Oilers provide 'table service' at annual Hope Mission family Christmas banquet

Edmonton Oilers helped serve supper at the Hope Mission's annual Tegler Family Christmas Banquet Thursday evening.

The hockey starpower is an extra-nice touch to a tradition meant to help families celebrate the holidays, spokesperson Brenton Driedger said during the event at Ivor Dent School.

Edmonton Oilers Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci stop serving food to sign autographs during the Hope Mission's annual Tegler Family Christmas Banquet at Ivor Dent School on Dec. 8, 2022.

"Obviously with inflation and high food prices, it's a tough time. So we're just really glad to be able to get together and celebrate Christmas together in this fun banquet," he told CTV News Edmonton.

"And it's even more special when the people who are providing table service play for the Edmonton Oilers."

Hope Mission spokesperson Brenton Driedger talks to CTV News Edmonton during the annual Tegler Family Christmas Banquet on Dec. 8, 2022.

Table service, indeed. Jesse Puljujärvi and Edmonton-raised James Hamblin were partners in distributing plates of food throughout the school's gymnasium, as were Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci.

Meanwhile, Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club chairman Bob Nicholson and head coach Jay Woodcroft dished them up at the buffet line.

Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club chairman Bob Nicholson, left, and head coach Jay Woodcroft, centre, dish up plates at the Hope Mission's annual Tegler Family Christmas Banquet at Ivor Dent School on Dec. 8, 2022.

"The community is pretty amazing for us here in Edmonton and to come out and hang out with some great folks and families, it's great," Jack Campell told CTV News Edmonton.

"A lot of the kids are asking if we're famous and whatnot. It's super humbling. We don't think of ourselves like that, and when somebody looks up to you, it definitely goes a long way and makes us just want to be our best on and off the ice."

The Edmonton Oilers pose for a photo after the Hope Mission's annual Tegler Family Christmas Banquet at Ivor Dent School on Dec. 8, 2022.

Driedger added, "I think a night like tonight is one of those really special nights that really sticks with a kid for a long time. They will just lock that away in their mental highlight reel – the night the Oilers served them."

Most of the gymnasium's 260 seats were full. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune