VANCOUVER, B.C. _ The NBA always plays on Christmas. The NFL frequently does on Christmas and/or Christmas Eve.
Refreshingly, the NHL takes a Christmas break _ three days off from games and practice from Christmas Eve through Dec. 26.
There's even a roster freeze that lasts longer, from 11:59 on Dec. 18 until Dec. 27 at 12:01 a.m. No one gets traded, waived or sent to the minors, except for a few injury exceptions.
If there's ever a team that needs a break, it's the banged-up Blues, who played their ninth game in 15 days Saturday in Vancouver.
"We've had some injuries," defenseman Joel Edmundson said. "We've had a lot of games, so we're physically and mentally a little drained. So three days to reboot the mind, and when we come back we'll be fresh and ready to go."
And what better time for a break than Christmas?
"I feel like it's one of the most important days of the year," Edmundson said. "You celebrate Jesus Christ. For us, being away from our families all the time, it's just a nice gathering. Sit down, eat some turkey, share some stories."
Edmundson, who's from Brandon, Manitoba, spoke after the team's morning skate Saturday.
"My parents are actually driving down to St. Louis right now to spend it with me," he said. "Where I'm from, it's tough to go home for a couple days, just with the weather. So they're actually driving down right now, which is like 24 hours. They're coming down for a week to see me, so it's gonna be nice."
For some Blues, home is even farther away. Like Sweden.
So Oskar Sundvist is staying with fellow Swede Carl Gunnarsson in St. Louis for the holidays. Or so we think.
"We'll see," Gunnarsson cautioned. "Last couple days he's been kind of having a bad attitude. So we'll see if he gets in, if he gets on the list. It's tough, man, tough to get into the Gunnarsson house."
Sundqvist didn't sound worried.
"Someone has to take care of the little baby, so I guess I'm the one," Sundqvist said.
Gunnarsson and his wife became parents for the first time with the arrival of baby girl Elise on Oct. 25.
Gunnarsson and Sundqvist planned to spend some Skype or phone time with their relatives back in Sweden after arriving back in St. Louis Sunday.
"We always do the 24th (in Sweden)," Gunnarsson said. "We celebrate on the 24th, Christmas Eve. You guys do the 25th, right? That's about it. I think everything else is kinda the same."
Namely, opening presents and eating lots of food. The Gunnarsson spread will include ham, sausages, salmon, and of course, Swedish meatballs.
"I think we're all big eaters," Sundqvist said of his family back in Boden, Sweden. "The food is always great during Christmas."
Coach Mike Yeo has given the Blues the option to go home for Christmas and fly separately from the team charter to their destination. Defenseman Colton Parayko is doing just that, flying from Vancouver to Edmonton to be with family and friends.
Parayko will be eating dinner Christmas Eve at his grandparents' place, where he'll spend time with his mother, father, brother, two sisters, a brother-in-law, a niece, and assorted cousins, aunts and uncles.
On Christmas day there's coffee, breakfast and presents, even for the 24-year-old Parayko.
"They kind of throw something under the tree just for fun," he said. "The main thing for us is we get to spend time with our families because we don't get to see them a lot."
