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Opening night for the PWHL is just over a week away.
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The preparations for the season have been on-going since the league officially was born in June.
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In six short months, teams have established home arenas, practice facilities and all the ancillary pieces that go with that, to say nothing of building a 23-person rosters with three reserves to get them through the first year.
It’s nothing short of a miracle that the league is ready given the short time frame.
Toronto — and we expect the rest of the league — will take a short break to allow its players to head home for Christmas, but will be right back at it on Dec. 27 with that Jan. 1 opening game against New York pushing everyone to put the finishing touches on their preparations.
Blayre Turnbull and Sarah Nurse are two of Toronto’s veteran forwards and locker-room leaders. We conducted a quick question-and-answer session with both on all things PWHL looking ahead and behind as the best women’s hockey league the world has ever known is about to be unleashed.
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TO WHOM WAS THE FIRST CALL YOU MADE WHEN THIS LEAGUE OFFICIALLY BECAME A REALITY?
Sarah Nurse: “I think I had a bit of a group call with Liz Knox and Hilary Knight and Brianne Jenner and Kendall Coyne Schofield. We obviously were working together on the bargaining committee and so once we had come to terms with the CBA and realized it was actually happening, we were like ‘I can’t even believe that we did this.’ Not much was said to be honest. We were just kind of smiling with each other because we had been on a lot of phone calls that hadn’t been too positive and a lot of blood, sweat and tears had gone into it so I think being able to reflect with that group was something special.”
Blayre Turnbull: Probably my husband. That was a long time ago and a lot has happened since then. It was definitely a relief. I feel like the last year or year and a half, we knew everything was in the works and something was coming, but there was always some uncertainty with how long things were taking and if it was actually going be done in the time frame that we were told. So I think it was a sigh of relief when we found out.
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THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS LEAGUE COMPARED TO ITS PREDECESSORS?
Turnbull: “I would say the calibre of hockey. I think it’s the first time, aside from some of the top European players, the best hockey players in the world are all playing in the same league.”
WHAT RULE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE PWHL IMPLEMENT?
Nurse: “I really like almost all of the power-play adjustments we (experimented with at the pre-season camp in Utica). I love the fact you can score three, four or even five goals on a two-minute power play. I love that if somebody scores a short-handed goal, you can leave the box. I did really, really like that because I think it promotes offence. I think a lot of times, in women’s hockey especially, we are very, very good defensively so to be able to break that a little bit.”
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BIGGEST CHAGE IN YOUR LIFE JOINING THE PWHL HAS CREATED
Nurse: “I think this league just brought us a consistency. I think for a lot of us, we have had no consistency with really anything. So to be able to come here every single day and have a home, to have our staff, to have our locker room, to have me not having to carry my own equipment in. Those might sound like little things, but to me they have made such a difference in the way we are able to function as hockey players”
BIGGEST SURPRISE ABOUT THE NEW LEAGUE?
Turnbull: “I think just how easy it’s been for the players. I knew that it was going to be professional, but I think everyone’s definition of professional is a little bit different. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with everything here in Toronto and how well we have been treated by the staff at the arena, by the catering company. The food has been amazing. We get breakfast and lunch after we are done. The gym that we have access to has been great and obviously our entire staff, from our manager and our coaching staff and the support staff has all been top notch and I’ve been so pleased with how professional everything has been.”
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A CITY YOU WOULD LIKE THE LEAGUE TO EXPAND TO WHEN THAT BECOMES FEASIBLE?
Turnbull (a Nova Scotia native): “Halifax for sure. That would be awesome. It’s a great little sports city.”
SOMEONE NOT IN THE LEAGUE YET BUT SOMEONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAYBE ONE DAY PLAY WITH?
Turnbull: “I think Julia Gosling (currently at St. Lawrence University and already with a presence on the national scene having played in the Rivalry Series and with Canada’s Under-18 team internationally). I’m excited for her. I think she’s in a position where she can decide to do her fifth year in the NCAA or she can join this pro league. I’m sure whatever she chooses will be the best decision for her, but I think she is someone that has been in the Hockey Canada program and on the radar to be a full-time staple in the national women’s team lineup for a little bit. Over the past year, her progress has been unbelievable and I think over the next few years, in between now and 2026, she will just continue to get better and be a big impactful player.”
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Nurse: “It’s hard not to say Sarah Fillier (Princeton) because I do play with her already with Team Canada, so I would selfishly love to end up playing with her again (in the PHWL). That’s a good question. I was able to skate with Hannah Clarke a little bit before this season started along with national team teammate Erin Ambrose. She’s a young goalie who is on the U-18 team and to be able to skate with her and see her zest for life and the game was really rejuvenating for me. Just to see her go through the under-18 process you kind of put yourself in her shoes a little bit. It would be cool to having already played with her at this point and then if I could play another six, seven or eight years, I don’t know, and see her in the league, that would be cool.”
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WHO WILL YOU BE THINKING OF JAN 1 WHEN THAT FIRST GAME HITS?
Turnbull: “I think I’ll be thinking of all the trailblazers who played this game before us and never had the opportunity to play in a league like this. I think back to that Salt Lake City Olympic team in 2002. That is the team that inspired my dream to play for the national team, but I think back to those women and how much they did for my generation and I think every time we step onto the ice we are honouring them and their legacy and how much they did for the game.”
Nurse: “I don’t think there’s one person. It’s obviously taken a lot to get this off the ground. It’s taken a lot from a lot of different people and a lot of different groups so I don’t think there’s one person that I will be thinking of. But to be able to line up for that faceoff and look at my teammates and look at the people on the bench and think we are actually here at the inaugural game, the first game ever, is going to be incredibly special to be able to do it with this group of people and to know that there have been so many people who have come before us and are not going to be able to play in this league and be able to reap the benefits, but just knowing we are the ones who are going to carry the torch on to the next generation.”
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