On a special edition of Canucks Conversation, Olympic gold medalist and PWHL star Sarah Nurse joined the show to talk about her next chapter – joining Vancouver’s new PWHL expansion franchise – and to reflect on her incredible career and what’s ahead for women’s hockey.

Nurse, one of the most decorated and recognizable players in the women’s game, is bringing an elite résumé to Vancouver. She’s a two-time Olympic medalist with Team Canada, winning gold in 2022 and silver in 2018. At the Beijing Games, she was named Best Forward after setting the Olympic records for most points (18) and most assists (13) in a single tournament. She’s also a three-time World Championship gold medalist (2021, 2022, 2024) and a driving force in the growth of professional women’s hockey through her leadership with the PWHPA and now the PWHL.

For Nurse, the excitement of joining the new Vancouver team is already setting in.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “It feels like we’ve been talking about it for a long time, so I want to be done talking about it and get to Vancouver to start training and playing together.”

The PWHL’s decision to expand was bold — only three players were protected per existing franchise — but for Nurse, that aggressive approach is what’s helping build parity and excitement right away.

“The expansion was definitely aggressive; protecting three players per franchise is pretty crazy, but the league made it clear they wanted competitive expansion teams, and this is their way of achieving that,” she said. “Being able to be a part of the expansion process, seeing the draft and free agency, watching the team start to shape up — you start thinking about possible pairings, line combinations, and everything starts to look good — but we also have to gel and have chemistry, which is the most important thing. The biggest challenge will be making sure we can come in, be on the same page, and be going towards that same common goal together. I’m confident after speaking to most of my team and coaches, I’m really excited about the group we have.”

That excitement is part of a larger wave of momentum behind the women’s game — one that Nurse has helped shape both on and off the ice.

“It’s great, the popularity of women’s hockey has gone through the roof,” she said. “To be able to turn on the TV and see our highlights or promotion has been monumental because growing up, I never saw women’s sports, let alone women’s hockey at all. The popularity has shown that, given the platform, we can do some special things. We’re still a startup, only going into year three, and as we move forward, it’s going to be amazing. We’re going to continue to raise the bar.”

Nurse’s connection to the game runs deep. Growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, she developed a love for hockey early — long before women’s pro leagues or Olympic dreams seemed realistic.

“I’ve always liked playing hockey. I learned how to skate and loved it, and hockey followed naturally, and I’ve always been good at it,” Nurse said. “It didn’t necessarily occur to me — the first time I saw women’s hockey was the 2002 Olympics, and obviously I wanted to play on that team, but there weren’t many other stepping stones to get to, so I just played hockey for fun for many years. I realized I could possibly get the opportunity to get a scholarship, so that became my next goal. Through that came Team Canada things, and after that, it all melted together the way it was supposed to, but my joy just came from playing hockey, and I didn’t really have expectations on a career.”

That pure love for the game helped carry her through an impressive collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin. There, she recorded 137 points in 150 games, earned All-American honours, and led the Badgers to four straight Frozen Four appearances.

And of course, the Olympic stage remains one of the defining moments of her journey.

“The Olympics are something you dream about as a young kid,” Nurse reflected. “It was such a different Olympics with COVID and everything going on — not having family and friends made it completely different but interesting; it really was our team banded together. That tournament, it felt like we had lightning in a bottle. Our team was firing on every cylinder possible, and it felt like every puck that touched our sticks was going in the net. That’s a really good feeling, to be in that flow state. It wasn’t easy, but we were at ease. That Olympics was so special for so many reasons. So many of my teammates had incredible performances, and having the prospect of getting back there in Milan is so exciting. I can’t wait to continue to try out for the National Team and hopefully earn a spot on the Milan roster.”

Beyond her play and leadership, Nurse is also a voice for innovation in the sport. She’s a fan of the league’s “jailbreak” and three-point rule system — unique twists that have added energy and strategy to the PWHL.

“I really like the jailbreak rule — nothing fires up a team more than a jailbreak goal,” she said. “But the three-point system is game-changing. Last year, New York lost like nine or 10 games in a row and weren’t eliminated until the end of the year, which goes to show how much three points mean. It’s an interesting point system that I think would be really cool to be integrated at different levels in professional hockey.”

From NCAA success to Olympic glory, and now to leading the charge in Vancouver, Sarah Nurse continues to embody the growth and future of women’s hockey — on and off the ice.

You can watch the full segment here: