Turning heads: Turnbull ready to shine at Four Nations Cup
November 03, 2014 | Women's Hockey
Nov. 3, 2014
BY AJ Harrison
UW Athletic Communications
Three current players on the Wisconsin women's hockey team will represent their countries this week at the Four Nations Cup in Kamloops, British Columbia, as Blayre Turnbull and Emily Clark will suit up for Canada, and Annie Pankowski will play in her second tournament for Team USA.
Although the three Badgers will play in the same tournament, each one of them has taken a dramatically different path to play for their respected national teams.
First up in our series is Wisconsin senior captain Blayre Turnbull.
B
layre Turnbull arrived on the Wisconsin campus as a freshman in 2011 looking to make her mark on a team that featured two of the best offensive players in program history in Brianna Decker and Hilary Knight. The Badgers were coming off of their fourth NCAA title and were in position to claim the program's fifth national title.
Playing on the third line as a freshman, Turnbull had a solid campaign, tallying seven goals and seven assists as the Badgers won the WCHA regular season title. Wisconsin advanced to its sixth Frozen Four, and finished as the NCAA runner-up after falling to Minnesota in the national championship game.
"Something inside of me told me that I could play better than I had been playing," Turnbull said about her sophomore season. "I worked hard over the summer in the weight room and on the ice with a lot of the girls that stayed here to improve my all-around game. When I came back in September I was ready to play and I knew that I was capable of playing at a higher level, I had the confidence."
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| Blayre Turnbull will make her first senior national team appearance this week |
As an assistant captain last year, Turnbull started to find the score sheet, as the tallied 40 points off 18 goals and team-leading 22 assists to help Wisconsin advance to the NCAA Frozen Four for the seventh time in program history.
She also shined on the Badgers' special teams, scoring five short-handed goals, which not only led the country last year but were the most in a season by a Badger player. Turnbull led the UW penalty kill that not only had a .906 conversion rate, but that scored as many short-handed goals (9) as it gave up to the opponents' power play.
Turnbull also became the first player in school history to score two short-handed goals in a single period, doing so at Minnesota State.
After scoring her eighth career short-handed goal against Ohio State on Oct. 10, Turnbull is tied for the most short-handed goals in school history with Knight and Decker.
"I think the main thing that's improved is my mental game," Turnbull said. "I think the strength of my mental game is one of the strengths of my overall game as a hockey player. I think that I've learned just to go into any situation with an open mind and just take what's given to me and make the most of each opportunity that I'm given.
"If I make a mistake, I brush it off and move forward without having a negative mind set, and I think that's taken me pretty far.
"Obviously practicing with some of the top players in North America here at Wisconsin has really allowed my physical game to grow."
Decker, who served as Turnbull's mentor during her freshman and sophomore seasons, has noticed Turnbull's development not only on the ice, but off the ice.
"I think she has grown as an all-around player," Decker said. "Even off the ice she has become a big leader for the Badgers. She works hard every practice, leads by example and that is exactly what you need as a captain."
The two competed every day in practice for two seasons, but Wednesday's game featuring the U.S. vs. Canada will mark the first time the two have gone head-to-head in an actual game.
"It'll be weird playing against her for sure," Turnbull said "But I think one of the good things about our relationship is that no matter whether or not we're playing with each other or she's watching me or we're playing against each other, she'll still probably give me feedback after the game as to what I did well, what I need to work on. I know she wants to me stay at this level, and I know she's going to help me in whatever way I need help to stay up there even though I'm playing against her."
Turnbull will also face former UW goaltender Alex Rigsby, 2010 and 2014 Olympian Hilary Knight and current teammate Annie Pankowski. Turnbull has played with all four of the Badger representatives on the U.S. Four Nations team at one point in her career at Wisconsin.
| "Obviously practicing with some of the top players in North America here at Wisconsin has really allowed my physical game to grow." |
"I think it'll be a new experience for me obviously to play against some of my best friends and some of my teammates here at school, and former teammates that I used to play with," Turnbull said. "It will be kind of weird at first, but I think once the puck drops you don't even realize who you're going out against, you just know that you're playing against another country, so you're going to want to do whatever it takes to win."
Turnbull suited up for Canada this summer in the U-22 series against the U.S., and she tallied her first goal for Canada against former UW teammate Rigsby. After the series, she was invited to take part in the Hockey Canada National Fall Festival, where she got to practice, train and compete with members of the 2014 gold medal team.
"Last year was a breakout season for her," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "She got herself an opportunity to go to the fall festival and obviously she did well enough to join the national team. We are excited for her and her family."
Hockey Canada's Four Nations Cup team features 10 gold medalists from the 2014 Winter Olympics and Sochi, and current UW teammate Emily Clark, who's also making her first senior national team appearance.
"It'll be awesome to share that experience by Blayre's side," Clark said. "I look up to her a lot and I've learned a lot from her."
As for her role on the team, Turnbull is ready to fill what every role she's asked to do.
"Individually, I'm just expecting to be thrown in a bunch of different roles and kind of be tested to see where I fit in in the lineup," Turnbull said. "I'm willing to play any role on the team. Obviously I'm really happy to be part of the national team and if the coaches want me to play on the fourth line, I'll be more than happy to play there. If they want me to go out and score some goals on the first line, I'll try my best to do that too.
"I think our team goal is to win a gold medal, I think that's always the goal when you're playing for Team Canada."
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