Empty Netters Podcast - Sarah Nurse Is Changing Women's Hockey Forever

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

Sarah Nurse sits down with the boys and chats about turning the PWHL into a global brand. Despite Toronto coming up just short in the inaugural season, their road to the cup is full steam ahead in year two. Her years of dominating at Wisconsin played a major part in getting her on the Canadian Olympic Team, where she became the first black woman ever to win a gold medal in women’s hockey.   ENTER OUR SWEEPSTAKES HERE! https://try.gooddaymood.com/sweepstakes-1/ NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! PRESENTED by BetMGM. Download the BETMGM app and use code “NETTERS” and enjoy up to $1500 in bonus bets if you lose your first wager!  SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: BAUER. Bauer is the go to destination for all your training needs. Head to http://www.bauer.com/training to explore tools like the Digital Reactor Danger for stickhandling or the Reactor Slide Board to add strength to your stride.  CASHAPP. Download CashApp and take control of your finances! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cash-ap... RIKI. Head to https://rikispirits.com/ to find out where to get RIKI near you. Follow @friday.beers and @rikispirits to stay up to date with upcoming RIKI contests and giveaways   FUNKAWAY. To check out the full family of FunkAway products go to http://www.funkaway.com to learn more funk’in cool stuff. And head over to Amazon right now and grab FunkAway products with just a few clicks.  FIREBALL . Fireball’s iconic cinnamon flavor tastes fire and goes down easy, making it the ultimate crowd pleasure. Go pick up some from your local liquor store and join us in drinking Fireball during our game days this season! #IgniteYourRivalry  EVERYMANJACK. Give Every Man Jack a shot today and go to http://www.everymanjack.com and use code “NETTERS” at checkout for 25% off your first order  CBDMD. Visit http://www.cbdmd.com to explore their extensive range of products and find the perfect solution for your needs. Don’t forget to use code “FRIDAY” at checkout to get 30% OF + Free Shipping.  DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB. Dollar Shave Club products are now available everywhere, so you can order from their website, Amazon, or get them at your favorite retailer near you. Visit their site right now for 20% off $20 or more, and get your products delivered right to your door. Visit http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/netters and use promo code NETTERS for 20% off $20 or more  CHOMPS. If you are looking for the PERFECT on the go snack that has zero grams of sugar and packed with high quality protein, then Chomps is for you. To learn more about Chomps, click here! http://www.chomps.com/emptynetters (00:00) INTRO (11:29) MAKING OLYMPIC TEAM (18:14) 2022 (26:45) NHL ALL STAR GAME (32:12) PWHL (41:53) 3 GAMES INTO SEASON (46:58) RANKING PWHL JERSEYS (50:41) PASS SHOOT SCORE (1:01:49) OUTRO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ice is ready and we are back with another episode of the empty netters podcast brought to you by BetMGM. Sarah Nurse joins the pod and we've ruined her life by not letting her see Wicked. That actually was an absolute dagger to hear. Oh my God. It was an absolute dagger to hear. But dude, the stories she has, you kind of forget how decorated she is, right? Yeah. It's insane. But the story she has from, because you hear, here's what the thing is, you hear Olympics, gold medal, whatever. Yeah. But it's the little stuff about like almost couldn't play because of his injury. P-dub almost didn't happen because of that,

you know, it's all those little wrinkles that get lost in the shuffle of all the great successes. That's what really blew my mind. She truly embodies a hockey player in every single way. And that whirlwind from Second Olympics to today is just nonstop electric factory stories. It's unbelievable. Don't want to waste any more time.

Let's get right into the interview. Let everyone enjoy this awesome episode with Sarah Nurse. What a legend. Let's hit it. We are joined today by an Ontario native, a winner of five WCHA championships, a U-18 gold medalist, a three-time world championship gold medalist, and an Olympic gold medalist. Stack them up.

Let's go. And now a member of the Toronto Scepters and the PWHL, Sarah Nurse at long last. Welcome to the Empty Netters podcast. Finally, thank you for having me. I have to ask, because I wanted to put this in the intro, but I never want to ruffle feathers. Yeah. Do you claim Burlington or Hamilton as the hometown? So I was born in Burlington, so I spent my first two good days there, but I was raised in Hamilton.

Okay. So you're a Hamilton name. I thought you were going to say like two years, two months, two days, 48 hours. I said two days. Two days and then she got booted from the hospital. Yeah. Yeah. That's so good.

Mercy, how you're, you know, three games in already. Do you, this is the one thing I don't miss from playing competitively anymore. How many knocks do you already have three games into the season? Oh, gosh, you guys. Like, it always surprises you when the season starts, hey? It's insane. And, like, all of a sudden you're getting, yeah. And all of a sudden, I'm just like, I try to get to the game unscathed.

I don't want to be touched, but then here we are, beating up on each other. And it always shocks you at the beginning of every season. Yeah. Every time I walk out of a game. Even, frankly, I just made a joke, but even Beer League, I walk out of every hockey game and something hurts no matter what. Well, it's the classic, it's the guess that bruise game. You get in the shower like a day later and you're looking at your hip and there's just a massive wealth on yourself. And you're like, when did that happen?

Absolutely. It's ridiculous. It's like, it's embarrassing. I was in this. I go to like a sauna at this gym and it's not anything really. related to my team or anything. And I have like bruises all over my body. And like you can tell people are looking at you.

Well, the other women don't know you're an athlete. And they're like, we need to call somebody. Yeah. The authorities need to be called immediately. They're like, are you okay? Is everything okay at home? And I'm like, no, I'm good. I just get hit with pops and time.

I'm dying at the image of Sarah, just like trying to have a relaxing day at a spa. And someone comes up to her and is like, if you need help, just like, let's find at home. They're actually horrible at work. Yeah. Yeah, it works a nightmare. Oh, my God.

That's amazing. Okay, Mercy, you had an illustrious collegiate career, as Dan has mentioned already, as a Wisconsin Badger. And I want to get into a lot of that with you, but the first thing I have to ask is I found this on the Wisconsin website from when you were there. And there was a question posed to you that said, why Wisconsin? And you said, and I quote, it is an excellent and well-respected university with a stunning campus and an equally impressive hockey program, end quote, which has got to be the most

cookie cutter bullshit I've ever heard in my entire fucking life. You're reading that. I was like, dang, that's good. Yeah, yeah. Sarah was ready for something bad, and she was like, wait, I nailed the answer. What are you talking about? So I'm like, what really happened? How, were there other schools in the running, actually why Wisconsin?

I want to hear the real story about how we ended up there. honestly it stunning campus incredible um but to be fair i had talked to a bunch of different schools so whether that be like big 10 schools i talked to some ivy league schools i talked to some smaller schools but i realized that i just wanted to go and sit in a classroom of 500 people and just be a number like i didn't want anybody to know my name i wanted to sit at the back of the class professors didn't need to know me my teammates my classmates didn't have to know me i just wanted to be student number 447-2-9-1. Like, that's all I wanted.

And so I got to Wisconsin, I saw that there were thousands of people on that campus. I was like, this seems like a good time. Big football stadium, big sports. There were great restaurants, great bars as well. And I was like, sign me up. Sign me up. That sounds perfect. Were you a sweatshirt and sweatpants kind of gal at class?

