Wanted: A Professional Scheduler

HELP! Hockey Mom in search of professional scheduler (or at least someone who can organize the multi-colored sticky notes that need to be pasted daily to my forehead by jersey, rink and team). No kidding, we just started getting the (pre-season, mind you) off-ice and on-ice workout schedules, tournament calendars and other team events and it has been determined that HM will be spending even more of her waking moments at the rink. Luckily, I have some help with the carpools but my new laptop is gonna come in handy with the free Wi-Fi the rink provides (you rink-owners think of everything: in-house pizza place with red vino in paper cups, pro shop for last-minute jock replacements and several t.v.s for my Caps viewing pleasure)!

Speaking of my beloved Caps, they are hosting an open house next week, where you can buy partial season tickets. HM really wants to do the 11-game package this year, but seeing as I'm lacking half of the boys' game schedule and no personal scheduler, I might just have to go on a "when the boys don't have a game or practice" per-game schedule. I definitely want to catch the Caps play the Vancouver Canucks - would be one of my 11 for sure. Even though the Canucks have been struggling the past few seasons, you know I have to get my fix of the Sedin twins - it's a twin thing.

Oh, I heard the understatement of the year the other day when I was listening to "the NHLer HM loves-to-hate-the-most" interview of Sean Avery. Avery actually admitted that "he steps over the line on occasion" - ya think? I do however, have to give the man an HM fist bump for his most recent lady conquest; rumor has it that he's dating fashionista Kelly Klein. I love to hear those cougar stories - you go girls!

So that's it for now - back to trying to sort my house league/travel league/Caps/dating/work/miscellaneous schedules out for now. I think I need a drink....

Hockey Mom Fist Bumps To....

Ted Leonsis and Caps Chick for being mentioned in the list of top blogs by USA Hockey magazine. As you all know, Ted's Take is the blog of Ted Leonsis, the Caps' fearless and fabulous owner. He keeps fans in the loop on all things Capitals and really listens to the feedback he gets from fans on his blog! Caps Chick pens A View From The Cheap Seats, which recently featured a poll of which Washington Capital possesses the best posterior. Besides being totally fun and informative, this chick knows her hockey! So congrats to both....and thanks for keeping us hockey-starved fans up to date on the latest and greatest!

HM was disappointed to see some of my favorite blogs left off of this list. For Cap's fans, On Frozen Blog, Japer's Rink and Peerless Procrastinator are always must-reads. And where is my Puck Daddy? For an amusing "Jon Stewart-like" version of the latest hockey news and happenings, Puck Daddy totally rocks - he gets the Hockey Mom seal of approval (and complimentary fist bump) any day!

Ugh, The Stench...The Horrific Odors That Come from Hockey Bags

Like most hockey moms, I am all too familiar with the horribly rank odors that seep from within the depths of my twins' hockey bags and permeate the trunk of my car. Hockey equipment has its own distinctive odor that can only be described like some sort of putrid combination of rotten eggs, B.O., dirty cat litter, old refried beans and vinegar. Well maybe not that bad, but it certainly isn't pleasant!

One key to avoiding the "stank" is making sure the equipment (especially some of the pads that can't be machine-washed) gets aired out after each use. The problem with that in our house is that inevitably, someone forgets to put a vital piece of equipment (like their jock) back in the bag, resulting in a mad scramble at the rink.

Socks and jerseys can be washed and I've found that putting fabric softener sheets in the bags helps a little. Hockey Mom has to give a big shout out to the boys' stepmom, who selflessly subjects herself to the rancid smell and washes the dirty bag contents when the boys are not at my house! She's also a major part of their cheering section during the season.

There are folks out there who have the equipment to professionally clean the heavy pads and gear, such as GearClean, based in Winchester, Va.

I've been on several tours of my beloved Caps' locker room and somehow it seems that those large men don't smell up the locker room half as bad as some of the youth locker rooms I've been in. If anyone knows the "secret of their fresh as a daisy locker room scent", please pass it on to Hockey Mom ASAP!

Hockey Mom Safety Tips....

Yesterday afternoon I took the boys to "Stick & Shoot" at the rink. Stick & Shoot is basically like target practice where you pay for the ice time and just practice shooting the puck at whatever random goalies show up. There are a few older kids who always show up at these sessions in merely a t-shirt, shorts or sweat pants and a helmet. I guess that's "cool". So every time we go to Stick & Shoot, my guys ask if they can they play without pads and then proceed to argue the 125 great reasons they should be allowed to go "sans gear."

"Mom, can't we just play without pads this one time? Everybody else does." Hmmm, let me think about it....okay, no - hell, no! Even when there's no physical contact, I've seen too many men and kids alike get hit in unforeseen places with a flying puck. And since you're there just to practice shooting, that's the last place you're going to skate without pads.

I'm sure all Caps fans remember the playoff game where Flyer's player Patrick Thoresen (now in playing in Europe) took a puck below the equator. And the poor guy was wearing a cup (which shattered but at least there was some protection)! Note to self: Never lay down in front of one of mad Mike Green's sick 90 mph slap shots! And a Hockey Mom fist bump to Green, who like the stand up guy he is, called the poor chap the next day to see how he was doing....

So Hockey Mom's rules are here to stay: No gear - no ice. Put your big boy pants (and cup, pads and shin guards) on and deal with it!

