Although Minnesota lost Tuesday to Toronto 4-3 in overtime, it was indeed a successful night for diverse representation on the ice.
The local PWHL club celebrated Black History Month at the University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena on Tuesday with several different activities, which began with Minnesota staff and players who wore PWHL Black History Month shirts designed by Black artist Dana Mclean. The local Black and POC youth hockey organization, Mosaic Hockey Collective, also played a shootout game on the ice during the first intermission.
But more important was the performance of two of the PWHL’s Black players who played to the announced 2,718 in attendance at the Gopher home ice arena. The Minnesota-Toronto contest was played there because the former’s regular home was unavailable due to the Minnesota Wild’s regular scheduled contest.
Sophie Jaques scored two goals, her first of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the opening period, then later a blast from center ice with 21 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime for Minnesota.
Sarah Nurse also scored twice for Toronto—first to give her club a 3-2 lead early in the third period, then the game-winner with nearly a minute left in overtime for a hard-fought road victory.
The two players, along with Minnesota’s Nikki Nightengale, were featured in snippets throughout the night on the arena video board.
Jaques, the first Black winner of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s best women’s hockey player and multiple All-American and all-league performer at Ohio State, and Nightengale, an Augsburg graduate, both spoke on what inspired them and why representation matters.
Nurse, a former all-star player at Wisconsin, played an integral role in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the PWHL ownership group as a member of the PWHL Players Association’s executive team in the founding of the league, which started in January.
All three players spoke to the MSR in separate post-game interviews.
“It was a huge night,” stressed Nightengale on Jaques and Nurse’s game performances, “especially in having our Black players show these young kids what they can do, and what they can aspire to do. It’s awesome.”
On Mosaic Hockey Collective players in attendance and first intermission performance, “That’s great,” observed Nurse. “Being in Minnesota, I think that’s awesome to be that role model is amazing.”
During the second intermission, a taped one-on-one interview with Jaques was shown on the large video board. She spoke on the need for hockey to be “a safe space” for all, including Blacks and POC, and predicted this may finally come about in the next 5-10 years.
“I think society as a whole has more people of color,” explained Jaques. “To continue to break down the barriers, there are a lot more organizations out there these days. I think [with] the work everyone is doing for the next few years, we will be able to make great progress.
“I think the power of social media now will help spread the message across to everyone,” she said.
Added Nightengale, “I cannot say I want to put a number on it. Everybody wants it to happen tomorrow. But the reality is that it’s not possible.
“But I think anyone and everyone can do to get us there is the most important part,” she said. “When it happens in a year or five years, I think it is important to keep [being] proactive so that it does happen.”
Besides making history last year, Jaques also made PWHL history as the first player traded when Minnesota acquired her on Feb. 11.
“It is really special but I don’t feel I’ve appreciated it much in the moment,” admitted the defenseman. “I haven’t looked back to see how much a reach [it has] helped to grow the game. I think it’s incredible and want to continue to help with that for the future.
“To be a role model for these young girls—definitely representation matters,” concluded Jaques on her and Nurse playing against each other Tuesday night as professional hockey players.
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