Why a PWHL playoff game forced players to refuel with ... mustard?
Why a PWHL playoff game forced players to refuel with ... mustard?
A recent PWHL playoff game was so long that players had to tap into emergency resources like... mustard? Yeah, mustarddddddddd. (Sorry. I'll show myself out.)
On Sunday, the Montreal Victoire and Ottawa Charge played the longest game in PWHL history. It included four overtime periods and took roughly six hours to complete. If you're keeping up, that's the equivalent of playing two hockey games (and then some) back-to-back. Sounds exhausting, right? Well, it was. The game was so draining for players that trainers had to resort to refueling them with mustard and pickle juice.
MORE PWHL: 10 PWHL Takeover Tour photos, including Kraken coach Jessica Campbell's awesome puck drop
Why mustard and pickle juice? Ottawa's head athletic therapist Amanda Deluca shared with Jolene Latimer of theScore that they help slow down cramps by disrupting the body's communication system. "Anything with a strong taste, like wasabi, could do the same," she said. "It just delays the onset of exertional muscle cramps." Here's a photo from Sunday's matchup that proves this actually happened.
Shoutout to mustard packets everywhere.
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