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From Backyard Rinks to Becoming Pro-Ready with Boston University's Sydney Healey · Rinkside Rundown

• speaker-0: I think there's always pressure, especially as a female athlete in general. You know, there's always gonna be people on the sidelines that are criticizing every single move we make and every single thing we do. And if it is enough, the most important people that I really care about ⁓ are my friends and my family and being a good role model more than anything for younger girls and younger kids in general. speaker-1: Hello and welcome back to Rinkside Rundown, the podcast that brings you inside the world of women's hockey one story at a time. I'm your host, Chris Sinclair, and today I'm joined by Sydney Healy, a forward from Arthur, Ontario, assisting captain at Boston University. Sydney, welcome to the show. How you doing? speaker-0: I am so good, how are you? ⁓ speaker-1: I am great. Thank you. And thank you so much for joining the show. I'm really excited to dive in and to learn more about you. I've been watching on the T V for what feels like a lifetime. And now to be able to have the chance to chat with you and learn more about you, I'm excited about it. You ready to dive in? speaker-0: I'm so excited. I'm ready to go. speaker-1: Let's go. Let's start with how mo I guess more broadly, like how did you find hockey? How did hockey find you? All that's your origin story. Share your origin story with the game hockey. speaker-0: So my dad played hockey growing up. Obviously I have an older brother. He's a couple of years older than me. My dad had built us a rink at home. and obviously I had to follow in my brother's footsteps. So when he started skating, I started waddling around on the ice, following him around with one of those little plastic sticks. And from then on, I think it was just like that was it. I just needed, you know, thirty seconds to waddle around and I just love the game so much and you know, it it runs in the family. So speaker-1: Most certainly does. It most certainly does. And I love, I love it that your story starts with an ODR. I just love that kind of origin story. So that's that's great. And it's it's awesome too that it's it, you know, right from the start, it seemed like a sport that you were at least enjoying. You were quite good at, ⁓ evidently ⁓ significantly better than I was at that age, that's for sure. ⁓ do you remember when hockey kind of shifted from something where you're like, You know what, I really enjoy skating around. I enjoy, you know, maybe being around friends, those sorts of things, like the social aspect of being ⁓ involved in hockey to ⁓ I'm I I think I might take this seriously. Like I think this might be the path for me. Do you remember when that happened for you? speaker-0: honestly not really. I find that for me, I think the biggest thing for me was the culture of the team. And I think from then on that really kind of drove me to play. Obviously, you know, as we both know, like the PWHL wasn't really a thing growing up for me. And that didn't happen until after my sophomore year. So once you know that happened, obviously things kinda changed for me. But I think just growing up, the just like the drive to like play for my team and like with my team is kind of what drove me to where I am now, I think more than anything. Like there wasn't really a significant thing that happened where I was like, ⁓ like I gotta take it seriously. I feel like for me it was always I'm a competitive person. So I feel like for me it was always just like that that was always there. speaker-1: Could you you know, I kind of blew past the fact that you're from ⁓ Arthur, Ontario, which isn't necessarily, you know, when you think of hockey, you're not like, you know what, Arthur, Ontario, that's where I'm gonna go. That's you know, it's not necessarily synonymous with hockey. But could could you could you talk about, you know, your early years in in ⁓ in the sport in Arthur, Ontario, and then how ⁓ your junior career with Cambridge, Oakville, Burlington as well, and how those years really shaped you. speaker-0: Yeah, so I mean, obviously where I'm from, like I'm in the middle of the country. I'm in the middle of nowhere. My closest neighbor's a kilometer away from me. I grew up with chickens and, you know, ⁓ a lot of dogs and a lot of a lot of cats, stray cats, everything just in and out of the house all the time. ⁓ very different to where I'm at right now. But ⁓ I think, you know, with that I played growing up in Center Wellington, which is like fifteen minutes down the road from me. I played for the boys team growing up, the Center Wellington Fusion. And then as I grew, I played for the Triple A ⁓ boys team in Waterloo. And obviously like continuing to grow and stop, that's when I ended up in Cambridge, Oakville, Burlington, which is not very close to me. It's like an hour and a half. ⁓ but I think, you know, growing up there they're obviously like we're of like we have a lot of pride in our town, I find. Our town's very big on lacrosse as well. ⁓ I grew up playing box lacrosse and field lacrosse and