Vancouver hockey fans know Sarah Nurse for what she can do on the ice.
The Vancouver Goldeneyes forward has spent years competing at the highest level, building a career that includes three Olympic appearances, a gold medal, two silver medals and three IIHF World Championship titles.
But the version of Nurse that fans see on game day is only one part of the picture.
Behind every performance are long hours of training, practices, travel and preparation. With so much of her life built around competition, Nurse has learned to be equally intentional about the time she spends away from hockey.
“Away from the rink, I love to spend time with friends and family when possible, but I am actually really introverted and need my downtime as well,” Nurse told 604 Now.
Sometimes that means keeping to herself and settling in with her Nintendo Switch 2. More broadly, it means creating enough quiet to properly reset before the next practice, road trip or game.
“Between training, travel, game days, and other brand commitments I have with my partners, taking time to relax and recharge has become so important,” she said. “I think having time to unwind and recharge actually makes me a better athlete and keeps me in the best headspace.”
Stepping away from the noise
After a demanding day or a tough game, Nurse tries to put some distance between herself and the noise surrounding hockey.
Her reset can be as simple as reading a book, playing a game or staying off her phone for a while.
“I try to spend time away from my phone and social media after a tough game because I want to disconnect and get out of my own head,” she said.
For someone whose day-to-day life is driven by results, Nurse naturally gravitates toward games that do not come with the same pressure to perform.
Her current favourites include Pokémon Pokopia and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, two slower-paced games that allow her to explore, build and unwind at her own speed.
“I think my day to day is so competitive that it’s nice to play games that are really immersive and comforting,” Nurse said. “I like being able to get lost in a world and discover new things. I find it’s a nice way to stay stimulated without it being too competitive.”
Her connection to gaming goes back much further than her professional hockey career. One of her earliest memories is playing Nintendo 64 with friends and racing against them in Mario Kart.
The consoles have changed since then, but that social side of gaming has stuck around. Nurse said plenty of players across the league enjoy gaming, and she has competed against Team Canada teammate Emma Maltais a few times.
Her own Animal Crossing island offers a glimpse at the other side of her personality. Asked what Vancouver visitors would notice first if they dropped in, Nurse had a simple answer.
“I think that they would notice that it’s cozy and impressive!”
The work fans do not see
For Nurse, recovery is not limited to rest days, treatment rooms or time away from the gym. The mental side matters just as much, particularly when so much of an athlete’s work happens outside public view.
“I think a lot of fans don’t understand how much time we spend focused on hockey,” she said. “It’s not just the games people see – there are so many hours behind the scenes spent on training and practicing.”
That gap between the work athletes put in and the small portion fans actually see can make a difficult performance even harder to process.
Nurse said people can lose sight of those unseen hours and judge an athlete entirely on the time they spend watching them play. That is why having a way to mentally step back has become such an important part of her routine.
“Mental recovery is just as important as physical recovery because if we’re not in the right headspace, we can’t go out and compete to our highest ability,” she said.
For Nurse, downtime does not take away from her competitive edge. It helps protect it.
Sometimes that reset comes from time with family or a good book. Other times, it is putting down her phone and disappearing into a cozy game for a while.
You can find more of Sarah Nurse’s favourite games to unwind with online.
