Bears Create Custom Ornaments for the Holidays

This past weekend was a very festive one at Giant Center. Most people already know about the, er, distinctive holiday jerseys they wore during Sunday’s trumping of the Charlotte Checkers. But if you were at the game this weekend, you may have seen another way they got in the Christmas spirit: by decorating ornaments.

It is a tradition involving the wives and girlfriends that dates back to 2003 for Hershey. Out on the concourse, a table displayed the artistic talents (or lack thereof) of our very own Hershey Bears. Each of the players were given a plain glass bulb and free rein to decorate it as they wish. The results involve a lot of sharpie art, glitter, and tinsel. With each player putting a twist on their ornament, you can really see a fun side of the players come out.

In addition to the individual ornaments, the team also signed over a hundred extra ornaments to sell. As for the one-of-a-kind decorations, they were auctioned off to the highest bidder.

After the cut, see pictures and a video of some of these original ornaments and the unique ways the players chose to adorn them.

Some of the autographed team ornaments available for sale.

Francois Bouchard might have gone a little overboard with the tinsel.

Boyd Kane wins the award for Most Creative

Braden Holtby and his fairly impressive drawing hope you stay warm this season.

Sheldon Souray proclaims his ornament was “Made in Canada” even though it was actually made in the locker room of Giant Center.

Even team trainer Dan “Beaker” Stuck helped out with an ornament of his own. He decorated it like a present complete with a lottery ticket and some painkiller packets. How fitting.

Andrew Gordon opted to sketch what I can only assume are Mary and Joseph.

Don't worry, he signed it too.

Dmitri Kugryshev wrote “Happy New Year” in Russian around his ornament.

Photos and additional reporting by Kyle M.