By Keelan Mcinnes
Nicole Gosling is one of the top defenseman this year for the PWHL entry draft, she is twenty-two years old and has a pretty impressive hockey career so far, with one U18 world juniors Gold medal with Canada, one gold medal in the women’s world champion, and one silver medal in the World Juniors with Canada. After she was done bringing the Gold home for Canada she went on to play for Clarkson University in the NCAA, where in her first year she played nineteen games, and put up fourteen points. Andy Miller said “She is able to move the puck well and open up shooting and passing lanes, particularly on the power play”, and “She is not afraid to stand players up at the blueline”. In Nicole’s second year playing for Clarkson University she played thirty seven games and racked up an impressive thirty points, twenty-two of them being assists. Nicole has been a consistent point per game player every season. Andy Miller also states in his scouting report “She opens up well for her defense partner and keeps her head up so she knows what to do when she gets the puck and can get it off quickly or be patient.”. Nicole is projected to be selected in the mid to late first round of the upcoming PWHL draft. Joshua Bartell the Assistant Athletic Director said “Nicole will leave Clarkson as the leader in Games played, which she passed PWHL Rookie, Brooke McQuigge for that distinction this year, and the leader in all time points by a defence, which she passed PWHL Defender, Erin Ambrose”
I was able to reach out to Nicole and get to know her a bit better with the help of Joshua Bartell the Assistant Athletic Director for Clarkson. When asked about her favorite player growing up she immediately said “I don’t have an answer” with a smile, but she did say growing up but she liked Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury, which is a very Canadian answer. As a Canadian myself, I appreciated the next answer to my question, which was what is her favorite road trip snack, to which she replied “Chips, I am a big chip girl”. She mentioned she likes all dressed chips which is a staple of Canadian snack food, but she unfortunately can not get them in the United states. Now every snack food comes with a favorite Television series, and Nicole is a Greys Anatomy fan, which I have been told is a good series. Nicole is also a big Animal documentary fan, she likes her animal planet, which I can confirm from personal experience, that is a fantastic show.
Getting back to the hockey side of things Nicole did not know there would be a pro league coming for womens hockey and was asked what kept her love of the game going despite no pro league, and she said “I dreamed of playing for team Canada in the olympics, and being Canadian that was my dream to strive for and it still is even with the draft” Nicole is passionate about the game of hockey and loves to compete. I asked her what it takes to be apart of a championship team as she has been apart of three, which she replied “Team chemistry is a big one, and being able to open up and be a good teammate will help you be successful on and off the ice” Hopefully we can see Nicole play for Team Canada in the next winter Olympics.
The PWHL draft is coming up and every year it seems to be more and more popular. Nicole was asked what she was most excited about for the upcoming draft and she said “Being able to be a part of it. When I was growing up watching the NHL draft I was like I wish the females had a draft. I am also excited to take it all in, and to be there is an accomplishment” Her parents have also attended most, if not all of her games so far and she said is excited to have them there as they have supported her throughout the years. Nicole does not have a specific team she wants to be drafted to, she said “Any team that will want me, will make me excited to be there” She did state she would like the PWHL to expand to the West coast, specifically Vancouver so she can live there. She also wouldn’t mind a nice hot location on the United States west coast either. Nicole was asked what she hopes for the future of Women’s hockey, and she said “Continuous growth, having passionate fans and players.Tthat will help grow the league and I hope one day the PWHL can have the same growth as the NHL” Considering the attendance numbers for PWHL games, the PWHL will continue to grow and become a popular league.
Joshua Bartell helped with setting up the questions and interview with Nicole and he was nice enough to throw in some great questions. Joshua asked Nicole, “You have some teammates that play in the PWHL have you had any conversations with them to see what it’s like?” Nicole responded “Yeah the person I talk to the most is Definitely Brooke [Brooke McQuigge], I have been asking her questions about her day to day life and how the transition is. It’s helpful to have people to reach out to and could make my transition easier. I’m excited to be done with school and not worry about it, so I can just focus on hockey”. Nicole also mentioned she is excited to see the difference in structure when it comes to playing in the PWHL rather than college where she only plays games on the weekends.
I have saved the best question for last, and it’s by far my favorite answer. I asked Nicole what she would tell her younger self and she responded with “To have fun, we get caught up in the moment to be so competitive with ourselves and others and forget hockey is fun, and when I am having fun that’s when I’m playing my best hockey”. Nicole only has a few more games left this season with Clarkson but has already broken records. I am excited to see where Nicole ends up in the PWHL draft, as well as watching her in the next olympics.