Lives of The Hockey Wives

Curtis Stock, of the Edmonton Journal, writes an interesting article on hockey wives.

The last line is gold.

ARTICLE


Some interesting excerpts:

"Their marriages revolve around the husband. It's his work that always comes first," said Ortiz, a professor of sociology at Oregon State University who studied athlete's wives for four years as part of his doctorate dissertation.

"The wives see to it that their husbands are not encumbered. They are the caretakers of the marriage leaving the husband free to take care of his career.

"It's always a weird situation," said Kristin Peca, mother of Emily, 2, and Trevor, 5. "You never know who is going to go. The week before this year's trade deadline we had the Reasoners over for dinner. As soon as you feel you are starting to get close to people, they're gone."

Other things they don't even want to think about.

The threat of adultery with groupies hanging outside of arenas, in hotel lobbies or at bars and night clubs known to be frequented by athletes is a stress all on its own. Some wives said their husbands get propositioned in their presence, even at dinner with the kids a woman can bat her eyes and leave her phone number behind.

"Groupies are something that obviously makes our lives a little more worrisome," said Smyth. "It's always on your mind.

"I guess it's easy for any guy to find things he's not supposed to. But it's a lot easier when it is just handed to you."

For her part, Smith considers groupies "pathetic" creatures.

"I've never understood it," she said. "How can you be so ga-ga over somebody you don't know, somebody you've never even met?"

Both say it all comes down to trust.

"My husband has choices to make," said Smyth. "If he goes that route then he is an idiot. It's trust in a marriage and a strong faith in God. If I didn't have the latter I would probably be in a looney bin."

"A lot closer than a lot of places," said Smith. "Edmonton was a breath of fresh air from the moment we arrived."

The Oiler wives say they have to learn to tune out the negatives. But try teaching that to your kids.

"Are we greedy? Is daddy overpaid?"

Jordan Smith asked his mother that often during last year's lockout. Who gave him that idea? Bart's dad. Lisa's dad ..

.

"Nobody understands my life like another hockey wife," said Smyth. "I'm not complaining. At all. There are a lot of great parts to the lifestyle. And that's what a lot of people get caught up in and think being married to a hockey player is like.

"Everybody says 'Oh, you're so lucky.' And yes, we are lucky. I get to stay at home with the kids. We've been able to do some amazing travelling. Olympics. World championships.

"But it's not always so great to be on an outing with your kids and they haven't seen their father, and I haven't seen my husband, in two weeks and have everyone following every move.

"Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that it happens and why it happens. But your time is never your own.

"It can be hard. You can't help but think of the guys on the road, eating out, staying in great hotels, eating nice meals. And you're home wiping up baby poop and eating Kraft Dinner again."