2008 NHL Draft Class...Some Smart Cookies

In the midst of my July hockey-drought, I received a fun surprise when I arrived home from work yesterday. No, Ed McMahon wasn't waiting at my door with my fabulous Publisher's Clearing House award check (have you seen that poor guy lately, he could stand to win the prize himself)! But I did get my new issue of The Hockey News and did a little happy dance by the mailbox to celebrate.

Even though my magazine is sometimes slow as Christmas arriving, I really savor each issue and especially love the human-interest snippets where players reveal what they pack for a road trip, best tricks ever played on a room mate and the 2 Minutes in the Box feature. And of course all of the great insight and scoop that only Adam Proteau and friends can provide in the true spirit and history that makes up the great game of hockey.

This week's issue has a piece about the large percentage of new draft picks that will continue to wear visors into the NHL (as we all know, it's optional). The top three picks (Stamkos, Doughty and Bogosian) all told THN they expect to keep wearing a visor. I especially liked NY Ranger's prospect Michael Del Zotto's answer when asked if he'd be sporting a visor in the big dance. Del Zotto states "My mom wouldn't be too happy if I didn't wear one, that's for sure." Great answer Mikey - you just made us hockey moms proud!

The number of players wearing visors continues to increase in the league, which is a trend that makes hockey moms around North America pretty happy. Besides preventing potential career-ending injuries, they actually look pretty cool. Hey, if you want to brawl you're gonna take the whole helmet off anyway. Like I've said before, the visor thing works for Ovie - and he's the the coolest guy in the game!

Non-Hockey Related Injuries

Being a hockey mom of twins, it's my worst nightmare to imagine one of my guys laid out on the ice as a result of a monster hit. It happened to one of my best friend's sons (he's 13) at a tournament in the spring and was terrifying to watch as he lay on the ice for at least 2 minutes without moving. Happy to say he's okay but he did suffer a concussion, which we all know are all too common in the game of hockey. By the way, I hope that the Cap's Brian Pothier is on the road to recovery from his concussion last season. We miss you!

We have been very lucky so far, knock on wood, that we've avoided any major hockey-related injuries with my guys playing both house and travel leagues. So imagine my reaction when I almost had to take one of the boys to the emergency room last night to get checked out for a concussion as a result of: the WWF!?! Seriously, one of my guys loooves that garbage (yes, I called it garbage) and they were goofing off trying out the latest WWF moves when one of them got his head pounded into the floor. I had to watch him the rest of the night to make sure there was no passing out or nausea. At least if you get a hockey-related injury, you're injured for a reason! I tell them all the time that the reason you don't see any blood in those bogus WWF matches is BECAUSE THEY'RE FAKE! And you can't beat the fabulous acting on the part of those guys (and gals, I think?) - such amazing talent. There's one "diva" as they're called in the WWF that went to my college - I pray I don't look at my sorority's alumni page and see her there!

So yet another reason we need the NHL season to start soon - it gives my guys some real competition to watch that actually requires skill and talent. How many days til training camp again?

Hockey Mom Tribute to my Number One Fan

First let me start by saying that this post isn't really about hockey, per se. But I guess in way it is, because it's about the person from who I inherited my great love of sports.

As my readers and friends know, I recently returned from a week long vacation to Northwest Florida, near where I grew up. The trip was mostly for relaxation, but there was also a very bittersweet reason my siblings and I chose this destination. In the presence of one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, we went to this beach to spread my mother's ashes in her final resting place - into the crystal blue Gulf of Mexico along the sugary white sands. A place she loved more than anything and a beach that holds more childhood memories than I can recount.

My mother, affectionately known as "Big Anita", died suddenly and completely unexpectedly at the young age of 64 two years ago in May. "Big Anita" wasn't dubbed "big" in reference at all to her size, but to her "big" spirit - and it was BIG and infectious.

Although she went to college in Indiana, she became one of the most rabid Florida State Seminole football fans I have ever known. Anita had season tickets for more than 10 years and sat in Doak Campbell Stadium through wind, rain or heat to see her beloved Seminoles play. If the game was televised, she painted her face with warpaint, put her Seminole flags throughout the house and answered the home phone "FSU Seminole Network!" Win or lose - her motto was always "your team is your team and you always stand behind your team." She actively served on the board of her local Seminole Booster Club, traveled to FSU Bowl games and rode around town in her red convertible VW bug with two enormous magnetic Seminole magnets on each car door every game weekend.

She was a sight to behold and when she walked into a room, everyone knew Big Anita was there, with her contagious laugh and beaming enthusiasm. Her upbeat spirit pervaded every area of her life and she never met a stranger. Her funeral service brought together FSU fans, rivals and folks from all walks of life - in fact there were two different women there who'd never even met her but had heard of her from her involvement in one of her many activities and they just felt they had to be there...it was so incredibly moving to witness.

I have come to inherit my mom's passion for sports, starting with the Seminoles and now my love for the Washington Capitals and the NHL. She was gone before my boys started playing hockey, but every game they play I think how much she would have loved this game too.
She would have gotten the biggest kick out of going to a Caps game and would have walked out of the store at Verizon Center with every Capitals car magnet, t-shirt and bobblehead ever made!

So I wanted to pay tribute to my amazing mom, who I miss terribly every day, for passing on her love of the "game" along with her incredible strength and spirit...I only hope that I can leave half the legacy that she's left behind and I hope I've made her proud.