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Some last minute gift ideas for the hockey fan in your home (so get your spouse to read this!)

This weekend, a lot of you slackers are hitting the malls for some last minute Christmas shopping. But those of you who are somewhat lazier – it’s not too late to grab something online! Either way, you want the “what to buy” decision to be quick and painless.

Here are some ideas. Perhaps I can shave off 10 or 15 minutes from your scrambling. And given how the malls are on a weekend in mid-December – those minutes are pretty precious.

Behind the Net – 101 Incredible Hockey Stories (By Stan Fischler)

Upon reading the introduction, I remember thinking – “Wow…just how old is this guy?”. It turns out he’s 81. But honestly, the last time I saw him on TV just a couple of months ago and he hasn’t changed a bit from when I was reading him in The Hockey News back in the late 80s. He was a hockey fan from the get go, and was present for a lot of amazing hockey events. Here he lists the 101 most incredible, which probably doesn’t surprise you given the title of the book.

Each story is in a nice, compact, easy-to-read three- or four-page chapter. And that works out great for me, as I can take a break from whatever novel I’m reading and pound through another two or three of his stories. He kicks things off with the Leafs collapse against the Boston Bruins in a Game 7 of the playoffs, taking us way back to, uh, May. But from there, Fischler regales us with stories about the 21-second hat trick, the goalie who faced 83 shots in a game, the biggest brawl in NHL history – and more.

Flips Headphones

Flips

I was sent a set of Flips headphones to try out and a plug is definitely in order.

Actually, I’ll plug anything that a company wants to give me, as long as they’re comfortable with my giving the bad with the good. But in the case of Flips – I have nothing bad to say. Other than they’re not sold in stores in Canada yet, but you can have them shipped if you visit FlipsAudio.com. I have a Galaxy Nexus, and those of you who own one of those are aware of a problem it has with sound volume for music. It doesn’t get very loud. These headphones covered me off for that. But the “Flips” part is cool – you can flip the headphones to face outwards and they become speakers. And damn loud ones too. Great sound quality even at full blast. You hit the volume to the max and then the phone warns you about ear damage (in case you have them on your head still). You click “okay” and then the volume indicator starts again and the headphones are in speaker mode. Seriously just like a docking station in terms of sound and ease of use with your phone. Anyway, a great Christmas gift for $120 – comfortable feel, impressive packaging and the sound quality gets my approval.

Don Cherry’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Hockey: 25th Anniversary Gift Set

I think you can guess what this one’s about. It’s hard to believe this has been a top Christmas item for 25 years! But with this set you get all of it. Eight DVD’s in this Anniversary Gift Set.

The Biggest of Everything in Hockey

My buddies at The Hockey News slapped this together with their usual top quality pictures and never-ending drive for perfection. Fifty easy-to-read categories (chapters) on everything big in hockey.

NHL Toronto Maple Leafs Monopoly Game

and…

NHL Vancouver Canucks Monopoly Game

Why do I recommend this? I have no idea. I guess during that once or twice per year where you actually pull out a board game, get some laughs from your friends when you whip out one of these bad boys. And since the two biggest cities for traffic on DobberHockey are Toronto and Vancouver I thought – why not?

📢 advertisement:

I apologize for the funky links/appearance – Amazon’s codes are not friendly with this site. But I wanted the links there to provide pictures and easy access to the purchase and review page.

Hockey Jerseys from Cool Hockey

Top quality. Pricing that is the cheapest you will find in Canada for authentic jerseys. And let’s not forget – Cool Hockey has been pals with DobberHockey for eight years now, providing nearly a dozen free jerseys to prize winners over that time. If you’re considering buying a hockey jersey, all I ask is that you take a look here.

DobberHockey Swag?

Why not? I’m all about the trash talk, but with these shirts you don’t even have to talk! Just let your opponents read your shirt. Some examples:

And for those of you with a toddler, how about this for when the gang comes over for a draft:

swag Get this and more – right here!

UPCOMING GAMES

Dec 28 - 13:12	FLA	vs	MTL
Dec 28 - 16:12	ANA	vs	PHI
Dec 28 - 16:12	VAN	vs	SEA
Dec 28 - 16:12	L.A	vs	EDM
Dec 28 - 19:12	T.B	vs	NYR
Dec 28 - 19:12	CAR	vs	N.J
Dec 28 - 19:12	TOR	vs	WSH
Dec 28 - 19:12	WPG	vs	OTT
Dec 28 - 19:12	BOS	vs	CBJ
Dec 28 - 19:12	NYI	vs	PIT
Dec 28 - 22:12	S.J	vs	CGY