Everyone's favorite: the sweet potatoes. Or, yams if you must. The ones with the marshmallows on top.
While the turkey, potatoes, gravy, and stuffing make up the heart of Thanksgiving, the one side everyone's talking about after dinner: that sweet potato casserole. In our household, it's easily the most common favorite. Everybody always wants seconds, or even thirds.
My kids might as well be saying "give us more Kirill Marchenko, please!". Who am I to say no? Marchy has emerged as a superstar for the Blue Jackets this season, one whose scoring substance is matched only by his sweet personality. Everybody loves the sweet potatoes. Everybody loves Kirill Marchenko. If you don't, are you really enjoying Thanksgiving?
Not into turkey? We have a nice alternative this year.
If you have family members who don't eat fowl, maybe they would prefer a nice fish protein at Thanksgiving. Not many people were expecting Dante Fabbro to show up in union blue this season, but he's been a terrific, unexpected fit alongside Zach Werenski on the top defense pair.
For those who don't enjoy high flying, roving defensemen; maybe the safe, steady partner is the safe bet here. Fabbro's reliable, predictable style has allowed Werenski to open up a new level to his game, one that we have only seen flashes of over the years. This dish is certainly welcome at our table.
Cranberry sauce. Whether you love it or hate it, it's always there.
This one was too easy. Ivan Provorov simply doesn't miss hockey games. He's always there, for better or worse. This season, he's been his usual self: up and down. John Tortorella might say up and down like a toilet seat, but that's not really applicable here. This isn't a gritty checking line player.
Provorov is reliable at what he does. This usually involves skating with the puck, which is very helpful in a lot of situations. Unfortunately, there's that bitter taste, which has to be masked by some other food on the plate (a reliable defense partner, get it?). Without the puck, there's a lot to be desired in Provorov's game, and it's likely that this cranberry sauce will be leaving the table soon anyway. Moving on...