No, I was looking cute. Good. I love it. Good. She's fashion heavy. Yeah. Oh, yes. That pulse me up.

And I was at the business school, too, you guys. So you can't walk in there with sweatpants. There you go. True. I'm big on this. That's one of my claim to fames in college. I never once. Not one time did I go to class in sweatpants because I was like, what are we doing here?

It doesn't take that much out. You got to look good. I'm with you. I'm with you. Absolutely. I love that take too because sometimes, well, it's about half and half. But I was going to say, sometimes we hear the exact opposite where people are like, I didn't want to be a number.

You know, I wanted. And you're like, actually. I wanted to be invisible. That was amazing. I wanted to be neither seen nor heard. Yes. I was like,

make me anonymous. That's totally fine. So it's safe to say you weren't sitting in the front row. No, no, definitely not. Looking cute as hell,

but in the back. Yeah. 100%. I was like probably three rows from the top. Yeah. Towards the edge. Yeah.

That's smart. Easy exit access. If you sit in the top row, you're also waving a flag. the professor knows that you're trying to be as far away. You've got to do three rows in, I think, and then close to the exit. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, you had a ton of individual success while there, all rookie teams, all tournament teams. It became an alternate captain. I think it was 22nd person ever to hit 100 point mark at the program. Very cool stuff. But your teams were so incredible, too, right? Dan said the five championships across regular season and playoffs. But even more impressively, you made the Frozen Four every. year you were there, which is ridiculous. Now, unfortunately, we have to talk about that a little bit,

too, because it was like a Minnesota loss in the semis roller coaster game, your freshman year, Minnesota lost sophomore year, Minnesota loss, junior year, which I think you broke your wrist. Was that the year you got hurt in the junior year? Yes. Yep. And then senior year beat BC, but then run into Clarkson in the final three-oh. So despite never hitting that ultimate prize, which was so tantalizingly close every year for you, gals, just, What was it like going on those runs and being a part of that program and meeting those girls and becoming those friendships you built all that stuff? Yeah, I mean when I look back in my college career, I will say like I'm I would be real here Not winning a national championship like that still hurts today. I love that answer so much. Thank you for saying that I'm serious. Thank you for saying that

But it's true Sarah because like you can't win. Yes, like you don't have another shot at that. You can't win it. Yeah, yes exactly. So I just think that college sports is so incredible in that way. But to be able to be on some absolutely incredible teams, I mean, Minnesota had our number for the first two years of my career. Like, they beat up on us. We couldn't beat that team. And then as I got in my junior and my senior year, tides shifted and we started crushing them.

And so they're our biggest rival, so it was always great to beat them. But the teams that I played on were fabulous. Like my junior year team, we had so many, we had all Americans, we had people who were with the national teams, and we were great. was extremely heartbreaking because that was like dang we had a really good team we could have won that year and then obviously going in my senior year um i think that may have been the year that anne rene had like a

shutout streak too she like was she was her starting goalie so she ended up having this like 10 or 11 game shut out streak and nobody scored on us and so when they finally scored on us we're like thank god nobody wants to hear about this street yeah yeah we were so we were so ready for that we done but we just we had so many great players um were a part of so many great history historic runs and we won a lot. We didn't win the big one while I was there, but I know before and after me, they ended up playing unfortunately, but it was a lot of fun. But that's good. You know that you paved the way. You know, sometimes you've got to set a new foundation and that's what you did. It's fantastic. Exactly. Yeah, it was so gratifying getting to see like the freshmen that I had as

seniors. Like they went on to win national championships. And so like it's special to be able to look back on that because I'm so proud of all of them. Yeah. I was, well, I was about to ask, Did you, you know, do you kind of still stay dialed in and follow the team, but it sounds like you do. It's almost hard not to, right? When you have all those deep-seated relationships with people at the club, it's hard to just forget about how Wisconsin's doing. 100%. Like, there are so many good players that, you know, I play with and against team candidates in USA. And then the coaching staff is but the same for years.

So the same staff that recruited me to play there when I was like 14 years old are still there today. So we still keep in contact. and it's a pretty special place, pretty special relationship. Was it cool playing for Mark? I was going to ask that too. Honestly, it's so funny because I, like, being from Canada, we didn't really know what, like, Miracle was, like, 1980. Like, I really had no idea.

And so this, like, little older man picks me up in the airport on our recruiting visit. Like, we're just sitting there chit-chat. And, like, I have no idea who Mark Johnson is. And then my dad. When do I meet the coach? And he's like, uh, I was like, who is this guy? Like, my Uber driver. Like, like, who is?

this guy. And my dad, he's a huge hockey fan. And so, like, he's, like, giddy. And he called Mark Sunshine because he just, like, walks down like this. Like, he just smiles the whole time. Yeah. But he's so cool. Like, he never once talked about his career at all while I was at school. And the only time he's ever talked to me, actually, he called me after 2022 in Beijing when we won the gold medal. And he was just, like, he opened up a little bit about his career to me. And he was, like, just know that, like, winning a gold medal at the Olympics is so special. And that's something that you're going to be able to share with those girls for the rest of your life, just like I did back in 1980,

and he still has contact with that team as well. And so it was cool for him to open up like that. I love the idea. In that moment, Sarah was like, wait, you played hockey? Yeah, yeah. No, I was like, wait, what? Well, yeah, I love the idea that he doesn't think people know either. Like, he's like, Sarah, so in case you weren't aware,

I do have a gold medal also. I'm not just talking out of my ass here. I did this, like, little thing, too. like really quick in 1980, but like it's fine. Right. That's a perfect transition. I love talking to people about international play. And, you know, obviously in 2013, you had the iconic moment to wear that national sweater

for the first time where you won gold at the world championships. But then 2018, you get the call that you make the big club. And I love those stories about you being inspired by the 2002 team, watching with your grandma, making gold medals out of construction paper, which is, A, the cutest and coolest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. The fact that they didn't hand you guys construction paper gold medals in 2020 is devastating. I hope so significantly that that construction paper gold medal is hanging in the house somewhere. And if not, we're going to remake it for you.

But talk to us about that feeling. I mean, you being so passionate about this opportunity for so long, these stories are the most inspiring thing in the world when you're a young hockey player and you're going watching this team saying, I'm going to do that one day. and then bang, 16 years later you are. What was it like when you got that phone call? Yeah, it was incredible. I mean, when I think back to when I was seven years old watching that game, I remember my grandpa called me and he was like, we're going to watch women play hockey.

And at that point, I thought I was the only girl who played hockey. And so I was like, what do you mean women play hockey? Like I watched the NHL. I was a huge league fan growing up. And I was like, girls play hockey too. And so I was mind blown when I saw Team Canada and Team USA on the screen because I couldn't believe that other girls played hockey. And my aunt Tracy always says that, like, from that point on, it was not if I make that team.

