‘I’m really looking forward to it’: Nova Scotia’s Blayre Turnbull returns home to play in Rivalry Series

Suzette Belliveau chats with Nova Scotia's Blayre Turnbull ahead of the Rivalry Series games in our region.

Team Canada and Team USA from the Women’s National Teams are in the Maritimes this week to face off for the final two games of the annual Rivalry Series.

The 2024-2025 Rivalry Series involves five games between the two rival hockey teams. USA Hockey hosted the first three games in November, while the final two are being hosted in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island this week.

Team Canada forward Blayre Turnbull is from Stellarton, N.S. She says there’s something special about playing in her home region.

“For me being from Nova Scotia, I obviously haven’t had many opportunities to play at home in a game like this, so to be able to be here in front of a home crowd full of family and friends, I’m really looking forward to it,” she said, during an interview with CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau. “And I know my teammates are super excited to experience the Maritime hospitality as well.”

The series’ fourth game will take place at Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre Thursday night. Turnbull says she has about 75 friends and family attending to cheer her on.

“We’re expecting to close out the Rivalry Series. So, I think we’ve got a great team, we’re really competitive, and I know the Americans will put up a good fight, but we’re going into the game hoping to win and to claim the Rivalry Series,” she said.

The last game of the series takes place at the Credit Union Place in Summerside, P.E.I., on Saturday.

Journey into professional hockey

Turnbull is also part of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) – a women’s hockey league in North America that started in January 2024.

The 31-year-old, who plays for the Toronto Sceptres, says the creation of the PWHL was “a long time coming.”

“So, now that we have this platform, the games are so competitive, it’s just a really rewarding experience for us to have a pro league to play in and the on-ice product is something that we’re really proud of,” Turnbull said.

In her earlier years, Turnbull thought her only chance to play professional hockey would be to join the NHL, until she witnessed the women’s Olympic team play on TV in 2002.

“And then I actually saw them play here live in 2004. So, that’s kind of when my dream shifted and now, just reflecting and thinking about how all the young girls now have the PWHL to watch almost on a nightly basis is something that I’m really proud of and I hope that they’re inspired to chase the dream of playing in the PWHL,” she said.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau.

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