She is the face of women鈥檚 hockey. She comes from sports royalty and won an Olympic gold medal, has appeared on the cover of a video game and a cereal box, had a Barbie doll made in her likeness and been called a 鈥渟weeter ting鈥 by Drake.
When her PWHL Toronto teammates walk into the Ford Performance Centre where the team practises, they鈥檙e greeted by a life-sized cardboard cut-out of her with information on how to buy tickets, even though the team has already pre-sold every seat for every one of its games this season.
Wednesday night after practice, five days before puck drop for the first-ever game in the inaugural season of the Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey League against New York, Sarah Nurse was asked how all those things compared to the prospect of finally playing in a legitimate professional league that is prepared to pay its top stars $80,000 (U.S.) a season 鈥 almost $106,000 in Canadian funds. It means she鈥檒l be able to live the same dream as her cousin and kindred spirit, Darnell Nurse, who will make almost $13.7 million more (Canadian) playing defence for the Edmonton Oilers.
Sarah Nurse is approached by a fan following practice during the Professional Women’s Hockey League鈥檚 training camp in Toronto.
Christopher KatsarovSarah is exactly one month older than Darnell and will turn 29 three days after PWHL Toronto鈥檚 first game. On New Year鈥檚 Day, she will realize a dream she thought was never possible when the two of them were in lockstep, but on very different paths, with their careers.
鈥淲e always mirrored each other with what we were doing,鈥 Nurse said. 鈥淚 was getting recruited and going off to college and he was playing in the OHL. He was getting drafted to the NHL and I was trying out for Team Canada鈥檚 under-18 team. I was always a little envious that was his opportunity and his path. When people talked about us, it was, 鈥極h, Darnell is going to play in the NHL and Sarah鈥檚 going to go to college and get a job someday.鈥 But now it鈥檚 pretty cool that both of us are able to play professional hockey.鈥
When you consider where Nurse is now, it鈥檚 a little remarkable when you realize how quickly all this has come together, both for women鈥檚 hockey and Nurse herself. It might be easy to forget that she was never the leading scorer in four years at the University of Wisconsin, and is not among the top 10 in the program鈥檚 illustrious history. It might also be easy to forget that when Nurse graduated from Wisconsin in 2017, she was cut by the Canadian women鈥檚 team. And for four years, she toiled as a depth player for Canada with the program winning silver at the 2018 Olympics before finishing a disappointing third at the world championship the same year.
Forward Sarah Nurse listens while Troy Ryan, head coach of Toronto’s PWHL team, gives instruction during practice.
Christopher KatsarovBut then came the 2022 Olympics, more specifically the third game against the Russian Olympic Committee, a game that was delayed for an hour by COVID protocols and played with members of both teams wearing masks.
Nurse was coming off a serious knee injury and wasn鈥檛 even sure she鈥檇 be able to play in the tournament. Then she found out during the warm-up聽 that she was being elevated to the top line alongside Canadian superstars Marie-Philip Poulin and Brianne Jenner. Nurse, the first Black woman to play Olympic hockey, scored a goal and assist in the 6-1 win and exploded after that, finishing the tournament with five goals and 18 points. No player in the history of women鈥檚 hockey had ever been so productive in an Olympics: not Hayley Wickenheiser, not Poulin, not Hilary Knight or Cammi Granato.
Since then, Nurse has been a women鈥檚 hockey superstar.
SARAH NURSE SENDS CANADA TO THE SEMI-FINALS!
鈥 TSN (@TSN_Sports)
PWHL Toronto, which is leaning heavily on Canadian talent, made Nurse one of its three free-agent signings prior to the draft. She will likely play on the top line with Blayre Turnbull and Samantha Cogan. She will be expected to create offence and provide leadership, all the while juggling responsibilities to promote the game and the league, be a beacon for both girls and cultural minorities in hockey and satisfy her sponsors聽鈥 heavy-hitters Tim Hortons, RBC, Chevrolet, Adidas, Canadian Tire, CCM and EA Sports among them.
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In a sport that constantly encourages its biggest stars to be low-profile, Sarah Nurse has become a brand. And when it comes to teammates who don鈥檛 have the same opportunities, Nurse has had to walk a fine line.
In that sense, her ability to be a great teammate both on and off the ice has been an asset. It would be difficult for teammates to be jealous of a player who is so well-liked. When general manager Gina Kingsbury and coach Troy Ryan were putting the 海角社区官网team together, they built a roster based on players who could establish a positive team culture, which is a strength for Nurse, who has the rare ability to be all-business on the ice while not taking herself too seriously. She talks about that as her 鈥渇low state,鈥 where she needs to be in order to perform at her best.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 be super intense and focused; I need to be light and airy,鈥 Nurse said. 鈥淚 remember even in high school my coach said, 鈥榊ou just seem so lackadaisical. You don鈥檛 seem to have that fire in you.鈥 And I was like, 鈥楴o, I have it in me and I show it on the ice, but on the bench I鈥檓 going to be laughing and joking and yukking it up with my teammates.鈥 It鈥檚 not that I鈥檓 not taking things seriously. It鈥檚 just that鈥檚 how I need to be to be performing at my best.鈥
Ryan has come to realize that with Nurse. And he鈥檚 come to appreciate how she has been able to juggle all her responsibilities and still be one of the top players in the women鈥檚 game.
Sarah Nurse’s coach has come to appreciate how she has been able to juggle all her responsibilities and still be one of the top players in the women鈥檚 game.
R.J. Johnston 海角社区官网Star鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how she does it,鈥 Ryan said. 鈥淚 try to acknowledge it as much as I can with her. She has never come into a camp, either here or with the national team, behind. She鈥檚 never come in not focused. And I鈥檝e always been impressed with that because there are things she鈥檚 doing off the ice that are bigger than hockey. It would be easy for that to take precedence, but she鈥檚 never allowed it.鈥
That鈥檚 in large part because Nurse is the first to realize that everything she has off the ice has come because of what she has been doing on it. Her voice for change is taken seriously because she performs. She is among the top earners in the women鈥檚 game both in salary and endorsements because of what she can do on the ice.
鈥淎t the end of the day, I鈥檓 a hockey player,鈥 Nurse said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a hockey player to my core.鈥
And now she can say that with more conviction than ever.
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