As 'Hockey Wives' finale approaches, series gets green light for second season

The season finale of W Network's 'Hockey Wives' airs tonight, and, after an entertaining first season, has been given the green light to start production on a second set of episodes. There's uncertainty about which wives will be on the program next season, but production is expected to start around the beginning of the 2015-16 NHL season.

The icy, slippery slope of reality television continues. As W Network’s Hockey Wives skates into its first season finale on Wednesday night, it’s leaving behind a trail of broken dreams, controversial women and in rare cases, inspiring stories that actually show what living this life looks like once you’ve “made it.”

Thanks to record-breaking ratings, a strong ranking on iTunes and international buzz, it also looks like Hockey Wives is here to stay—at least for a second season. W Network confirmed the news on Tuesday morning, telling THN that contract negotiations are ongoing to bring back some of the wives featured in Season 1, and that they’ll be adding some fresh faces to the mix as well. It’s still unknown who, exactly, will return or which new wives the crew is looking to add, but production is expected to ramp back up around the start of the 2015-16 hockey season later this year.

The news was anything but unexpected. Over the course of the show’s eight episodes, hundreds of thousands of viewers have followed these women through some very personal journeys, a pregnancy, two retirements and the constant threat of their husbands being traded. Then of course there were the fancy outfits, lavish houses, extravagant trips and all the photo shoots. (Seriously, who needs that many photo shoots?)

Noureen DeWulf does, it seems. Between her pregnant Playboy shoot and more homely family shots later on in the season with hubby Ryan Miller, she was in her fair share of them. For good reason, apparently.

“For a big magazine to do a four-page shoot, maybe that will open some things up for me here.”

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The Anger Management actress, whose pregnancy was a key plot point throughout, quickly made frenemies of her viewers by whining about hitting 100 pounds thanks to her baby weight and lamenting about paying an assistant whose only task seemed to be taking out the trash when Ryan was away.

On the other end of the spectrum was breakout star Tiffany Parros, the wife of now-retired player George Parros. Between her award-winning stink faces and her epically honest comments to the cameras, it’s almost shocking that she’s as good of friends with as many of the wives as she is. She also proved to be a great motivational force for her husband:

“Obviously, we promised him a threesome.”

Then again, there’s something to be said for having a straight-shooting girlfriend in your life. And for being on a reality series that thrives on such dramatics. Featuring Tiffany front and center seems like a clear no-brainer, doesn’t it?

In Montreal Maripier Morin’s constant struggles with not being married to Canadiens’ winger Brandon Prust went from cute to annoying in a matter of episodes, not particularly because that was all we heard about, but because women need men to know that’s not the only thing on our minds. Although, she was particularly relatable with her reaction to the ring Jonathan Bernier bought Martine Forget:

“I want to sit in a corner, get drunk and chain smoke."

Do you know what kind of adventures you could have with the cash it took to buy that ring?

On the married side of life, there are bigger things to think about if you’re a hockey wife. They range from serious issues (like Kodette LaBarbera’s mission to raise awareness for Autism) to the trivial. For example if you’re like Nicole Brown in the pilot episode, you spent much of the season worrying about your husband (Dustin Brown) winning a third Stanley Cup ring so there’s one for all three of the kids. Sorry Nicole, looks like you’re going have to wait on that dream. For now, we’d like to know more about this dream house you’re building, though.

"In the new house I will have three washers and three dryers. I don't think that’s overly extravagant.”

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Of course as we learned not all wives are as well off as Nicole. Fan favorite Emilie may have thrown her nose up at Jonathon Blum’s suggestion they move to Europe so he could play there for a while, but she and her Chiweenies weren’t feeling confident enough to fit in at Brijet Whitney’s party, either.

"Their husbands make six, eight, 10 times more than my husband makes. I’m this nobody that’s married to a guy that they’ve never heard of.”

Maybe she should just give it time. That’s what we’ll be doing while we await news on what kinds of shenanigans the Hockey Wives will get into when they return for Season 2.

Hockey Wives wraps Wednesday, May 6 at 10 p.m. EST on W Network.