Steve Milton: Opportunities soaring for Sarah Nurse and women’s hockey
These are golden times, literally and figuratively, for Sarah Nurse.
The Hamilton native, fresh from the top of the Olympic podium, has been in demand by sponsors, advertisers and charitable organizations since returning from the Beijing Games, where she and some of her closest friends won the women's hockey gold medal.
The 27-year-old Nurse led the Olympics in scoring, setting a record for points in a single Games (18). She was very busy making personal appearances and commercials before Beijing, and the pace has only accelerated since.
On Friday, as she made time to join Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas in publicizing the NHL's Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Tim Hortons Field, Nurse spoke of how Hockey Canada's longtime investment in women's hockey had raised her team's performance to record levels and that similar financial commitments are required in other countries.
She said that Team Canada's celebrated showing has already amplified economic opportunities for the players.
Definitely. Going back to that investment piece, people see the value in women's sport and in women's hockey in particular. Different brands and organizations really look to women's hockey and say, These athletes are marketable.' There are increased opportunities for myself and all my teammates, which is going to be awesome."
Nurse will drop the puck for the ceremonial faceoff to open the Bulldogs' Outdoor Showcase at Tim Hortons Field against the Oshawa Generals on Monday, March 14, the night after the NHL's Heritage Classic.
There's quite a confluence of personal experience in all of that for the articulate and perceptive role model. Nurse's brother, Isaac, is a former Bulldogs' captain, her uncle played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and helped administer the outdoor doubleheader, and she says one of her earliest memories is skating with her family on the outdoor rink at Gage Park, just a long slap shot from the stadium.
Nurse is helping with an NHL event that Tim Hortons title-sponsors at a stadium they also title-sponsor, only a kilometre from the company's original restaurant. And 15 months ago Tim Hortons launched a major campaign distributing limited editions of Barbie Dolls of Nurse and her legendary teammate Marie-Philip Poulin.
The Bulldogs and the Tiger-Cats are Hamilton," Nurse said. Steel City, hard work, chip on your shoulder. They mean a lot to the community. We have our own hockey team here and have our own city pride. I'm definitely a huge fan of the Bulldogs and the Ticats."
Nurse is among the drivers of the Professional Women's Hockey Association, which seeks to establish a women's pro league with good salaries and a sustainable future. She predicts the spectacular popularity of Canada-USA games at the 2022 Olympics will accelerate the process.
I think we're very close," she said. We're very optimistic about the coming year. There's been so much momentum. I know people want to know more details, but there is so much work going on behind the scenes. What I can say is I'm very excited about where it's going."
If a league does happen, Nurse will be touting Hamilton as an ideal spot for a franchise.
It's such a hub for hockey, not just for boys but for girls," she says. I think it will be a great market here."
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com