Maybe there is makeup in hockey, after all

When the hockey gods tap you on the shoulder, you listen. (Or if you don't, you're a dumbass). Only days after my post about the opposing chick with her wads of eyeliner and mascara, @MsConduct10 alerted me (and the rest of twitter) to this. Besides the fact that Tuukka's deadly goalie stare froze me in my tracks, I found this article fascinating reading. Not only did it say the opposite of what I thought it would say, it also mentioned the makeup factor. Now I know what that chick on the other team is up to. She plays defense- she's gotta be using the Eyeliner Effect (tm). Written from a guy's perspective about playing against a female goalie, the article reveals that guys actually try harder to score on chicks (hello, no-brainer haha), to avoid that whole "beaten by a girl" stigma. I figured they fell into two categories: a) the ones who don't give a crap or b) the ones who condescend and "go easy" on you. Actually there's a third category which thankfully I've only run into a handful of times: the "women don't belong on the ice" category. But they can go scratch.

I figured after the makeup discussion about our last opponent, and reading this article, that chick might actually be on to something. I have actually always wondered in the back of my mind if that split nanosecond where the forward does a mental double-take at the sight of kohl-lined eyes staring back at him would give me any advantage. Being of a scientific mindset, I decided to test the theory last night.

And we, as a team, kicked ass. The other team was chippy, and by the time they were down 5-0 were really angry and consequently easy to beat. Not happy with 4 goals against... but in review, I think 2 were deflections, one was a perfect shot to the top corner through a screen, and one was the fault of my gaping 5-hole as I dithered about whether to push laterally or just butterfly block (couldn't read what the shooter was about to do). However I'm pretty proud of the final minute and a half or so, when with the score at 6-4 we went down a man and the other team naturally pulled their goalie. It was an intense full minute or so; the other team was positioned perfectly with 2 guys staying high on the points and 2 guys on top of the crease at all times. We did a great job defending against them though. I had 3 or 4 quick saves in tight and was really active with my stick and I feel that was the best part of my game. Eyeliner-induced confidence? Who knows. That might become my signature now though. Well, mine and the other chick's. No makeup in hockey, my ass.