Hockey Playoffs a Hairy Situation for Carrie Underwood

The good news for Carrie Underwood is that her hockey-playing husband Mike Fisher's team, the Nashville Predators, is in the NHL playoffs. The bad news? A certain ritual that accompanies those games.

"I'm not looking forward to the playoff beard," Carrie tells People magazine with a laugh. "[The players] all grow out their facial hair during the playoffs ... So before they started, I told Mike, 'You need to shave close.' He always looks good with a little stubble, but it's probably going to get out of hand soon."

She does have a plan to get even, however, adding, "I'm going to stop shaving, too. Just kidding!"

Although her tour schedule and other commitments often prevent Carrie from attending Mike's games in person, she makes sure to try and catch them on TV when she can. "Sometimes I can't watch, so I have to listen to the games [on the radio], and that's horrible," she notes. "But I've gotta cheer him on even if I'm just listening."

Now that her hubby, who was traded to Nashville from the Ottawa Senators in 2011, is playing for Music City, it's a little easier for Carrie to get to the games. "What a blessing," the superstar singer says of the trade. "He could've gone to any one of 29 other teams. But Nashville loves him and he loves Nashville. And I love having him there."

Carrie continues to gear up for the May 1 release of her album, Blown Away. But even though the disc marks her fourth release, the multi-platinum-selling artist is still mindful of how she first came to the attention of fans.

"I'm in a unique position," says Carrie (quote via CMIL). "Most other artists, it's like they work hard, they get a record deal, and they put out an album ... the steam rolls a little bit more and then they gather fans along the way. I came into this music industry in a different way through "American Idol," and I feel like I'm an elected official, often, because they voted me in. They voted for me. I still get people coming up to me all the time saying, 'I voted for you! Oh, my gosh, it's been so great to see everything that's happened in the past seven years,' or little kids saying, 'I've listened to you ever since I was a baby.' I'm like, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm old now!' But it's been really, really great to have that support from the beginning. They made me. They put me where I am, literally, through their votes and through their support and through them buying the albums afterwards."

Read more about Carrie's new album, tour and more here.