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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — One reason the Wisconsin women's hockey team hit the holiday break ranked No. 1 in the nation is its core of veteran forwards. The most productive of that group is senior left winger Sarah Nurse, who leads the Badgers in goals (15), points (25) and shots on goal (95). A business major from Hamilton, Ontario, Nurse is among the top 10 career goal scorers for the Badgers (17-2-1 overall) with 66, including 14 game-winners. She also is among the top five at UW with six shorthanded conversions. After a recent practice at LaBahn Arena, Nurse talked about what makes UW unique, the teammate she wants to see most 20 years from now and the most memorable thing her head coach, Mark Johnson, has said to her.
Is there a UW student-athlete not on your team that you admire?
"Joel Rumpel, the goalie for the men's team a few years back (2011 to '15). I think he was just a very interesting person and he always had something interesting to say. You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth, really."
Did you know he once brought a homeless person into his campus apartment?
"I did know that. He also took people on tours of LaBahn."
When do you feel more stress, in overtime of a NCAA playoff game or final exams?
"Finals. Easy. I feel more prepared when I go into overtime of a big game than I do with finals."
The teammate you'll be most curious to see 20 years from now?
"(Freshman center) Abby Roque. She's just an incredibly fun person to be around. So I just can't wait to see who she ends up with, where she ends up living and what she ends up doing because, right now, if I were to tell you any of those things, I wouldn't have a guess."
You're the UW athletic director for a day. What's the first thing you'd do?
"I'd bring ice cream to the Kohl Center (for student-athlete's training table). I hear they get it at Camp Randall. I heard that from the football players. I heard they get ice cream and I've never seen it at the Kohl Center."
You were just featured in a New York Times profile on women of color playing college hockey. How did you go about getting comfortable with the media attention?
"The only way to get comfortable is to put yourself outside your comfort zone. That's how I did it. Once you start one conversation it's easier to start the next."
What's the most unique aspect of this school, this campus?
"Just the relationships with the student-athletes. I talk to them at other schools. I don't think that the student-athletes have the bond that we have. We're very close with the basketball and hockey teams and the football team. I talk to other student-athletes at other schools and they just don't have that. They're very much in their own bubble. Here, with all the student-athletes, we're pretty much a family."
Can you build me the perfect Wisconsin player using parts from your teammates?
"I would say Baylee Wellhausen's speed, Sydney McKibbon's smarts, Annie Pankowski's shot, Ann-Renée Desbiens' fearlessness and Emily Clark's passing ability. That's a really good player."
What makes Ann-Renée so good? She has almost 50 career shutouts. As someone whose task it is to score goals — to beat her — what makes her so formidable?
"She has a ton of confidence. She has swag on the ice, basically. Anybody who watches her can see that. I think she just goes out on the ice and she knows that she's going to stop the puck."
So it's not a physical thing or a technical thing; it's an attitude thing?
"She's very skilled, but it's definitely an attitude thing."
How often do you think about the fact this is your last season of college hockey?
"Every time we finish a series, on road trips especially. We were just in Duluth and when we leave those places — it's a place we've been going to for four years — that's when I think about it."
Is it emotional or are you just checking it off a list?
"Check it off. I don't think it's too emotional. It's more, hey, nostalgic."
How many times have you seen your coach really angry?
"Our coach is not one to swear. I've probably heard him swear maybe twice in my career. One was at ref during a game; I think it was when Ann-Renée got hit this year (a Minnesota State player kneed Desbiens, an act that later drew a one-game suspension from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and resulted in an injury for Desbiens). He swore. When he does, you turn around and go, 'This is serious.' When people get injured, that's when he gets mad the most."
What's the most memorable thing Mark Johnson has said to you?
"Last year I had, like, 10 shots in the first two periods of a game. He looked at me and said, 'If you shoot low blocker one more time, I'll not put you back on the ice.' I went out the next period and shot high glove and I scored a goal, so he put me back on the ice."
