How Canes rookie Seth Jarvis channeled his inner Santa Claus for grateful teammates
First, a disclaimer: Antti Raanta’s kids should not be allowed to see or be read this story.
It’s just that rookie forward Seth Jarvis has done a little of everything for the Carolina Hurricanes this season, and that includes serving as Santa Claus at the Raanta house.
Played on the top line centered by Sebastian Aho? Jarvis has done that.
Played on the fourth line centered by Derek Stepan? Jarvis has done that.
Clean up the loose pucks after practice? Jarvis, the rookie, has done that, too.
And Santa?
Seems that Raanta needed someone to fill that role on Christmas, which the goalie said the Finns celebrate on Dec. 24. Jarvis was available. And willing.
So on went the Santa outfit.
“Hat, beard, pants, belt,” Jarvis said Friday.
Pillows? “Yeah, had to put a couple of pillows in there,” Jarvis said.
A full white beard? “Of course,” he said, smiling. “They couldn’t tell. I was Santa Claus for like 30 minutes.”
It made for a fun time for Jarvis, Raanta and the other Finns on the team — Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Nino Niederreiter, a Swiss native, was an invited guest that night, Jarvis said.
Santa didn’t speak Finnish but no problem, he said. Raanta’s kids, Evelyn and Lukas, apparently had been told in school that Santa speaks English.
“I did learn how to say ‘Merry Christmas’ in Finnish, just in case,” Jarvis said.
Raanta, for one, was impressed. And appreciative.
“He was really good,” Raanta said. “My daughter is almost 5 and that went so well for her. She was so happy about just having Santa Claus. We were first thinking about me doing that but my wife pretty much told me not to ruin that for my daughter.
“Seth did an awesome job and my daughter still believes in Santa, so that’s a win for us.”
Plenty to celebrate
Jarvis, 19, has had a lot to celebrate in 2021. He made the Canes roster out of training camp, then got his chance to play when Niederreiter was injured in late-October. He made the most of that, gaining the trust of Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, getting his minutes and producing.
“I think he’s been great,” Brind’Amour said Friday. “You talk about some positives from the year and I don’t think we envisioned that guy being in the group. A real slim chance to where he is now.”
Jarvis had played 20 games when his season was interrupted by COVID-19. After playing at Vancouver on Dec. 12, he tested positive and was placed in the NHL COVID protocol along with Aho.
Jarvis was not asymptomatic. He said Friday that he had chills for a day and a “pretty bad cough,” and said he lost his taste for about three days.
“It was tough,” he said. “I thought I was playing good and then I went through a few games where I wasn’t as good and then that Vancouver game I thought I broke out again and thought I played well.
“And then to get COVID ... it was weird. I was feeling not great to start that road trip and then the Vancouver game I thought ‘Oh, I feel good again.’ Turns out I had COVID. To take those two weeks off (stunk).”
But that’s behind him now. Off the COVID list, he was back in the lineup Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, had 14 minutes of ice time and scored a third-period power-play goal as the Canes (22-7-1) took a 4-0 victory at PNC Arena.
The winning goalie? Raanta, who picked up his first shutout of the season. Seems fitting Jarvis helped him seal the deal.
Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM
This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 3:47 PM with the headline "How Canes rookie Seth Jarvis channeled his inner Santa Claus for grateful teammates."