It was like, when I go to the Olympics and you guys watch me play, this is what we're going to do. This is how it's going to go. And she said that I always spoke with that tone of when I go to the Olympics. And so I guess it kind of manifested it for myself, which was pretty special. But getting the call, to say that I was even trying out for the Olympic team in 2017 was, it wasn't a shock to me. me, but it was like, wow, this dream is so close. But it also felt so far at the same time, because we had to go through a year-long tryout. We started with 28 girls. They cut the roster down to 23 by the end. And you're going through this year as teammates playing with

each other, but you're also competing against each other. So it's a bit of a weird dynamic. And I think going into that year, I was probably player number 28 on the roster. I don't think many people had me in their projected lineups. And so I was very proud of the way that I came out and showed who I was and how well I could play that year. Because being able to say that I was going to the Olympics in 2018 was something that me and my family have always said. And so to actually be real was like, I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I can only imagine.

I was just going to say that about what the goosebumps. I can't remember who you all played in the first group stage game, but the goosebumps must have been insane stepping on that ice for warmies that first time. Yeah. Yeah. Like one of my teammates Blair Turnbull and I was both our first Olympics. And I remember just we're sitting there at the center circle waiting to do like our three on twos and we looked at each other and we're like as if we're at the Olympics right now Like as as if we're here doing this like this can't be real. So it was cool. It's very cool. Oh, it's amazing and you obviously had that amazing rivalry with Minnesota in college and then begins the birth of a new rivalry with you with the US so you're in the group stage

You score your first Olympic goal to win two one against the US in the group stage then you come up against them later unbelievable 2-2 game goes to a shootout, you end up losing in a heartbreaker, hearing about the attitude that you clearly have throughout your whole career, how immediately did you think, all right, we're getting them next time? Because it's one of those interesting things with the Olympics. It's like, you know, you meddle. It's still amazing, right? But you've got to be like, I'm fucking beating this team.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was so interesting because finishing off the Olympics, like we had a great time. It was so special. Like it was like the tournament of a lifetime, right? It's what you always dreamed of. And then once we came out of that, I remember just sitting in my stall after the game being like, that didn't go the way that it was supposed to.

You know, Team Canada had, we were going for like our fifth gold medal in a row for women's hockey. And to be the team that loses that and breaks that streak, like that's tough. Like you feel like crap. And so coming out of that 2018, it was like, man, we have to wait four years to even try again, to try to be on the team, to try to go to the Olympics, to try to win a medal.

And so from that point on, it was like we felt like we hit rock bottom, getting second place of the world, we felt like we hit rock bottom. And we did a lot of soul searching. We worked incredibly hard. We worked very smart as well because we knew that we didn't want that feeling. We didn't want to be disappointing. And coming back to Canada, like, nobody thought we were disappointed. Everyone was so proud of us.

but after winning in 2022, you kind of see how differently you get treated once you get treated around your neck. I mean, especially in Canada, that checks out so much. Yeah. We're about to get into 2020, but before I go there, what was the stress? And I know there's different rules in Olympic shootouts.

People can shoot again, right? So it's not like the more misses means everyone's going to go. You probably weren't sitting there being like, oh, I'm about to have to do this. But what was the stress like of sitting there and just watching that shootout play out? I think there was so many emotions because in that game, I was on the fourth line. Okay.

So we didn't get a lot of minutes in that game. But in overtime, she started playing me. And so all of a sudden, I'm in overtime playing a regular shift. And I was like, oh, my gosh, what am I doing? I'm playing an Olympic gold medal game. Like, I got to remember how to play hockey here. And so after playing in overtime, having not played a lot in the regulation, I was like, oh, my God, what if she throws me in here?

Like, I have to think of a move. Do I even have one right now? Like, it's kind of crazy. So, yeah, I was like, oh, my gosh, is she going to throw me in here? And it's funny because Megan Augusta was the one who eventually got stopped on, I guess, the winning play or the winning shot for them to win. And looking back, like, she has the most confidence in the world. Like, you can't tell her anything. And rightfully so.

She's so decorated. It's one of the best hockey players I've ever seen. But for her to take that shot, it felt like right because we had so much trust in her and her abilities. And although it didn't go our way, she was like the perfect person that we could have had to do that. And the ending was tough. And I mean, we're sitting there on the bench and it just felt anticlimactic after that. Because it's like, so are we just done now? Like we lost, I guess.

Because at that point it's a skills competition. Yeah. That's such a good word for it. I've never really heard it described that way, but that is how it feels. Yes, it's how it is. This is why I hate it. This is supposed to be the end of Act 2, and then we come back and win in Act 3. Yeah, exactly, yeah.

100%. Yep. Okay, so 2022, before we talk about all the awesomeness of the ending, you had just said, oh, I got to wait four years before I have a chance to do this again. But you almost didn't even get to do it again with your knee injury. You weren't really even with the team until after Christmas. And I heard, and I was reading articles about team USA being like, well, we suspect she's going to be there, but we don't know. But there was a lot of uncertainty with you even getting to be on that squad.

So were there moments where you were like, I'm not going to get to do this because of my injury? Yeah. I hurt myself at the end of October, just in like practice on like a really nothing play. And they were like, yeah, it's your knee, MCL, and whatever, tear. And so originally it was like two to three weeks, then you'll be good back on the ice. And as the injury kind of progressed, we started getting more imaging. It was like, oh, this is going to be a little bit longer than we thought. And so we play a bunch of prelim games against Team USA.

We went to, like the team went to Finland. And I just wasn't a part of any of that. I didn't travel with the team. I met up with them in late November, early December, when the girls were playing in Ottawa. We did this really long stint in Ottawa where we played. and like the junior age challenge I think we did. But it got to that point that I wasn't even practicing with the team until after Christmas, like after New Year's basically.

And so I remember Gina, who was our GM at the time, calling me the day or the night before they made cuts. And she was like, nursery, like, do you think you can play? I've talked to the medical staff. Like, I know the trajectory, but where do you think you are? In that point, I was not practicing with the team. I was not in any contact, anything. And I was just like, yep, absolutely. Never been more fine.

Never been more fine. I remember hanging up the phone being like, I just lied to our GM because I don't know. Like, I don't know. I don't feel confident, but I need to figure out a way to be on the ice. And so I got the call the next day, congratulating me on making a team.

And I was like, we have to put this into turbo speed. We have to do everything we can just to be on the ice. And going into Beijing, I don't know what role I was going to play. I don't know if I was going to be, you know, our cheerleader,

making sure that everybody was okay, mentally being that great energy on the bench. And it just so happened that I guess I had a couple months of rest. I had a lot of energy in me. And I was able to produce on the ice and play a pretty special part in our win. Yeah, I would say so. So, yeah. But can we just talk about that moment?

Like that first time, Sarah steps on the ice must have been like, well, shit, hope this goes well. Yeah. Oh, my God. First knee wobble. You're like, this is not good. This is not good. Oh, fuck.

100%. I was like, give me all the medication. like strap my knee in. I had like this crazy brace on and I was like, let's see, let's see how it goes. Yeah, that's what you can do. Yeah, that's the pain management becomes the only priority. 100% whatever.

