Team Canada's Sarah Nurse Make Hockey History
PUBLICATION
S. HarperAugust 25, 2022 (1:38 PM)
Despite Team Canada recently winning the World Junior Hockey Championships earlier this month, Canada as a whole hasn't had to much to appreciate when it comes to our sport with the alleged sexual assaults that members of the Team Canada's World Junior players from 2003 and 2018 are being investigated for. I feel Team Canada has been disgraced.
Unfortunately Team Canada's Women's players are being punished even though they are not involved in anyway. However one member of our Women's 2022 Gold Medal Olympics winners from the winter game in Beijing is bringing some pride to Canada.
Sarah Nurse sister of Edmonton Oilers Defenseman Darnell Nurse was a huge part of Team Canada's gold medal win back at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. She set records for most assists (13) and points (18) at a single Olympics.
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Today Nurse has made the game of hockey and her county super proud as she becomes the first female hockey player in history to be named a cover athlete for the popular Electronic Arts video game NHL 23.
The NHL series has been an annual video game tradition since the launch of NHLPA back on the Sega Genesis in 1991 for hockey fans to get their fix.
This isn't just history making for Canada, it's groundbreaking for hockey as a whole given how exceedingly rare it is to see a female athlete on the cover of a video game.
In fact, Nurse is not only the first woman to ever grace the cover of the EA Sports NHL franchise, she's the first woman since Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan and Steph Catley were featured on FIFA 16 to appear on the cover of a mainstream EA Sports video game. In that trio's case, they were for special Canadian, American and Australian editions, while Nurse will be featured front and centre, regardless of the edition of the game.
The historical significance of this isn't lost on Nurse.
I think it's funny, because this was never in the realm of possibilities for me,» Nurse told Sportsnet. «I never ever saw myself in the game. Up until last year, there weren't really women in the game at all, and so this is something that I never even dreamed up for myself. And it's such a cool thing.
I can't wait for all the young kids, everybody who plays the game to be in this all-encompassing, team atmosphere. So, I'm super excited, super honoured as well.»
In particular, Nurse understands that gracing the cover of a major video game isn't just an important step forward for women's sports, but men's sports as well.
«I'm a huge advocate of women and girls in sport, but when I get asked this question, it's just as important for little boys to see women in positions of power, women in sports, as it is for little girls,» Nurse said. «We want women in sports to be a normality and not a novelty, not one-offs.
«And, so, what I think this will do for young kids is it's really going to change the culture of the game. It's going to really turn everything around in the sense that women are going to be respected in the game like never before. And with a huge platform like EA, like NHL 23, I think that it's gonna be really game-changing for all the little boys and little girls who are able to see it."
I can't wait for all the young kids, everybody who plays the game to be in this all-encompassing, team atmosphere. So, I'm super excited, super honoured as well.»
In particular, Nurse understands that gracing the cover of a major video game isn't just an important step forward for women's sports, but men's sports as well.
«I'm a huge advocate of women and girls in sport, but when I get asked this question, it's just as important for little boys to see women in positions of power, women in sports, as it is for little girls,» Nurse said. «We want women in sports to be a normality and not a novelty, not one-offs.
«And, so, what I think this will do for young kids is it's really going to change the culture of the game. It's going to really turn everything around in the sense that women are going to be respected in the game like never before. And with a huge platform like EA, like NHL 23, I think that it's gonna be really game-changing for all the little boys and little girls who are able to see it."
Check out the world premiere trailer of NHL 23 here
| POLL | ||
25 AOUT | 41 ANSWERS Team Canada's Sarah Nurse Make Hockey History Are you going to purchase NHL 23 If So What System? | ||
| Playstation 4-5 | 13 | 31.7 % |
| Xbox | 15 | 36.6 % |
| Both | 13 | 31.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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