*OH, and I'll have just a few words on Brent Thompson's stint as adult hockey camp coach as well.
It's mid August and I'm not really ready to discuss the CBA, are you? Matt Moulson and his wife Alicia welcomed their baby girl, Mila, over the weekend. We congratulate him on the addition to his family. With the Olympics going on, I didn't pay too much attention to the Canada vs. Russia games with Griffin Reinhart. I'll check those later. But Sunday I managed to head out to Syosset by 10:30 for the annual Ice Girl try-outs.
But, like everyone else last night, I got caught up in the hoopla of the London Olympics closing ceremony. The musical talent alone made it hard to do anything else but watch, so the interview article I have for yesterday's Ice Girl auditions is not ready.
But since pictures tell a thousand words, thanks to David Hochman, @dhoch08, why don't I give you the photos now and the words later tonight when they are done.
The girls were all very pretty and eager to have Linda Beach chose them to make the cut. The sad thing is always that not all of them do. Some don't even make it past the first twirl around the ice.
So enjoy the photos for now and I'll tell you all about Victoria and the reason she has come back for a third year.
Nine girls made the cut yesterday, but not the one I was betting on. I owe David a coffee for that one. There will be ten, but Danielle, who is returning from last seson was not available yesterday.
More later. Have a good Monday. Talk to you later.
5:39 pm: I know you're still looking at the photos, but here is the words that go with them.
It’s August and it’s that time again when the hockey news is quite light. So let’s take a moment to see what went on at Iceworks today as the New York Islanders held their eleventh annual Ice Girls auditions on a Sunday morning at what should have been an ungodly hour for most of these young women.
But there they were -- skate bags in hand, dressed in figure hugging yoga pants and perfect make-up. All 21 of them. Eight Ice Girls from last season expressed interest in returning, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to audition.
I caught up with Ice Girl Victoria before the auditions started to ask why she would come back for a third year in a row and why she even tried out in the first place.
It was a love of performing that still burned for Victoria after competitive skating ended for her.
“I wanted to still be involved in skating, I love to go out on the ice and smile and skate and this was a great opportunity for me.” Her smile is infectious and boy, can she ever skate!
She admitted to me that she wasn’t always a hockey fan but “Now, I feel totally immersed and I love it. My Mom loves it; she’s a huge Islander fan and has really embraced the team. She used to be at every skating competition of mine. Now she comes to the games and it’s almost the same, exciting feeling.”
Being an Ice Girl is a big commitment when it comes to time, yet it is flexible enough for Victoria to work as an aerobics instructor and personal trainer as well as continue her college education. “It’s perfect. I can balance having a few part-time jobs and going to school. I’m really thrilled.”
The schedule may be flexible with a squad of ten to twelve girls, but it isn’t as seasonal as you would expect. There is always something going on. Games, appearances, charity events and school programs, the Ice Girls get around.
“We all do summer events. I just did one yesterday.” And no, she didn’t skate at that one.
With the amount of contact she has with the public, I was certain she has been asked a few odd questions, so when I asked what the strangest question she had ever been asked was, she didn’t hesitate to answer. “I was asked if my abs were real. I swear to God, someone thought I had sprayed them on.” While it was a compliment, I suppose some people don’t realize how much these girls actually work hard to maintain those bodies.
“Even when I skate I do a lot of aerobics and resistance training. But they actually didn’t believe me.”
Her best memory of the job so far is her first time riding the Zamboni. “It was actually extremely exciting and I love teasing the crowd and shooting shirts.” By the way, that shirt shooter isn’t exactly light. It’s about 30 lbs so you better have a good shoulder to rest that one and be able to handle it when it goes off. “By the end, your shoulder does hurt because you’ve been holding it the whole time.”
Her past experience as an Ice Girl wasn’t what I would have expected such as a falling flat out on the ice in front of a packed house, but that thought does cross their minds. “I didn’t actually fall, but one time I did get stuck in a rut pretty bad, but I caught myself. I could feel my face was so red. We weren’t shoveling at the time, but I was about to go do an intermission contest and I turned funny and just slipped. “While slipping and falling may be embarrassing, a fall on the ice could also be dangerous. Luckily, Victoria is very well trained as a skater.
“Even when I skate I do a lot of aerobics and resistance training. But they actually didn’t believe me.”
The New York Islanders are not the only team that has a squad of female in-arena entertainment, and not all of them are actually “Ice” Girls. I didn’t know if there was some sort of secret society or if they checked out what the other teams were doing. “We do.” Victoria told me. “Other teams, like the Devils, just have Dancers and I met them at an event this past winter and they were amazed that we could skate. I didn’t realize that some of the girls don’t actually shovel (ice), they just dance. But I do check out the other teams. And they’re all very nice; we know we are all in the same boat.”
The entire idea of Ice Girls at time has been polarizing. Some think it’s unnecessary and sexist. I asked Victoria what she’d like to say about the job from her point of view. “I would say that most football teams have cheerleaders and we actually work very hard. We are behind the scenes; we are running around the Coliseum, once the game starts we are constantly running around. We are very involved in the games. Even though we may not be playing like the team is, there is a lot that goes into being an Ice Girl. People don’t realize it until we explain what we do.”
There is no shortage of folks looking to take pictures with them, but Victoria’s favorites are the young girls who look up to her and want to skate. “I feel so happy that I can be a role model.” Even though she knows how grueling the life of a figure skater can be. But she’d like to continue to be involved in skating and perhaps one day even coach, but not now as she’s still getting a degree in broadcasting.
Rachel, found out about the auditions through training at the Rinx with some of the older girls who had been Ice Girls. She didn’t have the opportunity to try out as she had been away for college. But now back at home, she wanted to give it a shot. Rachel was also a competitive skater from 10-years-old until mid-high school. A smart girl, she was also an Islander fan growing up and has a very special memory of a birthday when her father had her name put on the Jumbotron over center-ice wishing her a happy birthday. “This is really exciting to be, hopefully, a part of the Islander family.”
Rachel is not worried about how time consuming the job would be. She knows she can do it, she feels it’s more a commitment of heart. “This is a very heart-felt commitment and I have that! I think I’m ready! No, I know I’m ready.”
Rachel was ready as she made the cut and will be one of the four new 2012-2013 Islander Ice Girls. So, Stephanie and Samantha, who did audition yesterday, are will not be returning.
Welcome to the family Rachel.
You're new squad, less one.
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