I still want to feel it. So in the tournament, very similar script, I might add, building up, right? Once again, you find yourself in the same group as USA. Once again, you hand them their only loss in the group stage. You guys get out of it undefeated. You had it, and a 4-2 win, I think. if I remember, you had an assist in that USA game,

then once again, you find yourself in the final against Team USA. Deja Vu must have been setting in a bit in that moment where you're like, okay, I don't know where you wanted it, I guess. It might have been a, here we fucking go, payback time, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, honestly, it was a little bit of both because we had a tournament for the record book. Like, we pretty much rewrote the record book, our team.

We score the most goals. We have a defense record. We have assist points. Like, we have every single record you have. And so as we're going into the gold medal game, we were flying, like, in autopilot. Like, that's how, like, dialed in our group was. And I remember going into the gold medal game, I'm talking with some of my teammates. And I was like, it would be the cruelest act of God to take this gold medal from us.

Like, the cruelest act. Like, there is no hockey god if we do not win this game. And so going into the game, we were like, this. This is our shot. Like this, everything is going absolutely picture perfect for us because we're making it happen. Like, it's not luck.

We're making this happen. And I remember going into that game, um, I ended up being the reason our first goal got called up because I was offside. You're offside, before the goal win it. Yeah. And so we scored.

We're all happy. Everything's great. And I remember coming to the bench and they were all like, no, nurse seats offside. And I was on the bench already. Like I wasn't even on the ice anymore. And I remember just looking at Natalie Schooner and I was like,

man, I owe you one. Don't worry. And we went on and scored a couple shifts later. You went out and scored, to be clear. I scored. You went out and scored. Let's the listeners know. You actually got it back. I did. I was like, I got you girls. I owe you that one. And then from there, like, we were just rolling. They made it tight in the third period, but I don't want to say it wasn't a cause for concern, but we felt so in control of that game. It was just, you know, circumstance. We're in a gold medal game. They're going to throw absolutely everything at us. But we felt so

confident, so calm, cool, collective. And you're right, it showed up three. And you're right. I think tied it, or sorry, I made it three, two with like 13 seconds left, which isn't nothing, but it's enough that I think you'd be like, okay. Exactly. Yeah, I think we got this. So tell us about how you, how did you feel after, you know, like I thought it was so

beautiful what you said about the weight of breaking the streak in 2018, hurt even more than just losing, right? It was an extra burden. So to be able to get that back against the team that did it for you when, you set an Olympic record for points in 18, an Olympic record for assists in 13 in a single tournament. Just iconic stuff happening. Did that all take a second to wash over you? Did it hit you the next day?

How did all that feel? It was very interesting because going over to China, there were like some security concerns. And so we all had these like burner phones. So the only people that have my phone number were like my parents. And again, we're in COVID. It's lockdown. So nobody's with us. We have no family and friends.

So I get out of this gold medal game. done all the media scrums, talked about how we won, how I broke these records. Like, I am writing high. I get to my phone and there's like one text from my mom. Good game. Hey, Sarah, Gigi. Yeah, literally. Like, congratulations. My dad's like thumbs up. And I was like, okay. But anticlimactic. Yeah. I was like, oh, shoot, this feels like 2018 again. But then like obviously social media was huge. And then coming back home and getting to see people, getting all my messages, and getting to see the impact that we had on the country. Like, we didn't know.

We're in China, so we don't know. But we were everywhere. Like, they had commercials about us. They had stories about us. Like, we were absolutely everywhere. We were rock stars. And so it was pretty special being able to share that coming back with not only family and friends who couldn't be there, but like everybody in the country. Because that's all everybody wanted to talk to.

You realize that everybody has an Olympic story. They love to talk about, like, where they were. were when they watched your game or how they felt when they saw you score. And so it's cool to connect with people like that. And it was awesome that we got to do that coming back. Oh, it's amazing. Absolutely. Especially with your memories of when you were seven.

You know, there's so many girls that just did that with you. Yeah. Which is incredibly awesome. Are there any major highlights of celebration once you were back? Anything you did with the family or friends or whatever? Oh, gosh. I don't know. We had a lot.

Like, we had obviously like a lot of family parties and things like that, um, getting to see like my extension. family who I don't get to see very often. My dad, like, he's so funny. Like, he thinks he's, like, a local celebrity. And so, like, we were on the train to a Leafs game one day, and it got, like, word that I was on this train. And so people kept starting to come.

And my dad ended up being in a commercial with me during the Olympics. And so people knew who he was. And so he's sitting there. He's like, yeah, I'm Raj. Don't worry. Like, autographs, I'll shake hands, kiss babies. And I was like, this guy. You guys missed the first period.

You're like, dad. Come on, dude. 100%. I was like, we got to go, Dad. But no, it was pretty special. Yeah. I would have used that. I would have milked that for so many months after getting home.

Being like, all right, new party with these people, new party. I would have gone to Wisconsin. Yeah. Yeah. I had a party there. It would have been amazing. Yeah. To keep it going with an amazing 2020, you had, you then got to go to the NHL All-Star game.

And you're there. You're out on the ice with Emily, Rebecca, Hillary, Alex. And you're scoring Forsbergs on Chesty. What did that feel like when you compare to just winning an Olympic gold medal now you are being showcased with the NHL's best and really put having another opportunity to put the women's game on notice and make people realize how talented all of you are. Was that a really cool moment to be with those other girls and just, you know, playing around with these NHL guys? Definitely. I think it's funny. Now we have our own league.

So we get to showcase our talent on a daily basis, a weekly basis. And so it's a little bit different from a visibility standpoint. But when I think back to the NHL All-Star games that we've been at, we haven't had that opportunity. So it's almost like you feel all of the weight of women's hockey on your shoulders because you're like, I can't mess this up. Like I could set the game back by 20 years if I messed this up. And I remember Kendall Coyne when she did her lap a few years prior. But it's like, man, if she would have fallen on that lap, imagine, you know, what people would have said. And so I just remember being there on the ice in that moment and getting to just like talk to the guys because we don't get to do that very often.

So we're just like chit chatting, talking hockey, talking about life. And then going down on that little breakaway, like we didn't know what we were even doing at the events. And I remember I just didn't want to shoot. Like I just wanted to do something fun. And so I did that and it ended up working. And I was like, oh, God, that went in. And everybody cheered and it was kind of crazy. But it was cool.

It's something funny to look back on. No, it's not funny. It was all time. That was iconic. Like, you pull maybe the most famous shootout move in the history of the game on arguably the best goalie in the game right now. And I might add, dude, you have, I need this trademark. You do your Jordan shrug. Like, you give a little like, oops.

React. I'm serious. Like, you like, you like, forceburg chesty and you're like, oops. No, it's so disrespectful. That is the Jordan shrug of the NHL All-Star game forever. Oh, man. Shoot. I was like, oh, God, that went in.

And then everyone was looking at me and I was like, oh, gosh. How did we get here? It's a genuine reaction from Sarah, but to all of us, it looks like you're just beeking. Yeah, 100%. I remember Biz came out to me afterwards. Like, you have to be kidding with that reaction. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's like, no. I was like, I'm so sorry. Oh, it's so good. Dead serious. Well, that was amazing. And it was a nice perk that that was in South Florida, eh? Instead of. Absolutely.

