Julie Bertuzzi - Hockey Moms: Realities from the Rink: Introducing 20 Women You Already Know

Copyright 2015 by Julie Bertuzzi
Illustrations 2015 by Anthony Jenkins

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency is an infringement of the copyright law.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication is available upon request

ISBN: 978-0-7710-1350-8
e-book ISBN: 978-0-7710-1351-5

Published simultaneously in the United States of America by Fenn/McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company

Library of Congress Control Number is available upon request

Fenn/McClelland & Stewart,
a division of Random House of Canada Limited,
a Penguin Random House Company
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca

v3.1

Thank you to my husband and children
for being my inspiration. Not only for this book
but for my life. I live to love you guys more every day.

As I wrote this book, and thought about all the moms I label, tease, and poke fun at in its pages, in the back of my mind I was always aware of the person who had one of the greatest influences on me growing up. My Ringette Mom is the reason Im the stellar woman I am today. The jurys still out on whether thats a good thing or a bad thing, but, either way, I am extremely blessed. And for you Hockey Moms who dont know what ringette is, I could try to explain the sport, but as soon as I said the words cut-off hockey stick, no blade, and a rubber ring, you would just look confused. So Google it!

Throughout the many seasons I played ringette, at tournament time my mom packed up our chocolate-brown, wood-panelled station wagon you all know the one: the long, ugly, rectangular beast with the back seats that faced the cars tailgating you. (Seriously frightening when I think about it now.) She had that wagon jammed with helmets, pads, sticks, a ghetto blaster, and everything else we needed. She always gave a lift to any kids and moms who couldnt afford the gas to drive to the rink themselves; she always offered to pay for dinners that someone couldnt pay for; and she always ploughed through sleet, snow, rain, and hail to get us to our games. Not once did I ever get in the wagon to go home and get yelled at for playing a crappy game. She was the most positive influence in my life and in my husbands life, and she continues to be one in our childrens lives as well.

My mom is a two-time cancer survivor and the toughest, sweetest lady I know. Often when Im sitting in the stands and I erupt into an episode (or two) of Hockey Mom crazy, I think of her. At games, she simply sits, watches, and cheers on her grandkids, just happy to be there appreciating the moments. She inspires me to look at my kids games in the context of the big picture. While Im no Oprah, I am wise enough to reflect on whats important in life, and that is to take the time to enjoy every game, practice, tournament, and weekend that we have to share with our kids. Embrace them, cheer for them, and hug them, even after a bad game (maybe especially after a bad game). We all may be a little nuts or a lot nuts when we get into the rink, but at the end of the day we have to be our kids biggest fans. My mom was mine, and now Im hers. I dont scream obscenities at her or tell her she sucks at vacuuming, but I do expect her to keep on being the best bad-ass, choir-singing, church-going mom ever.

Mom, I love you and thank you.

Hi ladies!

Are you a Hockey Mom? Well, lets get real here, ladies: if youve picked up this book, the answer to that question is probably yes. But do you know which kind of Hockey Mom you are?

In this funny little book, you will meet several types of Hockey Moms that exist in our arenas today. Twenty of them, to be exact. While we moms all have perceptions of our kids personalities on the ice, it may come as a surprise to learn that we also have habits and ways of showing how we operate. Whether its how we display our deep affection for referees, coaches, and the parents on opposing teams, or how we respond to the big plays on the ice, or even how we interact with our fellow Hockey Moms, we are all one type or another sometimes more than one of the Hockey Moms described in the pages of this book.

Before we get too far into it, let me tell you why I am qualified to write this book. First off, I am seriously guilty of being numerous sorts of Hockey Moms. Second, I am the wife of NHLer Todd Bertuzzi. We met when we were both seventeen as some might say, we were high-school sweethearts. More accurately, I would say we were OHL sweethearts. We spent as much time and more at Ontario Hockey League games as most kids spent watching TV, doing homework, and going to parties. When I look back now, it feels like I grew up watching him play.

In 1993, Todd was drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round of the NHL draft. Between 1993 and 1995, I was able to finish college while he finished the last two of his four years of junior hockey. In September of 1995, at the ripe old age of twenty, we moved to Long Island, where he began his NHL career. That was just the first of many moves. We were married in 1996. Todd has played on several teams since then, and weve enjoyed every aspect of the hockey life. He was selected to play in two NHL all-star games and chosen to play for Team Canada in the 2004 Olympics in Torino, Italy. I have been lucky enough to watch him for all of these years and have been blessed enough to be able to stay home to raise our budding hockey stars.

I am the proud Hockey Mom of two players. When our daughter, Jaden, was in the fifth grade, she came home from school one day and announced that she was going to play hockey. I looked at her, surprised, and suggested that we perhaps learn how to skate before we decide such a thing. The following Saturday, we dressed her up in her brothers hockey gear and away she went. Barely able to stand on skates, let alone shoot, she impressed the coach enough that he told my husband, She has something That something was a bruised tailbone from all the falling she did her first day on the ice! But from then on, I drove her to the rink every week for skating lessons, and she suited up in her own gear to play hockey with her new team. She has never looked back and now has dreams of playing college hockey. Jaden is our beautiful and burly right winger. She is feisty and fast, and all five-foot-eleven of her is great at screening any goalie on a power play.

And then there is our son, Tag. He is a miniature version of his father but with my stellar looks. His hockey career began at the age of two when he started sleeping with his first stick. He has always had a passion for the game, and when he was old enough to go to AAA status, he did. Wanting to be like his father, he has dreams of playing in the NHL.

Let me tell you, there is a big difference between watching my husband play professionally (and there is not much I enjoy more than that) and watching my kids on the ice. When my children play, I feel a different type of anxiety, and at times I even turn into one or another of the nuttier Hockey Moms youll read about in the coming pages. All in all though, being a Hockey Mom is one of the most rewarding things Ive done. It might sound lame to some, but I like nothing better than watching my children follow their passions and play the game.