Nurse discusses NHL 23 cover, Olympic gold medal in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice.
This edition features Sarah Nurse, a forward who won an Olympic gold medal with Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

It's been quite a year for Sarah Nurse, one of the top women's hockey players in the world.
The 27-year-old cousin of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse won an Olympic gold medal playing for Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, setting records for most assists (13) and points (18) in a single tournament.
Nurse is a member of the board of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), and was in Montreal recently competing for Team adidas on the PWHPA's 2022-23 Secret Dream Gap Tour.
"It's been a long process and it's been a lot of hard work, and there are a lot of people who are putting in a ton of time behind the scenes and a ton of work," Nurse said. "And so it's something that I'm so proud to be a part of, very honored to be a part of. I know it's going to pay off for not only us in a couple of years but for the future generations."
Nurse became the first woman pictured on the cover of the EA Sports NHL video game series last month, and her appearance with Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras on the NHL 23 cover is helping to shine new attention on women's hockey.
The opportunity to serve as a role model for girls was a natural, though Nurse says the cover's impact transcends gender, leading to a surprising source of recognition and adulation.
"It's the little boys, to be honest, because obviously, little girls, they're so excited because they're like, 'Oh my God, you're on a video game cover,'" Nurse said. "But seeing the little boys recognize me and be like, 'Oh my gosh, you're so famous. You're the one on the cover,' has been pretty cool because once the boys recognize the value of women in sports and understand that women in sports are impactful and here to stay, that's what we're going to see change in the game.
"So it's not only impactful for little girls to see their heroes, it's also impactful for little boys."
NHL.com caught up with Nurse and covered a range of topics, including her athletic family, imminent lacrosse-style goals in women's hockey, and her hopes for growing the game.
The Olympic gold medal and your performance in that tournament must be right at the pinnacle of your career achievements. What did it mean to you?
Yeah, it's pretty surreal because our team just had the most special Olympics probably ever and our team is going to go down probably in history as one of the best Canadian women's national teams, right? And so just seeing not only myself break a record, but we had like four records broken individually by our players. Claire Thompson broke a record, Brianne Jenner tied a record, Marie-Philip Poulin broke her own record, right? So there were so many individual achievements that ultimately led to our team's success, and without our team success that individual success doesn't come. So of course somebody's going to end up on the game sheet, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates, and it was such a special experience and something that we get to share for the rest of our lives.
When did you find out you were going to be on the cover of EA Sports NHL 23 and what did it mean to you?
I found out right after the Olympics actually. We were on vacation in Mexico as a team after we came back kind of celebrating and I got the call. And I was just so honored and shocked at the same time because I was like, 'What does this mean? What capacity am I going to be on the cover? Is it a special edition? Like, what are your visions, what are your plans?' And they said, 'We want you and Trevor to be on the same level, like you guys are equals, you're both professional hockey players.' So they wanted me to be respected and regarded as the exact same as he was. So it was an incredible experience getting to work with EA on the cover and I'm so honored and so glad that we were able to do it.
Zegras is getting so much attention for the lacrosse-style goals and all that. Is that something that is in the women's game, that kind of skill, those kinds of trick shots? Or if it's not, is it coming and do you want to see it?
It definitely is. I just see the skill of players constantly being pushed and so we definitely have some young players who are going to be planning on trying that kind of stuff out because it's fun. Like in practice, you get to try it out. You get to have fun, it's new and it's innovative and exciting. And so that's definitely coming with the women's game. Obviously with Team USA, sometimes it's really serious. And so unless it's the perfect opportunity, I don't know how many people are going to try it. But I've seen somebody like Sarah Fillier in practice and she tries the lacrosse-style goals] all the time. So I can't wait. She's over at Princeton right now and I know she's going to do at some point this year.
**Are we ever going to see you pull something like that?**
I'll try. I think my skill set, I would try to probably flip it over the net like how [Zegras] did to
[Sonny Milano
. I think that would be me. I don't think I'd score [the lacrosse-style goal], but maybe an assist.
You talked about the respect for the fact that you and Zegras are both professional hockey players, putting you on the same level. For those who don't know, can you explain the Dream Gap Tour?
