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Hockey Wives skate to Season 2 for W Network

A lot of pressure is put on NHL players. They’re paid to score—or stop—goals, expensive commodities that can suffer a career-ending injury or be traded to a team on the other side of the country. It’s a stress-filled, sometimes cruel sport.

But let’s not forget the wives, girlfriends and children behind the scenes whose lives are affected just as much as the players. Returning Wednesday on W Network, Season 2 of Hockey Wives follows 11 ladies who call NHL players their husband, fiancé or boyfriend.

“Some of the girls from Season 1 were throwing my name around to the producers and told me how much fun they had,” says show newbie Angela Price. “I went back and forth with the producers before finally saying yes.” Wife of Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, Wednesday’s return introduces viewers to the affable young couple away from the ice, participating in photo ops at their charity, the Breakfast Club of Canada. Baby talk is front and centre; cameras capture Angela detailing how the pair are trying to get pregnant.

Back for Season 2—alongside Keshia Chanté, Rhianna Weaver, Kodette LaBarbera, Tiffany Parros, Noureen DeWulf, Paige Getzlaf, Taylor Winnick, Ashley Booth and Maripier Morin—is Martine Forget, wife of Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier. She reveals her sophomore season storyline is filled by footage of her raising their infant son, Tyler, and planning the couple’s wedding.

Price and Forget admit not every part of their lives was recorded for Hockey Wives; the Prices’ home life hasn’t been documented and Forget nixed a dinner out in Toronto.

“They asked Jonathan and I to go out for dinner,” she recalls. “But dinner in Toronto, with the cameras, is just too much. With the cameras there’s just so much attention, so we said no.” Forget adds that, with the shaky start the Maple Leafs have had, her hubby would rather concentrate on his game than reality TV cameras.

It’s easy, in this social media-obsessed world, to dismiss the ladies as women swanning around mansions waiting for a paycheque to be cashed. Hockey Wives is an eye-opener. Sure, there are high-profile events to attend and swank dinners on the calendar, but so is everyday stuff like laundry, paying bills, helping with homework, changing dirty diapers or holding down a job. Throw in a partner who is away playing hockey much of the year and you’ve got recipe for disaster.

“I want viewers to understand that I’m a mom going back to work and that I’m not at home spending money all the time,” says Forget.

“There are so many different varieties of lifestyles in hockey,” Price says. “I’m excited for people to see that Carey and I live a very similar lifestyle to what we did before he became a professional hockey player and we find pleasure in doing the same things we’ve always done.”

Hockey Wives airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

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Preview: Hockey Wives score for W Network

“If Brandon cheated on me, I would cut his balls off, cook them and make him eat them.” This is what would befall Montreal Canadiens right winger Brandon Prust if he ever cheated on his girlfriend, Marpier Morin.

Morin’s threat is just a sample of the various bon mots and personalities uncovered in the first episode of Hockey Wives, debuting Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network. The reality show follows 10 girlfriends and wives of NHL hockey players and coaches who are shown doing the everyday things that other married women do, like shop, take care of kids or carry on a career. Unlike most married women, however, these gals live in an environment where an injury to their partner can mean the end to a steady paycheque or a trade equals picking up their entire lives and moving somewhere else.

For someone like Noureen DeWulf—betrothed to Vancouver Canucks net minder Ryan Miller—it equals a couple of unknowns. Pregnant with their first child, DeWulf is unsure whether to move to Vancouver to be with her man or stay in Los Angeles and continue her acting career.

For Brijet Whitney—wife of recently retired player Ray—it means a wholesale upheaval in her life. The mother of three has her husband home for the first time in over two decades and worries they’ll become a statistic of hockey couples who divorce after the player hangs up his skates for good. Brijet is clearly the most grounded of all the wives featured in Episode 1; she’s been through the ups and downs of an NHL career and knows it can be taken away in a flash.

Hockey Wives isn’t my cup of television tea, but I certainly see the allure. The opportunity to tune in and see how these ladies get on with organizing the home and kids while their pro athlete partners are away is fascinating stuff. Even the group get-togethers—which I’m sure were set up by producers and fuelled with booze in hopes of fireworks going off—are entertaining, if not a little tame.

Hockey Wives airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

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