No disrespect to your hometown. No disrespect to your hometown, but us going to the All-Star game two years in a row, going from Florida to Toronto last year, we were like, shit, this is not as fun. But it was pretty cool. Toronto's pretty sick. Absolutely.

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older and then just fill out these questions let us know how you like to party and then we will get it going together you'll get all these free amazing t hc and delta nine products as well as some cool merch and at some experiences and we're going to rip it up we'll see you there so let's talk about the some of the inception of the P-dub, because it's been a crazy journey that's gone, that's so much more than any of us probably even process. And you were so, played such an integral role in that. So, because you were drafted to the CWHL, right? Then that ends, and it's the P-W-HPA. And then the P-dub is beginning, there's rumblings, right? It's beginning to form. And you played a huge part in talking to the P-dub owners about the collective bargaining agreement for all that.

can you describe the chaos that was this even happening in the first place? Yeah, it was funny because these conversations with Mark Walter's group and Women's Sports Foundation, Billy Jean King, like these conversations had started and had been going on for probably like a year and a half, almost two. I believe it. And then all of a sudden we were at the bargaining table with a lawyer that costs like $800 an hour. And we're negotiating across the table with these incredible business people who have made so much money and have had so much success for themselves. And it's myself, Kendall Coins-Gelfield, Hillary Knight, Liz Knox and Brian Jenner, who, like, we're just hockey players. Yeah.

Right? Like, we're not trained for any of this. And all of a sudden, it was a sprint to get this thing done so that we could puck drop on January 1. Yeah, we're learning all of this, yeah, like, we're learning all this new, like, verbiage and jargon and, like, legal terms of. how leagues even operate and run. And I remember just the biggest thing for the ownership group was that we have a collective bargaining agreement so that there are clear guidelines, expectations laid out for both sides.

And there were many times with the process that I thought that it was going to be done. I thought they were going to walk out. We were going to walk out. And we were never going to come to an agreement. And I'm so, so thankful that, you know, we were each able to bend a little bit and get that CBA because, it's been so such an integral part of our league and how we function and how we run so that we could drop the buck on January 1st of last year and it's been just incredible

ever since yeah I mean that's me I didn't even think I realized how close it was to blowing it I knew it was a long process but you just don't really ever hear that it was on the knife's edge several times I think that's really I mean I well yeah like go going go on go on go on think about like there's there there there are different terms that are like these are hills that we're willing to die on and both parties had that and so it's like okay how far can we get up the hill before you die yeah and so there there were a lot of those little instances that it's like they're not going to budge on this so we're going to have to budge somewhere else totally i i remember last year we were talking to agents we were talking to people with the p dub about promotion and

just talking about all the excitement and as we were creeping up to january one hearing that and things weren't done. Even we were like, what's happening? Like, is this, we're getting too close to game day here, folks. So it was truly, I mean, from your perspective, it must have been the craziest sprint of your life. I mean, holy shit, that was wild. Yes.

Not to mention what a headache it is reading contract stuff from lawyers. It's like, we do some, we do movie stuff out here too, Nersie, and so we get a lot of the contracts in there. And it's like, if I have to read the word here to four one more time, I'm going to explore. I'm like, what does that mean? What is happening? I still don't know.

I still don't know. Yes. Yeah. And one more question about those early stages, Nersi. You were one of three people who were signed during the pre-draft because there was all that fanfare about the draft and everything. What were the details of that? How did that even become a thing?

And what was that like for you to be one of those three? Yeah. So we came up with kind of, I don't think it was called this, but in our, like, workings it was. it was called like franchise players. So obviously when you figure out your markets, you figure out your teams, you need to start with something, something that you can help market, something that you can sell, different things like that.

And so when we came up with that, the league took that and obviously made it into whatever they wanted. So each team had a like free agency signing period where they could sign three players. Anybody they wanted, anybody they contacted anybody that wanted them, they could sign three players to a three-year contract. And they would essentially be their starting franchise players. So I was one of them, along with Blair Turnbullo Renata Fast, in Toronto. And I remember that day, it felt like college recruiting all over again.

Mad Dash. And it felt like everybody from every franchise was signed before like 5 o'clock on that one day. And I think it was like a three or four day period. And I remember hearing Blair had texted me saying that she was going to sign in Toronto. I heard that Renata had signed in Toronto. And I was like, dang, I got to get on Gina because like Toronto is where I was. wanted to be. That was my question. Yeah. I had spoken to some other teams around the league, other GMs who were amazing. Like they gave me great pitches and I was like, you know, considering

some of them. But when Gina came to the table ultimately, like it was a partnership that I had already been very familiar with, a city that I'm very familiar with. It's very close to my heart. And I was like, how could I not start my professional hockey career if I have the chance to in Toronto? Like how do you, how do you say that? So, so true. That is so true. Yeah. So you get into the first season ever, which goes incredibly well. You guys go 13-4-0-N-7. You're first in the league. You are second in the league with 23 points in 24 games.

How are you? Not too bad. Okay. And then you get into the playoffs. You get up against Minnesota. Win game one. Shutout. Win game two, shut out.

Then game three, Spooner gets hurt. You guys don't win again. Obviously not how you want it to end. But I do have to ask you, unfortunately, do you feel like you have a Minnesota problem at this point in your career. It's actually funny because obviously I don't mess with Minnesota. Like, no, I don't mess Minnesota. But I actually play very well against them.

So if I were to pick a team to play, I would pick Minnesota because I feel like I actually put up points. Yeah. Okay. All right. I love that. I like that. So I do actually really like playing against Minnesota. That's the best attitude.

You elevate against the competition. We just got to get over that. hump though knock these guys out 100% we just got we just got a win when it counts yeah absolutely was that first season i mean i i hear about all these things when we're you know reading up on you and now talking to you now the last two years two plus years have you felt like you've just been floating on air this entire time because when you think about all of these unbelievable experiences that you've had now the p dub is absolutely cruising it's so fun have you been able to really stop and just look back and be like, holy hell, how did we get here? You talked about that first Olympic

experience when you're standing on the ice going, what is going on as if, to quote you? Is there a part of you that feels that way still that's like, look at this, like the P-Dubs here and we're playing, the championships are being won. It must be unbelievable. Yeah, I think it's been an absolute whirlwind and to just think of where I was two years ago. Yeah. And to think of where we are today like it's it's madness but i i feel like my come like welcome to professional hockey moment was off the ice actually last year we had a really bad start to the season um we went probably like one in four one and five something like that and i remember like in toronto hockey's big like you see us on tv you see us on the news and there's this guy he like stopped me in the street and he goes

tough start the season hey i was like dude getting getting beat getting beat by toronto natives is you have made it. That is professional hockey in Toronto, folks. 100%. I was like, I didn't need that today. But yeah, very tough starts. Oh, my God. And so from that moment on, I was like, wow, like this is what we've always wanted, though. Like, we've talked so many times about how obviously inspiring the next generation,

like we want to do that. We love doing that. We've always done that. But we've always wanted to talk about hockey. And we've wanted our product on the ice to speak for itself. and people actually, for people to actually talk about, are playing hockey. And so, hey, if we're playing crappy, Toronto Media is going to let us know. Yeah.

It wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, truly, I feel like in that moment you text Marner and you're like, I get it, dude. No, 100%. I'm like, Mitchie, how you doing, buddy? You getting dog too, man, this sucks. Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's amazing.

But do you have any milestones, you know, you feel like you get through that first year, how much does that motivate you now knowing the leagues here? We're rocking. We got the new sweaters. Everyone's looking like a million bucks out there. How quickly did that loss turn into motivation and setting new goals for yourself this season? Pretty quickly. I think when you when you are like a high-performance athlete, when you're playing sports for a long time, you really learn and you understand that like when you loss, when you lose, you have to learn from it. You have to move on. Like if you hold that grudge, if you hold, like, it'll be over your head forever. So I don't go into a game against, like, Minnesota being like, oh, my gosh, they beat us last year.

Like, that's not in my thought process. Like, I want to win a Walter Cup and I want to beat everybody in the process. I'm not worried about beating one team. I'm not worried about being one player. Like, I want to win the Walter Cup. And whoever's going to stand in my way, I want to beat them. Yeah, no, that's the exact right now. I love it.

Absolutely love it. Like we said at the top, I can't remember if we were, no, we were recording for this. three games in so far. One, oh, and two. You've got three points already, and it's super early days, right? But how's the vibe in the locker room? Does it feel like a championship squad already?

Do you feel like, okay, no, we've got a few things to work on and we'll get there, but what's the vibe like? Yeah, I think it's funny because obviously this being year two, we only have one year to go off of. And so coming into an actual season, like you always compare your squad to last year's team, right? And so we added so,

many incredible pieces. And I think that we're really learning about each other as a group. And we're a little bit of a more quiet group. Like we like to have fun together. But we're not like hooping and hollering on the bench, which is something that I'm really, really used to. So being able to like bring the energy and have that like match our talent on the ice. We have so much potential. We have a lot of young, young talent. We have a lot of high skilled, high like brain powered players. And so we're really excited. I think we're all kind of fitting in and trying to see. where we're at as professional hockey players, but a great squad, and I'm excited for the rest of the season.

Nersie, I read this is, you just triggered something in my mind, but I read something from you where you said that your, and I'm like this too, your personality is you're going to be kind of loose on the bench and laughing with your teammates, even though it's the gold medal game, and I'm not taking it seriously. I'm here to win more than anything, but that's kind of how you get the best out of yourself. When you have a team that isn't as hootin and holler,

and do you try to fill that role? like, hey, listen, everybody chill out. It's going to be okay. Is that something that you do? Yeah, I think that I like to be that person that people can like lean on or look to for really whatever, whether that's like a laugh or a joke or a little smile or like a word of encouragement. I really like to hype my teammates up. And I feel like I know what gets everybody going. So like Natalie Spooner, for example, like I've been playing with her for years. And so I'll look at her. And if I can sense she's off, I just look at her, I'm like, Natalie, you're so pretty and you're so good at hockey and that's all she needs.

And she's off to the races and she does the same thing to me. That's what goes on in a women's hockey bench, by the way. But yeah, I just feel like I know what each of my teammates needs. So I try to give that to them. Like, you know when someone see something and they realize that they're into it and they didn't even realize it? That is the compliment I never knew I needed. Yeah, I was going to say, you should come to Beer League on Wednesday,

like when I was just struggling if someone had come up to me and been like, DP, your stud, you're dope at hockey. I would have scored 40 goals. Those Nike's you wore today, dude. Wow. I never knew. I never knew I needed that, but I definitely did. Holy sure.

There you go. Incredible. Wow, this is big. I have three quick hitters about your squad and the P-Dup before I want to ask you. Number one, how are you liking the, because I love it. Well, I guess I shouldn't have leaded the question, but I love it. But how are you liking the three points for a win, two for O.T. Win.

One for O.T. loss. How do you like the point breakdown? so far. I love it. I think the point system, it makes everything so, like the stakes are higher for every single game. Yeah. And I just think that for us, even like, overtime wins, overtime losses, like those make such a big difference. If you can beat a team outright and having those three points, it honestly is what propels you into like a first place or what can find you at the bottom in the standing. So I love the point breakdown. It's the biggest no-brainer ever. I love that. Like, You just said it so perfectly.

You deserve to be rewarded for beating a team outright. We were watching, we were watching. Absolutely. I think it was maybe Bruins, Red Wings the other night, but two teams that were kind of in early days, but in the bubble-ish for the wild card spot. And it was tied, and they were just dicking it around for the last two minutes. And the announcers were like, oh, they need the point.

You can't have come this far and lose a point where they're both trying to get to O.T. And I was like, that sucks. Yeah. They should try to win right now. Yeah. Yeah. And then I need you to be honest on this one. How badly do you want to bring a cup to Toronto before the Leafs?

I would love to bring a cup to Toronto with the Leafs. I think that that would be great, but I mean... Good, political answer, political answer. PR-Train, PR-Train. I am media trained. No, I would absolutely love to bring a championship to the city. I remember watching the Raptors win and seeing the parade 100%. So I would love to be a part of like a winning legacy in Toronto.

There's so much success in the city. So to say that we brought a hockey championship home, you know, within the next year, two, three, four, five, I think would be absolutely. But I'd love the Leaves to win too. Yeah, okay. I agree. I mean, for you, I agree. Same year would be sick. It would be, yeah, it would be.

It would just be the most delicious flex in the world to just be able to look at all those boys and be like, hurry up, guys. Yeah, yeah. We're waiting. polish your cut. Exactly. You're two PR trained to, well, no, I'm going to make you answer this. I think this one is fine.

Yeah. Anyone can answer this. Please rank the P-dub jerseys from best to worst. Okay. Am I less, it's fine. Yeah, yeah.

And I don't, I think I'll believe you if you put yours first. Your jersey absolutely has to be included. And we're here to tell you this is a safe space. You don't have to put Toronto one if you don't feel it's one. Okay, I am going to put Toronto one. I'm going to put Montreal 2.

I will put Minnesota 3, Ottawa 4, Boston 5, and New York 6. Dan, thoughts? I don't have much. I'm not upset by much of that. I think the top three. What was three again? Montreal?

You went Minnesota? Minnesota. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Boston is low. I like the Boston one. That was my only one I disagree with you on. Are you not a green fan? No, I am a green fan.

I just, I wanted it to be executed a little bit better. This is no shade. This is no shade. But I feel like the color scheme, if they execute it well, it could be sick. Like, think of the teal, the dark green. Maybe it's the navy blue. I'm not sure. Something about it.

Something about it. Okay, I mean, to be honest, as a, you know, growing up around the Boston area, I was just, I was really happy. Remember those early days when we were starting to hear some of the team names being thrown around? Boston Wicked was being thrown around. Oh, yeah. And I'm just really glad that that didn't happen. Same. That's all.

