Hockey Wives, ep. 6: Prust bares all; Angela deals with media; Martine gets uninvited

Each week on Hockey Wives, viewers are promised an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the lives of NHL players. That promise was certainly delivered this episode when we all got to see Brandon Prust pose naked. The show, however, kept it PG13; this is, after all, not an HBO show and there could be kids watching. (Disclaimer: Young children probably should not watch this opening scene. Or this show.) In any case, Prust stripped down alongside his fiancée Maripier Morin (MP) — who remained mostly clothed — for a photo shoot for the French version of Canadian magazine Chatelaine. And if you think this exposure might have been a tad embarrassing for Prust, think again.

“Brandon doesn’t care about being naked. He actually enjoys it,” MP said. “He likes gracing people with his nakedness.”

To be fair, Prust has likely spent a lot of time in locker rooms and is accustomed to baring it all. MP, on the other hand, might prefer we all didn’t see quite so much of her future husband. “I’m shy. I don’t want people to see him. Like this is my property — you don’t get to see this.” She was joking, mostly.

Earnestly, however, MP did admit that the closeness of the shoot, which is ironically for an article on long-distance relationship, did make her pine for more time with her boyfriend. “That cover makes me wish we had that ‘normal life’ of me just being with him,” she admitted. Since the summer trade from Montreal to Vancouver, MP has repeatedly said — multiple times per episode, in fact — she’d move to British Columbia in the new year to be with Prust. Which is why when she revealed at the end that she’s choosing to stay in Montreal, I was actually surprised. Well, as surprised as a reality show shot months earlier can leave you.

The reason, however, was predictable. In nearly two seasons of the show, MP has been cast as the workaholic, career-driven woman that stood in contrast with some of the other wives who decided to forgo — or delay — a career to be with their hockey player husbands. In fact, Tiffany Parros admitted this week that she “lost a ton of money in my clothing business” when husband George was traded to Florida and she had to move and “no one gives you credit for that sacrifice.” The series does a fine job of presenting both cases equally, casting neither as right or wrong, but rather an individual decision every hockey wife must make. In MP’s case, moving would have halted the momentum she had been building in the Quebec media industry for a while, so she stayed. However, it would be remiss to not wonder how much Prust’s lackluster year with the Canucks – he was injured, sent down and then shut down – played a part in the decision as well.

Speaking of Quebec media, they are very curious about Carey Price and, by extension, his wife Angela Price. Back in October, the Montreal media revealed that the Prices were expecting a baby before the couple could announce it themselves. The news prompted Angela to write a blog post criticizing the reporters, but later removed it when she received an apology. The topic, though, was up for discussion when Angela visited her family this week. Here’s a bit of the conversation:

Stephanie (Angela’s sister): So why do you even care?

Angela: You wouldn’t care?

Stephanie: I don’t know. I look at it kind of…

Angela: What?

Stephanie: When you’re in the eye of the public you…

Angela: You just don’t deserve any human decency?

Angela has clearly not let go of all the bitterness yet, which is completely fair. The media revealing news of the pregnancy was reportedly an honest mistake due to miscommunication, according to TSN reporter John Lu. It’s old news now and they made amends so I won’t dwell on the matter here. What was more interesting anyway about this episode was witnessing just how much of a celebrity Carey Price is in Montreal — and how Angela, who has fans routinely showing up at her door for example, handles that attention. For instance, at charity events, Angela constantly fields questions from curious fans and media about her husband’s injury and recovery status. At one point she says, “I am so excited for Carey not to be injured so he’s back playing a) and b) so I can freaking stop talking about his injury.”

Well…this must not have been a fun season for Angela.

And it’s not just the constant questions Angela faces, but it’s clear she also deals with intense pressure as the wife of the face of the Canadiens franchise goalie. During one segment, Angela clearly expresses guilt for not being able to speak French: “I don’t want to piss people off by going and speaking English,” she says ahead of her interview on a French program called En Mode Salvail. But despite the language obstacle, and the host at one point gesturing to his crotch region (it was an injury question so not totally outlandish) Angela handled the interview like a pro.

“At the end of the day, everyone’s comments and questions are coming from a good place,” she said, seemingly making peace with the media attention.

But Carey Price was not the only injured goalie central to this episode. Enter Jonathan Bernier.

Even the most lukewarm Leafs fans know Bernier had a horrendous start to the NHL season. But what we didn’t see was the emotional turmoil Bernier and his family, namely fiancée Martine Forget, went through. When Bernier was sent down to the Marlies, the Leafs AHL affiliate, Martine said she was in shock.

“I can feel he wants to cry, but he sees me crying so he’s like ‘babe, it’s going to be fine. I’m going to get through it. It’s part of the job.’ Sometimes it can be hard on them,” she admitted during her on-camera confessional.

Strangely, Martine also told her pal Taylor Winnik that when her husband was sent down, the couple was barred from attending a Leafs gala. I was as surprised as Taylor was: “You guys aren’t invited to the gala?” she asked, eyes wide. That seems extreme, doesn’t it? The former starting goaltender gets sent down to the AHL for a conditioning stint and gets uninvited to the team party. If that was indeed the case, the NHL sure is an exclusive club. Clearly the Berniers learned that the hard way this season.

Three Stars of the episode:

Third star: Tyler Bernier

Second star: The Chatelaine crew

First star: Eric Salvail, the Montreal TV host

Best line of the episode: Noureen DeWulf is speaking about her guest star role in the TV show Grandfathered, starring John Stamos.

Noureen: “This role requires me to be super into John Stamos — and it’s not a stretch.”

Misplay of the episode: Car seats and ladies nights do not mix, apparently. Noureen DeWulf, while driving Paige Getzlaf and Tiffany Parros to dinner, admits maybe bringing the car seat along was a bad idea.

Noureen: “Isn’t there something so bizarre about getting all dressed up sexy and then you get in your car and there’s a car seat in it?”

Tiffany: Yeah. I actually take the car seats out…