stuff with a lot of the guys that were in my ⁓ hometown and from then on it, you know, just I think the competitiveness and playing with the guys and, you know, hockey and lacrosse and I think that really helped with my growth as a player and then to make the transition over to juniors. all my coaches were awesome and they gave me the ability to play how I wanted to play and how they knew I could play, ⁓ which I think really built my confidence up as a player to bring me to where I am now. speaker-1: What was it like then for you, as you mentioned, playing not close to home? And, you know, like what was that what was that experience like for you? And and what did it teach you, like maybe not necessarily being so close to home, having to r I'm gonna say rely more on yourself, of course, not quite that extreme ⁓ as it is when you're going off to college or something like that. But you know, you still you learn a lot about yourself as now you're kind of having to go further and further away from home to continue the the the pursuit of the sport you love. speaker-0: Yeah, I mean, I think honestly, it helped me a lot with my transition to BU and being a student athlete because I was very busy. I would go to school from like nine to three, three thirty. On the nights that I had practice, I would drive home, grab my bag, maybe grab something to eat, be out of the house by four thirty, drive to practice, ⁓ and lift and I wouldn't get home until like midnight. And then I'd wake up the next day And on the nights where I would work, I would go to class and then from class I would go right to work and I'd work until nine and then I'd go to the gym after. So it was very late nights. And then mixing that in with the fact that ⁓ you know, you have homework, you have assignments due, you're studying, like I feel like that really set me up well for when I came here. and just being so busy, I think just really made the transition easier here and being away from home. It wasn't it wasn't anything different for me because I feel like growing up and stuff, ⁓ my dad's on his own. So he was did a lot of driving around all over the place. So I've always lived a life where I've always been in the car driving around, kinda keeping myself occupied, keeping myself busy. Like I feel like that's just like almost the li life that I enjoy living. So it's weird right now where I only have two classes and I'm done and I'm like, what am I supposed to do with my time now? speaker-1: Thinking about your your junior career, as you grew in the sport, you also took on leadership roles, bigger and bigger roles within your teams, including with Burlington. When you look at leadership, especially at such a young age, and I and I always say that of course, leadership, like you wear a letter, but really everyone wears a letter, right? Like a letter is something that is just a manifestation of what qualities everyone on the team already has. And somebody has to be an assistant, right? So ⁓ But growing into those leadership roles so young, what did that teach you about yourself and maybe what it took to be a leader and to be that voice within a team? speaker-0: Yeah, I think you know, being given the opportunity to be that, especially, you know, for me, that was my first year with the team and ⁓ it was a player and coach voted decision. So to know, especially in Burlington, to kinda get to know those girls and be someone to them that they felt deserved something like that was it was really cool for me, obviously, 'cause, you know, it had only been like probably I think probably three weeks or some three or four weeks before they made the decision and, you know, they'd gotten to know me. And that was really cool for me to kind of have that experience. ⁓ I do agree with you. I think everyone you know, is a k like is a leader in their own way. And I think that when it comes to when you do get a letter, there are some changes that you do have to make. And, you know, you have to adapt and you have to learn how to be that leader now that you have that letter on your chest. And it's your responsibility now as a leader to think more about what does the team need in ⁓ different situations. And growing up in Burlington and we didn't obviously we were younger, so we didn't have like a solid foundation of how to do that yet. And I think it was nice to kind of have the opportunity to learn how to do that. and learn more about myself as a player too and kind of figure out what I need as well and what I bring to the table in a leadership group and kind of add it and work on the things that maybe I'm not as strong at. speaker-1: What did it teach you is ⁓ you you've mentioned what it taught you as a player and what you needed to do, like you just said, around bringing what you bring to the table as a player, but what did it teach you about you as a person too? And what you bring as bring to, you know, the team away from the ice, but as a person too. speaker-0: Yeah. I mean, I I would consider myself to be a pretty caring person, a very understanding person. And I think I bring like a level of comfort to a lot of players and I I like to be someone that