Yeah, I know the first iterations, the teams, I heard some pretty bad responses to, so I'm really happy with how to it's out. Yeah, I am too. Yeah. And then I just, the, this, we can't skirt by this topic with. without bringing it up, do you feel like you love the similarities with the Taylor Swift music video or hate the similarities with the Taylor Swift music video with your jerseys? Oh gosh. I mean, like, when I look at Taylor Swift, like, she's an icon. I was actually at the concert a couple weeks ago, and it was like the greatest three hours of my life. I didn't even

know I like Taylor Swift like that, greatest three hours in my life. So, you know, see a strong woman in a position of power. I think it, like, it resembles so much of what we're doing with the PWHL. So it's very cool to see her do her thing. And then obviously, us being in our hockey lane. I like that spin, actually. That's pretty good.

I actually like the Taylor Swift's cheerleader logo. This was paving the way. I like it. This is a beautiful stuff. All right, Sarah, we're going to get into a game that we play with all of our guests before we let you go. It's called Pass Shoot Score.

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They've got black cherry. We're talking lemon lime. They have a new watermelon tequila, too, which is a very, very special product, I might say. It's 7% ABV. There's 1.5 shots per can in this bad boy. Okay, so when we're getting the night starting, we're about to have a big weekend, when we're watching Pock with the fellas, whatever we're doing, we've got a case of Ricky by our side because it's the exact concoction that we need to get the night going. So what you need to do is go to www. rickyspirits.com and check out everything they got because it's some of the finest distilled mixes you can get. Okay, so go check it out right now.

All right, babes. Taking a quick break to talk to you about Lucy. When it comes to nicotine, no one is doing it better. than Lucy right now because they have made some of the greatest products you could ever imagine designed by scientists for adults to give you clean nicotine all the time tobacco-free with some of the best flavors in the game and when it comes to the milligrams they got you covered down from four all the way up to 12 so if you want to keep it nice light and easy boom they got you if you want to get a nice buzz get everything starting to kick up and get going you can go all the way up to 12 it's fantastic

and here's the thing about lucy they've got so many different delivery systems You can do lozenges, you can do gum, you can do their nice breakers, or you can do the pouches like I do. Lucy has some of the best products in the game because they make you feel fantastic. They make you feel locked in. If you want to get a nice buzz and just chill, sit on the couch, watch some TV, watch a movie, watch some sports, boom, you can use it for that. If you want to use that to get dialed in like I do, maybe you're on the golf course. You need to focus up. You need to start birdie hunting.

Pop one of these products in and you are going to be feeling amazing. Me, myself, I'm in the cinnamon flavor. game right now because we've got the Christmas season I want to feel like I'm in the holiday spirit I absolutely love it and here's the thing I'm starting to go skiing again and I've been popping these things in up on the chairlift never thought about it before but you got a long chairlift you need to stay warm you need to stay focused in you want a nice little buzz while you're doing it bang Lucy's got you covered like we've said they've got all these amazing flavors those breakers are unbelievable you give it a nice little snap with the

back of your teeth stick it in that lip and boom you're getting a rush of this delicious flavor while you get the cleanest best nicotine in the game. So when it comes to all of this stuff, Lucy is what you've got to start using. It is the absolute best. So what you're going to do is go to lucy.com slash Friday and you are going to get 20% off your next order. So make sure you do that. Go to that website, lucy.com. That's dot CO slash Friday 20% off. Make sure you get stocked up so you are never without the best nicotine product in the game. Basically, the game is just a ranking system. We're going to give you three things that are specific to you.

You have to rank them your least favorite to favorite. But, you know, a lot of these will be, you love them all. Yeah. But you just got to rank them three to one. Pass is going to be our three. Okay, so pass is the least. Yeah, exactly. Look at that.

Yeah, she gets it immediately. She's a bro. Score. Score is the best, pass to the least. So the first one is going to be Sarah Nurse likeness moments. So things where we've seen you. pass shoot score on a box of Cheerios, the Sarah Nurse Barbie doll,

or the cover of NHL 23. Oof, okay, score Barbie, shoot NHL 23, pass Cheerio box. And like that hurts me because I freaking love Cheerios. But the Barbie was like out of this world. Hell yeah. Okay, so we love all three. Of course we do.

Of course we do. We do. We love all three. So I have to ask, what, for one, is it still weird to you or was it ever weird to you when you walk around and you see adverts of yourself? Like when you're walking through the stadiums and there's just a massive Sarah Nurse there is, are you used to it now or are you still kind of like, that's crazy? I think in this, in like the stadiums, in a sport setting, I feel like it's normal. Like I'm on the team. So like, of course they're going to have a picture of me or so.

Like, I feel like that's normal. What I don't find normal is like walking through a mall or if I'm driving down the street, like right by my house, there's a huge Adidas billboard of myself that I drive past every single day and it says, you got this. And so sometimes I'm having a bad day. And I'm like, no, no, I'm not. Wow. Imagine getting motivation for yourself.

It's crazy. It should say, hey, that billboard, nursey, that billboard should say, Sarah, you are pretty and you are good at hockey. Yes. You'll be buzzing for the rest of the day. I will say, see, like, that's a lovely example of that. I once did a commercial for 47 brand, and in the commercial, I'm wearing New York Mets stuff.

And I remember it coming out and being so excited for my friends to be like, whoa, look at this, good for you. But instead, it was all of my Boston friends just screenshoting it and sending it to me being like, you fucking traitor, loser, asshole. I was like, guys. You're like, there you go. It's actually so funny, like, seeing your family and friends' reactions to things like that, because I remember when I called my little brother

and I was like, hey, like, I'm going to be on the cover of NHL like thinking he was going to be like, I'm the coolest thing ever. He's like, I mean, do you get a free code? Yeah, and I was like, sure. Oh, what a rat. I can get you the game. Wow. Yeah, absolutely.

He's still not impressed by it. So I get him play code every year for NHL. That's all he is. That's cool. That's cool. Cover, cover players get the free code every year. That's huge. Yeah.

Although, I mean, you got to hold that over him for, no Christmas presents. from now on. Like, I got you for the rest of your life. Oh, 100%. I'm like, what did you do for me lately? Because I have your, I heard NHL comes out this week. Yeah, that's so good. Fantastic. I love it. Nersie, how many Barbies did you have, be honest? Oh, my mom went around and bought a lot, a lot. And so, we probably have like five in our house. Yeah, just in our house alone. That's a good number. That's a It's a good number. It's also, I mean, like, the fact that that comes out, the movie comes out. I mean, like, this is an iconic moment.

Yeah. Unbelievable. Okay, your next category is non-hockey sports. Okay. Okay. Pass, shoot, score, basketball, volleyball, tennis. Ooh, score volleyball, shoot tennis, basketball. Nice.

I thought tennis might pass. I've heard you say a lot of good things about volleyball, but I thought tennis might jump it because I know you're big into that too. I love volleyball. Tennis is so fun. No. It's elite. Are we beach or indoor volleyball? Honestly, I prefer indoor because I don't like sand.

But I think that beach is very entertaining. Sorry, I know y'all. No, no, no. Listen, fair. Fair, like being, we're California guys now, and I love beach volleyball, but you get going. You play for a while. My feet are torn to shreds after a couple hours. And you're sweaty, so it sticks to you.

You're sweaty. Yeah. Yes, yes. But I actually watched beach volleyball in Paris for the Olympics, and it was so entertaining. So very fun to watch. It's going to be cool here. Next summer Olympics is here.

