For PWHL stars, expansion process serves as a reminder that hockey is a business first [Video]

For Sarah Nurse, the shocking trade of former Toronto Sceptres teammate Jocelyne Larocque last New Year’s Eve was a bit of a wake-up call.

Larocque is a veteran, shutdown defender who’s seen, and won, just about everything. She’s the teammate that everyone wants to have.

Her teammates in Toronto thought she was untouchable before she was sent to Ottawa in a four-player trade. It was a reminder that the PWHL is a business first, even if it hasn’t always been that way, historically, in women’s hockey.

Now, Nurse is moving across the country to Vancouver, where she signed a one-year contract earlier this week, after Toronto left her unprotected ahead of the expansion draft.

As the process unfolded, Nurse found herself having to separate emotions and business. Many of those emotions were tied to the fact that Toronto is home. It’s one of the only cities Nurse has ever lived …