people feel comfortable going to, as any leader does. ⁓ but obviously people, you know, gravitate towards diff like different people for different reasons. And I kinda learned that my like my role as much as it was, you know, being sometimes a little bit meaner. Most of the time it was me kind of taking the reins on, okay, like this person needs my help. how do I help them get out of the situation? How do I help them, you know, on the ice, off the ice? And I liked being that person for them to feel comfortable coming to. And, you know, when things weren't going well for them or they needed to have an uncomfortable conversation with someone, they felt comfortable coming and talking to me about it. and I kinda learned how to go about those conversations just I think it's just from me being very observant and me sometimes very much thinking about all the different possibilities of like what could happen if you said this versus this. ⁓ so I learned a lot more about kind of like I said, like how I am as a leader and kind of what to bring to the table and yeah. speaker-1: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, and I mean it certainly has paid off as we're going to now venture into your time at BU and and of course being an assistant with ⁓ with the with the program there too. ⁓ but before we get to that, I mean we have to start with like why B U, just simply Y B U. Well what what made that the right landing spot for you? speaker-0: Yeah. so at that point in time it was before they had made the rule change, ⁓ when I committed. It was before they had made the rule change. ⁓ of I think you weren't allowed to talk to the coaches until after grade ten, if I'm correct. so I had been talking to a couple of schools before that. I was in grade nine at this time and I Remember my brother, he went to school at Fictus Academy, which is a hockey school in Waterloo, and a bunch of the guy's his age, had the opportunity to go and skate with the women's national team, Team Canada. So after obviously my sister and I were like, Well, we have to go to this. Why would we not go? Like these are like this is who I want to see, these are my idols. And I'm a big fan of Natalie Spooner. and we went down after and, you know, a little little grade nine me wouldn't speak to anyone because I was so nervous. And my dad kinda asked ⁓ Nallie Spooner about her recruiting process and how she made the decision that she made. And it's probably like the best advice I've ever gotten. and it's so simple, but it just makes so much sense. She's like, never choose a school just for hockey. And I feel like sometimes that's forgotten about for a lot of people. And even when I have like younger girls and stuff ask me questions and stuff about schools and stuff, I always tell them that 'cause I think it's the best advice I've ever gotten. And she says, she said, is it somewhere you could live? If you got injured and you were out for the rest of the season, could you live there and would you be happy there? She said, Does the school offer what ⁓ you want to do like career wise and then worry about hockey? And I remember I visited a couple schools and I don't know what it was, but I came to be you. and I just fell in love with it. I don't even know what it was. It was so polar opposite of what I thought I wanted. And that's why people say it's really important to go visit the school too, because I was ninety nine percent sure that I was going somewhere else. And it was the polar opposite of small school in the country, like very, very minimal. And I came here and I was like, ⁓ my goodness, like this is what I want. And it was it was so interesting to me that that's kind of how it came to be for me. and obviously B is a top program. ⁓ top school where I'm living is insane. Like I'm looking over the Charles right now from my window. Like I feel like just all of the resources and opportunities we were giving. I've been given here and what I was told like I was going to be given, ⁓ it was a no brainer for me. speaker-1: Well, my ⁓ my dog also appreciates that story, as you might hear him him barking. Yeah, he was very he's a big a big fan of your ⁓ of your choice to go to to Boston University. The Terriers, yes, of course. ⁓ so I I do want to before we move on, ⁓ I do just want to talk for a moment as well about, you know, you highlighted how early in the process, now of course things have changed, but how early speaker-0: But yes the the Terriers, right? Yeah. speaker-1: You were talking to schools about what that next step of your journey looked like. Like to me, grade nine and ten, I don't even know what I was gonna do like the next day, next year. ⁓ certainly by I would have no idea where I would want to go. How what was that experience like for you to to ultimately have to make such an ad adult decision, if you will, so early on in your in your high school career? speaker-0: really know like I think I just enjoyed and appreciated the journey of it so much. Like I wasn't I know it was a big decision and I originally wasn't gonna make that decision until after when I was allowed to speak to schools again but I think that after