Nurse offered job by Panthers to run girls hockey program

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Sarah Nurse surprised Igor Shesterkin with the "Forsberg" move and scored at the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Friday.

Florida Panthers president and CEO Matt Caldwell surprised the Canadian women's hockey star with a power move of his own Saturday.

Caldwell, speaking at the announcement of the 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend Legacy Project, offered Nurse a job at the Panthers' future practice and community rinks at FTL War Memorial, which is being refurbished in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Nurse assisted in a ball hockey clinic at the Legacy project event.

"Sarah, there you are," Caldwell said. "I'm going to embarrass you, but I'm going to offer you a job today, OK? We want you to be the face of our girls program at the War Memorial. So, are you ready?"

Caldwell sounded like a man ready to make a deal, telling Nurse that she wouldn't need an agent.

"You can ask 'Barky' and Tkachuk," he said, referring to Florida forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. "This is not a joke. We're going to be coming to you afterwards. Come down to South Florida, just like everybody else who's moving down here."

Nurse said she was caught off guard but flattered by Caldwell's offer.

"I was like, 'Yes, but my agent probably wouldn't be happy about me saying yes," she said. "Honestly, this is such an awesome organization. They've been able to host an incredible All-Star event. I want to help as much as I can to help the growth of the sport everywhere in the world and South Florida."

Caldwell indicated that he's going to keep inquiring about Nurse.

"I got her agent's number right here," he said, holding a business card. "I'm going to give him a call and see if we can work something out.

"We're dead serious. This is a very important program at the War Memorial, especially the girl's program that we are going to be launching. To have someone of her caliber, we'd be blown away. She didn't accept anything yet. We'll see where it goes."

Nurse is a two-time Olympian who won a gold medal playing for Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. She had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in seven games.

Caldwell was impressed by Nurse's goal in the Discover NHL Tendy Tandem on Friday, using a one-hand move made famous by Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg against Shesterkin.

"She's dynamic, a great player, and she scored on the best goalie last night, which was really, think, the highlight of the night," Caldwell said. She's phenomenal."

Nurse said she's surprised by the response.

"Oh my goodness, it's kind of funny, I didn't realize, I guess, how big of a deal it was," she said. "The whole event was really awesome. We love that were able to take part. That event, it was kind of different, but was just great to take part in it. We have one real opportunity to showcase skill that the NHL gives us, so you have to take that one minute or one second and run with it."