowns, about an hour apart.
They don't maintain many unique traditions in Sweden -- "Santa Claus comes, that's an important part of things," Brattenberger said -- but eating and laughing with family are cross-cultural traditions they uphold.
One Sweden staple, though, is Disney's "Donald Duck's Christmas" broadcast in Swedish every Christmas Eve during the afternoon.
"I can say every line in Swedish," Hedlund said.
McDowall, who grew up on Prince Edward Island in Canada, will, for the first time, miss the annual neighborhood house crawl. Close friends stop at each other's houses, and each dwelling offers a different item, from an Italian-themed meal to an egg nog fountain.
"I'm going to be missing that, and it's going to be tough," McDowall said. "It's inevitable, I guess. You've got priorities and commitments, and you don't have the luxury of being together at that time.
"I'll get the opportunity to go back in the future, but that'll probably just make it that more special."
Wilberham, Mass., native Brian Jacque, on the other hand, is happy he's in America. So is John Sarno, a Springfield, Mass., native who's been in Europe the last five seasons.
Jacque, a Shooters captain, was in the Serbian Elite League two years ago and, homesick, had to scramble just to make a call to his parents, sister and three brothers. Sarno was a teammate that season, and they bonded that Christmas and remained dedicated to the sport.
Montgomery, a defenseman and assistant coach, contemplated a return to Elko, Minn., but realized all he'd do is drive for 20-plus hours in two days and hunt with his dog and eat for the short remainder of time. Instead, the holder of a Cordon Bleu culinary degree and head of the rented house in Hegewisch has modest plans.
"Honestly I might be sitting in the house with a couple of the guys, all of us staring at each other," Montgomery said. "We might just go find our Chinese restaurant, you know? Do the whole 'A Christmas Story' thing."