I kind of came and visited I just knew like I feel you know the saying when you know you know like I just I just knew And I think that's why I it was such an easy decision for me. and every single recruiting experience is different for everyone. like if I hadn't made the decision before the deadline, I don't know like I don't know what would've happened. But I think the fact that, you know, it was just laid out to me on a silver platter and I showed up to the school and all like, this is exactly what I want was just s it was such a blessing 'cause I just didn't know like, you know, that's that's you're right. It's a big decision to make and I think for me it was just I just knew. speaker-1: Well, you know, in choosing a program like Boston University, you also choose a program that has expectations. And I feel like that's putting it lightly. And so of course there's the academic side of it, which is so important. But there's also the athletic side. And there's a lot of winning there's a winning culture. You mentioned culture earlier. Culture's gonna come up later in our conversation as well. But there's certainly a winning culture there. What was that like making that adjustment or Or you know, maybe it was it didn't feel like an adjustment, maybe, but what was it like to move into a culture of winning, both on the academic side as well as on the athletic side? speaker-0: Yeah, you know, obviously ⁓ Tara, my coach, she very much talks about professionalism all the time and that includes, you know, being professional on and off the ice, being a good student, being a good person, being a good player. I think that that goes into a lot of how we, you know, acted throughout the seasons that I was there force. but I think that's kind of the biggest thing is just being professional and you know, we know what that is. You know, you get to university and you get to school and you're giving all these resources and it's your responsibility to use them how you want to. there comes a level of trust that you're building with your coaches, with your teammates, with your with your friends, with everyone around you. and at that point, like you said, you're like like you had said earlier, you're moving you're moving away from home. You're kinda learning who you are and you're becoming an adult and alongside that you're doing that with other people around you. Like, you know, I think that I owe it a lot to my teammates and who are going to be my best friends forever and ⁓ my coaches and stuff for helping me grow as a person and stuff because granted I'm s I'm still learning. I'm twenty one and I'm I'm still learning who I am and I'm still learning how to do things properly and how how to do anything really. speaker-1: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm approaching forty and I'm still trying to figure all that stuff out. So there's a there's a huge long run. ⁓ I also something that and and one of the many reasons that I started following the the the program, specifically in the Boston area, Northeastern, of course, Boston U, ⁓ and more recently BC and and Harvard. What was ⁓ was the fact that, you know, it's the beanpot. speaker-0: Okay, that's okay. speaker-1: It's the beanpot. And and I I mean, any conversation, like I feel like if I walked away from this conversation, I mean, of course, there's the draft part of this conversation, which we're gonna get to in a moment, but the bean pot being another one of those, because it at least from the outside, it's on my bucket list of I've I've never been, I've covered it, I've never been. It's on my bucket list. It seems to have over the years to say that it it grew. And its response ⁓ is incredible would be another understatement of this conversation. What's it been like for you to be boots on the ground, to be there, to to see, to witness it and to be a part of what has been become certainly some ⁓ you know, a milestone, ⁓ something that people circle on their calendars every year. What's it been like? It's just it seems like it's been so incredible. speaker-0: Incredible is probably the word I would use. ⁓ it's it's been the coolest experience for me. So my freshman year I was here, and that was we didn't go to Tee Garden for my freshman year. So the switch happened my sophomore year, which was the first time that that had ever happened. And it was and will go down as one of the coolest experiences I have ever had and the opportunity to do it three times. is even cooler and every year it just, you know, grew more and more and I love seeing young girls in the crowd and they're cheering us on and banging on the glass and I love being a role model for them and something for them to look at and be like, I can I can be doing this someday. Like I will be doing this someday. I wanna do this someday. And I think it really just shows the growth of women's sports and women's hockey and I'm just I'm really excited for the next years to come. speaker-1: And I and I really appreciate that you also mentioned, and I don't want to get too much into the PWHL quite yet, because we still have I still have a little bit more to go before we get there. But I love