Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (and Whimsy)
Posted on December 4, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet
“Oh, the good ol’ hockey game,
Is the best game you can name,
And the best game you can name,
Is the good ol’ hockey game.”
The Hockey Song – Stompin’ Tom Connors
Who is your superhero?
When we were younger, most of us had a superhero. Someone we admired and looked up to. Typically, these characters came leaping off the pages of a comic book which many of us collected and ravenously digested in our youth. Batwoman. Superman. Wonder Woman. These heroes were larger than life, accomplishing superhuman feats like leaping out of tall buildings to rescue someone in distress. We were awe struck, plain and simple.
I would like to add one more to an updated list: hockey moms.
When I was growing up, hockey was not the 24/7 obsession that it appears to be today. Back then, minor hockey mostly happened just on the weekend. The youngest boys (yes it was all a male domain back in the dark ages!) played the earliest on any given Saturday morning. Most of us put our gear on at home and those of us who lived in town walked to the old Memorial rink in our skates! You see, no one could tie skates like mom so just as well to get it done right in the comfort of your own home. With 8 children in the house, mom’s didn’t attend a lot of games. My mother never saw me play. She didn’t miss much!
The legendary Frank McGibbon single handedly ran the minor hockey program and he had the keys to the rink. On bitterly cold mornings, if you arrived before Frank did, you simply walked next door to the university’s boiler room to keep warm. Back then, the university burned coal. The evidence could be found on the white sheets hanging on the clothesline.
Most people use two-by-fours to build things. Frank used them as ice dividers. It was a stroke of genius on Frank’s part. How could he possibly teach 100 kids at the same time? He divided the ice into sections using lumber. At any point in time, four games could be happening simultaneously with Frank masterminding the entire process. Later in the morning as the older boys arrived, boards were removed progressively and only the oldest got to use the entire surface. If you wonder why so many of the old timers can stick handle so well, it probably came from learning how to handle the puck in tight quarters.
Frank was also building other things with those two-by-fours: character.
Hockey mom 2024. Definition: n. Superwoman (Webster’s Dictionary*)
Job description:
Professional fundraiser
Chauffeur
Laundress
Consoler
Medic
Sports psychologist
Physiotherapist
Nutritionist
Lace tying expert
Professional worrier
Professional warrior
Totally committed
Totally dedicated
I spoke with some hockey moms who gave me some deeper insights. These days it is not uncommon for a 12-year-old to be on the ice two mornings a week (school days) at 6:00 a.m. That would suggest a 5:15 wake up call. Then there are games every day of the week except Friday. I am exhausted just trying to imagine this routine… for mother and child.
Then there is travel. One mom talked about the willingness to spend countless hours in a car driving all around the Maritime provinces in all kinds of weather. It’s one thinks that a hockey game is nerve wracking, just getting to the game can be even more stressful. There are benefits to spending all this time on the road. One mom said, “These hours gave me the precious time to spend listening and learning what is important to my daughter and her take on the world. Making memories.”
Time well spent.
Perhaps a hockey mom’s worst nightmare (besides selling a bazillion raffle tickets and having to fill them out), is having her child play in the nets. Everyone wants their children to do well in whatever endeavor they pursue. Your worst fear (and theirs) is that they will fail at a crucial time whether it’s missing a step in the middle of dancing the Seann Triubhas, tripping before the finish line of a race, or forgetting the words to a song at the Christmas concert. Sorry, but all of these pale in comparison to being a goalie in hockey. The potential to be the hero or the goat looms with every shot directed at the net, especially in a playoff game… especially in a shootout. Hockey moms and moms in general can easily explain the appearance of gray hair but nothing will make a mother go gray faster than realizing her child wants to be a goaltender. Not to mention the cost.
Honestly, I don’t know how hockey families afford this passion.
And if you think it’s tough being a hockey mom, try doing it as a single mom. Take everything I’ve written and add a factor of x5.
Make no mistake. Hockey is a fraternity. It takes a village to raise a hockey player.
Hockey moms. Superheroes.
Look it up or better still, stop by a freezing cold arena at 6:00 a.m.
“We are family,
I got all my sisters and me.”
We Are Family – Sister Sledge.
Have a great weekend.
*Not in the Webster’s Dictionary… but it should be.
