Published August 24, 2022 at 11:48 am
Sarah Nurse has already shattered an Olympic hockey scoring record — and now she has broken a barrier.
The Hamilton native, who played her youth hockey with the Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres, will be the first woman to appear on the cover of the EA Sports NHL video game. Per multiple media reports, Electronic Arts is going with a split cover — also a first — for NHL 23, featuring Nurse and Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras.
In February, Nurse, who is a right wing, earned most valuable player honors while leading Team Canada to the gold medal in women’s hockey at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. During the tournament, she scored a record 18 points, including a record 13 assists, and was involved in all of Canada’s goals during a 3-2 gold-medal game win against the United States. Nurse also became the first Black woman to win an Olympic hockey gold medal.
A license from the International Ice Hockey Federation enabled EA to add proper women’s hockey action to the popular video game in the NHL 22 edition. Over the years, numerous leagues have been licensed for the game, including the Canadian Hockey League and most major European domestic leagues.
The 27-year-old Nurse, along with a cohort of Halton Region hockey stars, is currently with Team Canada at the women’s world championship in Denmark. Canada faces Finland in its opener on Friday at 1 pm ET.
Nurse is also involved in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), which is advocating for one viable professional women’s hockey league in North America. The PWHPA said last week that it is planning to hold five weekend series and “a new special event” in the fall.
Including Nurse, the PWHPA has commitments from 43 Olympians and 75 national team players.
The split cover with two players is also a first for the video game.
Two of Nurse’s cousins are pro athletes. Darnell Nurse is a defenseman with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Kia Nurse is a guard for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, who has not played this season due to recovery from surgery to repair an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in her right knee.
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