So this is that elsewhere,  A Kick Save and a Beauty, a title I felt both appropriate on a geeky hockey quote level, on a 7 year goaltender level and a girly girl fashion lover level. I also figured, what better day to start this than the first official day of the season.  That was yesterday and as I failed to do that, what better day to start than today! The second day of the season

So where do I start? Maybe with today’s games or the love I’ve refound for the Leafs. What about my latest girl crushes on Brian Burke, Matt Duchene or Brent Seabrook’s hair (really anything to do with the Blackhawks and their dysfunctional trip to Europe)?

No. I figured the best place to start this all was at the very start. The very start So here it is, the story of how a teenage Australian girl found hockey.

It’s not the longest story but it started whilst growing up in Australia in a rural town. Having seen an ad for inline hockey on TV, my brother signed up and after a few weeks of him playing, my father dragged me along (albeit kicking and screaming, most undignified for a 13 year old). Within minutes of seeing it I had fallen in love and signed up to play.

At that time, our court was a basketball court with wooden boards and nets that the club had built (and over the next few seasons, I was involved in moving again and again and our club was small, no more than 30 of us who played each other week after week, it was a great place.

On a Wednesday afternoon in June 2003, I turned the tv on, passing the time before hockey only to find Ice Hockey. Paul Kariya skated up the ice, the Duck emblazoned on his chest, and committed what I soon learnt to be one of the cardinal sins of hockey. His head down, Kariya crossed the red line and whilst watching his pass slide to a teammate he was knocked unconscious by Scott Stevens. After regaining consciousness, breath fogging his visor and being helped from the rink, Kariya returned, scoring the game winning goal.

By the time the puck fluttered over Brodeur’s shoulder, the red light went on, I had fallen in love with the sport. 6 years later, I still am.