Just Because I Like Hockey, Doesn't Make me a Puck Bunny.
Females all around the world are getting grief for being a hockey fan. In an instant you're labeled as a "Puck Bunny", regardless of what the reasoning behind it is. In today's society sex sells everything. That's why the NHL uses players like Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews as poster boys. They're considered eye candy, allowing people, especially males, to assume that the only reason we watch hockey is to swoon over these men. This however, couldn't be far from the truth.
Being a female, we are subjected to harsh judgments, simply based on our sex. We're constantly under society's microscope. We're judged if we're too fat, too skinny, too tall or too short, if we have red hair or brown hair. Every time we turn around we are being judged. With hockey, judgment doesn't exist. As one hockey fan put it:
"I love the sport because anyone can play it male, female, white, black, Swedish, Russian, anyone really. The game is so fast and exciting I'm always on the edge on my seat. It also has its own type of beauty, I don't know what it is really but there's something about the game that's beautiful." - T.Robinson
The love of the game for most starts at a young age. It happens between the ages of three and five. You're brought to your first hockey game and you're standing at the glass, watching the home team practice, your mom, sister or older brother is standing next to you, pounding on the glass to try and get the attention of their favorite player. Then all of a sudden he looks in your direction and tosses you a puck. You're fist souvenir. You then begin to watch this person and you love how fast they move and how swiftly they can maneuver a rubber disc with a stick. This is when the seeds are planted in your mind, and you're hooked. The simple act of a puck being tossed over the glass, the fact of knowing this "pro" player gave this specifically to you excites you and makes you feel special, like you belong. It's that feeling of belonging and of being at home that makes hockey so wonderful.
We watch because these professional athletes took the time to notice us. They went out of their way to makes us feel special as little kids. We idolize them and look up to them as role models. Our love for hockey dates back to the time when boys had cooties and were contagious.
We grow up watching these players get increasingly better over the years and move up from the minor leagues. We follow their progress from year to year and learn the rules of the game as we get older. We begin to notice that boys aren't all contagious and about flinging boogers on us, and that they have more to offer. However, as fans we judge based on the talent of the player rather than the looks. As a Pittsburgh fan put it :
"I'm a girl, if I think a player is hot, I'll be the first to admit it. but I know talent when I see it, so I'd rather see talent over looks." - G.Scardina
By the time we reach our twenties we have established a favorite team and interest in a few different players. We can tell you all of their stats, individually and as a team. We even know the little things like how many children they have, what their favorite hobby is and what their height and weight is. A 'puck bunny" wouldn't be able to tell you any of these things.
So guys next time you're buddy bails on you and you need someone to go with you to the game, let me ask you this: Do you want to take the girl that will be looking at the rafters and texting her best friend the whole night, or the girl that can give you all the stats and will flip off the ref at every bad call?
