Waking up the Goaliebrain

For the last five months at work I've been on a major project and logging lots of hours. I didn't take any time off over the holidays, in fact I worked most weekends and holiday days. I have a reprieve, just in time for my favorite thing ever - Olympic hockey. I've taken a few much-needed days off, scheduled around the women's hockey games I don't want to miss. (The big men's games are mostly on the weekend, so no vacation time needed there). Yesterday morning I settled down with a nice hot cup of coffee and watched the replay of the Canada vs Switzerland game. And I was hooked within minutes. I had the same feeling I got all those years ago when I walked into the rink for a public skate and saw women playing. The skating plans were quickly abandoned, and I spent the next hour transfixed.

It would be a few years before I would become a part of that big and quirky family, and I really did enjoy my years playing with the guys. In fact sometimes I miss it a little bit. For as much as I have been a proponent of there being no gender on the ice, there really is a difference. I've always said "I don't care what's in you're pants, when you're on the ice you're just a hockey player". But now I kind of get it. I've spent years watching the NHL and hearing about players who as kids idolized this or that player, and whose goal was to make it to the show one day. It wasn't until yesterday morning that I really got it. The close-up of the goalie reveals the same intense gaze, but this one is highlighted with eyeliner and mascara. (Hey, they're going to be on camera. I don't blame them for wearing makeup). There are braids and pony-tails flying out of the backs of helmets as the players hustle up the ice. The shots of the bench look an awful lot like my own bench. Those are WOMEN out there. People just like me. I found myself randomly just breaking out into a grin, basking in the joy of watching the best women in the world in the sport I love. I still think that when you get right down to it, hockey players are hockey players regardless of their chromosomes, but having the chance to watch all women at this skill level is really invigorating.

The game itself wasn't all that exciting - at least for most people. I was in goalie heaven. Most of the play was in Switzerland's zone, and Swiss goalie Florence Schelling was absolutely killing it. My eyes were glued to her the entire time, hoping maybe some subtle thing would subconsciously soak into the Goaliebrain. She had 69 shots and stopped 64 of them, there certainly was ample opportunity for me to learn something. But as poised and confident and disciplined and skilled as they are, it's nice to hear they can be a little goofy too. It was during the game that the commentators mentioned that the teams dress at Shayba Arena, but practice at a different one, which they have to walk to. (I don't really get that... are there no locker rooms at the practice rink?)  Evidently the Swiss team was walking over for practice, and poor Florence Schelling was waddling along in her gear, when an Olympic volunteer took pity on her and gave her some assistance:

As if she was the first goalie to ever go for a ride on a luggage cart....