Oh, it's going to be elite. Mercy, we heard you say that our girl, Aaron Ambrose, is a very good spike ball player. And I do think that you and Aaron might have to take on Dan and me in a spike ball game next time we're all together. Oh, bet. Yeah. Bet.

Easy. We are big, we are big spike ball guys. And because we love you, we'll find a big patch of grass to play it on, not at the beach. So it'll be great.

Okay, perfect. I appreciate that. Okay, no, like, no overhead, no roof, no anything like that. Oh, no, no, just free.

We're outside. No sand. No sand. Lots of sun. No sand. No sand. Yeah. I love that.

Okay. Next one is songs. Pass shoot score. This is going to be difficult for you. I'm predicting. Yeah, this is going to be a hard one.

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Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Like this by Kelly Rowland and Eve. Cheez. That's what makes you beautiful by One Direction. Oh! Okay, we're going to score One Direction.

Let's go. Wow. We are scoring one direction. Come on. And then I would say like this, Kelly Roland is going to be my shoot because it's more pump-up, it's more height. And then we're going to put.

pass love like this, even though I love that song. I think it was on your Spotify rap, I heard. I know. Yeah. It was. I still listen to it. In my lover girl era, you know? Yeah, I get it.

I mean, listen, Natasha Bettingfield gets the blood pumping. I'll tell you what. I mean, just bangers. What's your favorite 1D song? Oh, I have so many. I love Stockholm syndrome. One thing. Little white lies.

Like, I've seen these guys in concert six times. Stop it. Yeah, dude. That cannot be real. Six? No, every time, six times. One year, one tour, it was twice in a row. I've gone to see them every single time they're on tour.

I mean, one D slaps. Yep. I say it all the time. It's another, one D songs are those things. I don't care who you are. I don't care what you're into. The songs come on. You start nodding your head.

You know all the lyrics, even though you don't want to admit it. One D, they absolutely rip. Yep. No, they knew what they were doing for sure. You guys, they're still, they're still on my, Spotify rap. They haven't made a song in 10 years. They're my number three top plate artists. They haven't been a song in 10 years. I mean, this is a, you know what's funny in an alternate universe where Sarah's not in the P-dub, you are a psycho, like, following Harry Styles around the world.

She's a style child, dude. I don't play when it comes to Harry Style. No, no. I don't, don't fuck around at all. Yeah, that's so good. This is crazy. Are they, what do you listen to pregame? Wondy or I heard you listen to some Beyonce pregame too. Is it still her? No, I'm definitely, I'm definitely a Beyonce girl. But lately, it's been wicked. And I've never, I've never seen the play. I've never seen the movie. But I've all, like, I grew up like I loved to sing growing up, not like good, but I love to sing. And I would sing the wicked songs. And so I've been like jamming in my heart. What are you doing? Go see the movie. It's unreal. I know, you know, you know, it's crazy. My friends are seeing it tonight without

me. Oh, no. That is so fucked up. How crazy. Dan, this might be our fault, actually. Yeah. She's sitting here with us. I said that so fucked up because I'm realizing what we've done to her. This is horrible. They were like, we have to go see tonight.

Like, it's like half-price movies. It's Tuesday. And I was like, you guys, I have a podcast. I'm a podcast. And they were like, are you going to be mad if we go? And I was like, no. You know what? I would not be surprised if they text you after this.

And they're like, we will go see that again. That's how good at this. Yep. Yeah, that's true. But you have to promise us. You have to promise us when you. you go see it, you won't be one of those lunatics singing in the theater because we cannot have that. No, honestly, that's fair.

That is so fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? I'm going to, I'm now going to use our powers of social media and plant a fake story that Sarah Nurse gets escorted out of movie theater for singing. We're singing too loud. And people will believe it. Her teammates will believe it. She is singing all the time.

She's singing all the time. I'm in the movie theater by myself. Yeah. Yeah. Phenomenal. All right, nurse. here's your last one. This category is called What Are You Watching? And we've kind of got some

different, we've got movie, we've got TV, we've got other. So Pass Shoot, Score, High School Musical, a reality show from HDTV, TLC Food Network, something in there, or YouTube makeup tutorials. Oh, those are good ones, you guys. Okay, so I'm going to shoot High School Musical because, like, phenomenal. Is that, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, yeah, do you mean score? Wait, yeah, do you mean score?

No, no, no, it's going to be second. Wow. Okay. That's going to be second. I know, I know, I know. High School Musical 3, actually, to be specific. Wow. And I'm going to score, if I can make my reality TV, love island, I'm going to score that.

And love, love, love, love, love. Yes. Hell, yes. I will score Love Island all day. Hell yeah. And then I'm going to pass YouTube, make tutorials, because even though I do love those. I feel like I like loki make those now, which is like, let's go.

Flex. I love it. Okay, hold on. This is an incredibly important question. UK Love Island or otherwise? Okay. UK Love Island, 99% of the time, except for this most recent season of the U.S. version, the girls went off.

Which I appreciate so much. I accept that answer wholeheartedly. As long as it's like by and large, UK, but however, this U.S. season has been diabolical. Legit. Legit. The best one by far. And also just like a little tidbit, Australia. Have you guys watched us?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't seen that one yet. They're unhinged though. Like I don't, they almost go too hard for me. Yeah. Like the Ozzy's are, they don't play around at all. And sometimes I'm like having a lazy hungover Sunday and I just want to watch Love Island and they are coming at me at 11 and I can't handle it. It's too much.

Yeah. Absolutely. Have you seen Great British Bake Off? Come on. Okay, I'm just checking here. Come on. That's all time. Especially around Christmas time.

Are you kidding me? Yes. I don't know if there's a lovelier television program ever. There isn't. It's unbelievable. No, there's not. Yeah. It's unbelievable.

It's absolutely not. All right, Sarah, we've taken up enough of your time. We can't thank you enough. This was so, so much fun. I am absolutely devastated that we cost you a screening of Wicked. We are going to go ahead and. Venmo you for the ticket. Yeah, I was going to say, we'll buy your ticket.

Thank you. Thank you. Seriously, this has been a blast. Before we let you go, is there anything you want to shout out, anything you want to plug? No, honestly, like, PWHL season kicked off Toronto Scepters. We have the best years in the league. So make sure you check us out on social, check out a game. And we'll be here to entertain.

Hell yeah. Love it. All right. Thanks so much, Sarah. That is it for this episode of the Empty Netters podcast. Huge shout out to Sarah Nurse. What a legend. Unbelievable stuff.

Glad we finally got her. I know, Dan. I was right about to say that. Been trying to make this happen for a while. Was thrilled she was down to sit down. Because, you know, once that season ramps up again, I knew it was going to be tough. Snuck her in here. Well worth the weight.

What a time. Unbelievable. Absolute rock star. It's not every day you get an NHL cover athlete on your podcast. And I got to just give Sarah a quick shout out. There was never a moment of any hesitation whatsoever. It was like, hey, you want to come on the pod? She was like, fuck you.

Yeah, yeah. Just a total home. Hell yeah. Absolutely love to see it. So huge thank you again to Sarah Nurse. Thank you to all of you. Unbelievable times. Until we see you next time.

Skate hard.