Yeah, I guess for us, you know, growing up, we weren't really allowed to have the same dreams and aspirations as little boy hockey players. They were able to dream of playing professional hockey and for us, we never, ever had that. And so we want to give that to the next generation of girls and really empowering them to believe that they can be professional hockey players. They're not going to grow up with people asking them, 'OK, well, when you're done (with) university, when you're done playing hockey, what do you want to do?' Because nobody asks young stars that, nobody asks men's hockey players that. 'Oh, when you're done playing hockey, what do you want to do?' So we obviously want young women to have a professional experience. We want them to be compensated for their skills, abilities and commitment, because it's just the same as the men.
What do you want to see come out of the tour?
I think it's awesome. Having missed the last year, just with the decentralization process in the national teams, it's so awesome to be back here. And obviously this format's a little bit different, getting to mix teams. You know, I get to play with Kendall Coyne Schofield, which is something that I've never ever done and never thought that I'd be able to do. So it's a really cool format. We're getting fans used to the idea of us not being, you know, Team Canada, Team USA. Being regional teams, you want people to understand that, you know, Hilary Knight may play in Toronto, Sarah Nurse may play in Boston, like you never know. And so we want women's hockey to be shared everywhere.
The rivalry is so intense between Canada and the United States. A situation like this, where you're playing against Kendall for the first time, what is that like?
Yeah, it's really funny actually. You have an idea of who they are as a player, what they're good at and what they do. But I have a real appreciation, obviously, for players like her, especially more now getting to play with them, getting to see their vision, playing alongside of them, you know, seeing the other side of the coin. And so I think we've all just developed a new appreciation for each other and our crafts as players, and obviously there's a huge respect there. They're still our biggest rivals but getting to play alongside of some of the best players on the American team has been a lot of fun.
The teams for the tour seem pretty evenly matched. How much of a challenge was that?
Yeah, no, that was the biggest thing about this whole kind of mix up with the teams, like, we wanted to be competitive every single game. It's one of those things where you lay everything on the line and every game is going to be a battle because at the end of the season, we want to come out on top right. So we're definitely not taking any games off and it's going to be a battle right to the end.
How do you want to see women's hockey develop?
I hope that our game is just showcased at the most elite level. You look at some of our highlight reel goals, and if they were scored by an NHL player, they'd be all over Sportsnet, TSN, ESPN. They'd be everywhere, right? And so I just want to see our game showcased at the highest level and put out everywhere because we have such an incredible product, and if we could just be given the chance to have it highlighted and showcased, I think it would be pretty special. And we have so many incredible investors, and understanding that it takes investment to build something amazing. And so we've kind of started that process and I think people are really standing up and understanding how valuable we are. And so we're ready to show our value, ready to share our worth and continue to push so that we have our league next year.
What's going on in the Nurse bloodline with the athleticism? Your cousins, Darnell (NHL) and Kia (WNBA), are professional athletes, and you're related to former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb?
[Donovan is] my uncle, my aunt married him. He's been in my life for a very long time. I met him probably when I was 2 years old, right, so he's always been a part of my life. And I remember getting to go to Philadelphia and watching him play (with the Eagles) and get to experience that, but I think we all just had a lot of energy when we were kids and they had to find some sort of outlet. So we all wanted to compete and be the absolute best. And so I think we've all grown up with this competitive drive that has helped us get so far.
What does Donovan think about what's become of you from that 2-year-old kid?
Yeah, it's really funny. He could not be more proud of my accomplishments, my cousins' accomplishments, like he's gotten kind of like a first class ticket to see us all achieve such amazing things. Like we would go and spend a couple of weeks down there (in Philadelphia) every summer and we'd get to watch him train and see how hard he trains, and now he gets to kind of turn around and see what we do on a day-to-day basis and see how much we've accomplished. So he's nothing but supportive, like, getting to see him and talk to him, he's just so, so proud. And he sees us, obviously, on the ice or on the court, but also off the ice and what we want to do and bring awareness and causes and the different marketing campaigns that we're part of, and he couldn't be more proud.