that you mentioned about TD Garden and s and and the incredible crowds that we're continuing to see over the years. I again I've covered the last two years and you know, averaging, I think it was thirteen tho over thirteen thousand last year, ⁓ you know, ⁓ in even better this year. Do you ever feel any pressure, especially This past year being the assistant captain and and moving now once again in your journey into that leadership role, do you find any pressure with having to make sure that it that you're helping, you're doing everything you can to be able to set up that next generation of of BU Terriers and and of course anyone else who's going to a Boston area college? speaker-0: ⁓ I mean, I definitely I think just in general, I think there's always pressure, especially as a female athlete in general. ⁓ and I think, you know, there's always gonna be people on the sidelines that are criticizing every single move we make and every single thing we do and if it is enough. And I think that the most important people that I really care about ⁓ are my friends and my family and being a good role model more than anything for younger girls and younger kids in general. ⁓ that's I think what's most important to me. I think to me there there isn't really pressure to perform for me. It's more I just wanna be a good role model for younger generations that they can look up to me in that sense and be like, I wanna be like her and more than anything else. Like I don't really I don't really listen to outside noise. Not anymore at least. speaker-1: That was a really good segue into the PWHL, but I'm gonna pause. I'm gonna pin put a pin on I promise we're gonna get to that because I know that you really want to talk about it. You're like, Chris, let's get to that part. But I do I want I a ⁓ really important question for me is ⁓ and hopefully for you as well, of course. What has it been like for you to be able to go through your especially your collegiate years alongside your sister? You know, Kira. And and having her be a part of the the journey that you're that you've been on. ⁓ family is obviously important. And so I just wanted to find out from you what it's been like to be able to have to to grow, to see each other grow, to be have shared experiences, all of those things you mentioned your brother earlier too. speaker-0: I mean, yeah, I've I've played with Kira since I was young. I played lacrosse with her, I played hockey with her growing up, hockey more wise, lacrosse every once in a while. And I've watched her grow as a player and a person. And I think obviously she played with me in Burlington my last year there. And during that time I was kinda like, ⁓ this is it. Like, I'm not gonna play with her again. She's gonna be going somewhere. And I kind of thought that was it. And you know that happens. And when I remember my freshman year, she came down for our frozen Fenway game and she went and talked to my coach and also my assistant coach comes up to me and she's like, you know, like we're we're offering her offering or something. And I was like, What? I was like, wait, what? Like I had no idea. And I it was I was so excited and I just I I didn't even know kind of what to think. And I think that was just so cool in itself. to like realize that I am gonna be playing with her again. And she's such a good player, she's such a smart player and ⁓ I've been able to watch her grow as a person and again as a player she you know, she played with both of our captains actually over the past couple of years and ⁓ to watch her kind of become more confident in her herself, and obviously to win hockey east with her last year and kind of go on that run was really cool because we you know, we won provincials way, way back. We won gold then and to, you know, be able to do that again with her at the collegiate level was just it it was so cool. And that's an opportunity that not a lot of people get so I'm very lucky. speaker-1: Nice full circle moment right there. Right? Yes. Okay. So there is so much more I want to talk about, but I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna say, you know what, we're gonna put that aside because we gotta talk about the PWHL. We gotta. We gotta talk about ⁓ your this exciting next opportunity, next chapter of your career that you better believe I am rooting heavily for you in. but I wanna start off with in preparing for this. you know, a little peek behind the curtains here. When I was as I was preparing for this, I found a quote of yours that really I think it certainly resonated with me, but I see I of course it's gonna resonate with so many others out there. And so I just wanted to read it. Forgive me. You're gonna yeah. Wait until you wait wait until you hear me read it. ⁓ I'll try to be dramatic so it's a little bit better. Yes. speaker-0: Please, please. speaker-1: ⁓ I want to read it and then I wanna get your thoughts on it. Okay. So you said growing up, I used to say I wanted to be the first girl to play in the NHL. Simply because there wasn't a professional women's league to dream about at the time. Having the PWHL now makes that childhood dream feel real in a