Goalie Whore, Jerseys, First Game

Yeah, really, it's not what you think (my obsession with Tuukka Rask aside). This is what my best friend calls me on a regular basis and I'd be hard pressed to deny it. Looks like I'll be whoring myself out lending my services to another team for the next several weeks. A friend's team lost their goalie, so she asked me to fill in. Woo hoo, more ice time, more pucks to stop, yay! When I told my name-calling friend about this she said "you'll tend goal for anyone". (This is not a comment on the team I'll be subbing for. She's not involved in these dopey beer leagues and could care less who I sub for.) My natural reaction was to say "No I wouldn't", but when I thought about it, she's right. I would play for just about anyone. Except for the Drunk Punks. I may be a whore but I do have standards.

So, now that I'm official on the women's team, I need to order some jerseys. I contacted the woman who is placing orders for the entire organization, who happens to also be a goalie (for the C team). I told her I wanted a goalie cut but evidently if you order goalie cut what they really send you is a size 4X. This makes me nuts. I have a hard time finding any goalie cut jersey that actually fits, because I think jersey makers just assume the entire thing needs to be humongous and flap around like an unsecured tent in the breeze. Really, all I need is a little more room in the chest and much wider sleeves. C-goalie offered to hold the order until next week, when I can try her jersey on at practice (she has a 3X). She thinks I can get away with a 2X but I want to be sure. It's kind of dorky but I'm excited to be getting the jerseys. I've been wearing just any old dark or light jersey when I play with them, and I know the goalie can wear whatever the hell she wants, but this will make me feel like more a part of the team.

I'm not too positive about the proposed "3rd jersey" they want to order though. I think my jersey budget is going to be tapped with these two regular ones, so I may not go for it. Thankfully they switched from the insanely obnoxious red-white-black horizontal striped Ottawa 67's jersey to a much more palatable red one with black trim. Unfortunately they're all gung ho on getting nicknames on the back. I gotta say, I don't love this idea. First of all, not everyone has a nickname, and even those who do aren't called by it on a regular basis. And, I just think it's kind of dopey. I guess this is the difference between mens' and womens' hockey...

Jersey issues aside, we have our first game tomorrow night and I am stoked. We've been practicing for almost a month now, really productive practices at that. And because of all the tournaments and summer ice rental, there wasn't much rust to shake off overall, so we pretty much picked up right where we left off. I'm excited about the season, I think we're going to do very well.

So, game on Sunday, game on Monday (for the goalie-less team), Hawks game on Tuesday, practice on Wednesday. If this is being a whore then I embrace it fully.