Happy Hockey Mother's Day!

Despite my mom giving me heck for sitting at a computer writing on this very blog, I wanted to write an entry dedicated to all the moms out there who are involved in hockey in some capacity. Whether you're driving the minivan or SUV full of kids at 6:30am to a local rink, playing hockey on your own team, or watching hockey with your kids on TV, hockey moms are a special group of people. They are the backbone of the very sport. They are helping their kids succeed in the areas of teamwork, good sportsmanship, and responsibility. Without hockey moms, hockey players wouldn't be where they are today. And that's why you deserve a big thank you on this day.

There are many examples of amazing women who are hockey moms out there, but they all share one common bond: they are the strength of an entire sport, and part of what makes the game so great.

Lori Hare, for example, was a stay-at-home mom to her three hockey-playing boys until she applied with CANCAP. The 34 year-old Petawawa, Ontario woman went from being a domestic goddess to being a paper-pushing civilian on the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Sylvie Savage is another hockey mom who is doing all she can to help her son. Her son, Sebastien Savage, was paralyzed during a University of Moncton game in 2005, and she's been there every step of the way for her son.

Former AHLer Jimmy Roy suggested that the Mother's Day celebration become a weekend or week-long celebration. "Mothers are really underrated, I've watched what my wife has done with our little girl," Roy said to The Winnipeg Sun's Ken Wiebe. "It's more than a full-time job and you don't get much credit for it. It's a good holiday for them and it's well-deserved. It should probably be more than one day a year."

Obviously, with hockey players on the road or playing in cities away from home, it's a little tougher for them to spend time with their moms and wives, but they have creative ways to make it up to their loved ones.

Even the media gets in on praising hockey moms. Don Cherry of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada spent time in Halifax this season to give thanks to all the hockey moms out there, calling them "the greatest people in the world". I have to agree with Mr. Cherry, and he showed his appreciation on Coach's Corner a few nights later.

There's even an entire blog dedicated to hockey moms. Hockey Moms is a site devoted to all things that can help a hockey mom out. It appears to be a very good resource, and might be of use to any reader of this blog.

The Winnipeg Sun even held a "Hottest Hockey Mom" contest this past year. LeFawn won the contest, which allowed her son's team to earn $500 and tickets for 13 Niverville Clippers players, her son's team, to watch a Manitoba Moose game from the Winnipeg Sun suite at the MTS Centre. Personally, I don't think this kind of promotion is good for hockey moms, but I'm not judging these women. If you look good, I guess you can flaunt it.

To be honest, though, I have more respect for hockey moms than simply to classify them as sex symbols. The Sun, however, doesn't as they've had many over the last few years, some more provocatively-dressed than others: LeFawn, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, and another.

Anyway, I wanted to say thank you to all moms out there who sacrifice sleep and their own free time for their kids. I know that there are a lot of times the 5:30am alarm doesn't seem fair, but the smile on your child's face has to be worth it.

To my mom, thanks for putting up with hockey obsession, and for being there when I needed a ride or something washed or whatever. I couldn't have made it this far without you, Mom. Thanks again!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

- thanks to John Muir, a Uni Watch blog reader, for the Don Cherry picture.