different and much more meaningful way. The league gives young girls something concrete to aspire to and shows how far the women's game has come. The opportunity to play in the PWHL. would be special not just from a hockey perspective, but because of what the league represents for the future of the sport. What are your thoughts? And now that this is that was something you said. Now you're on the verge of it. Yep. How does it feel? speaker-0: I mean, yeah, I it's just again, like until my sophomore year, like obviously you had Europe, which was obvious gonna be kind of where I wanna what I wanted to do, but we didn't have a pro league. And, you know, obviously that looked very different for me because that meant I had two years left of hockey for sure. Like confirmed for sure. And I did I ever ever since I was young, I always said I'm gonna I'm gonna be the first girl to play in the NHL. And obviously I had those players that I looked up to ⁓ on Team Canada and stuff. It was just it's just such a full circle moment for me. Like I just I think about that a lot and you know, it is changing the future of women's sports and women's hockey. You know, it makes me very happy that all of these players that have played, you know, you have like Marie Philippe Poulin, you like your Laura Stacy, you have all these players that have been playing for so long and they've been playing 'cause they love it. Like they haven't been given the recognition that they deserve. And I think it's really cool now watching these players that I watched when I was so young now being able to play in a pro league made for them. It's just it's so cool that I'm I'm I'm still going to games. Like I'm still going watching like all the games and stuff, but I think it's just it's really cool because now I'm kind of in that moment where I'm like, this could be me. Like there's there is that possibility that I can have the opportunity to as I would say it when I was younger, I I used to always say like, like, if only they made an NHL for girls. Like, if only they did that. And well here's my here's my NHL for girls. The PWL is exactly what little Sydney was really hoping for. And I think It is just such a full circle moment because I mean it was either that or I wanted to be a princess. Those were those are my two options. so I I just think that it's just just thinking about it just makes me so happy because if I was to tell literally my sophomore yourself that this was even a possibility, I don't even know how I would have reacted to that. speaker-1: So then with all of that in mind, and it's obvious, you know, the giant smile on your face as you're as you're sharing that. ⁓ I mean, that's pretty indicative of how you're feeling, which is totally understandable. How do you then mentally prepare? Like we of course, physically, you know, ⁓ you watch a game and you're like, Well, now I know what I have to do physically to make sure I'm gonna be successful in this league, of course. But but the mental side of the game I think is an aspect that we don't talk enough about. And this is a big jump. Right. To go f of course from junior to collegiate is a big jump. But to go from the collegiate level to the professional level, that's another big jump for you. How do you prepare or how are you preparing mentally to make that jump and to have what will only undoubtedly be a very lengthy, successful professional career? speaker-0: Yeah, I think even coming into college, I mentally was not like I I could have been a lot stronger. I was definitely very focused on my performance on the ice rather than like how I react to things and I just I don't think I ever realized how important it was until I had been given I had actually I went in and I had talked to my coaches and stuff about it and they really helped and s kind of supported me through. it was more wise my sophomore year where I was kind of going through like a switch of like, okay, like who am I? Like I feel like I was just that happens. I mean that happens to everyone as a player. Like it's your identity and stuff. And I think for me, I really struggled with that my first couple of years. So I wouldn't even say that when I came in my freshman year that I had an I had any growth ⁓ mentally. I think that really came to me my junior year, where I kinda learned about myself and kind of what I needed from myself to be the best player I could be. And, you know, it took me a while to kind of figure that out. And ⁓ I think I'm in a good headspace right now where I've learned that I just need to do everything that I can possibly do to show up a hundred percent ready. And that starts with, you know, that mental, that emotional game, and then you move to physical. And I think it took me a while to kind of learn that. ⁓ so obviously going pro, if that is an opportunity that I'm given, it is gonna be a change. But I think I've learned more about myself and like I think there's obviously room for improvement, but it's kinda taken me a little longer to recognize that and learn that about myself and kinda it's only you only go up from here. You can only go up. speaker-1: I appreciate that and I appreciate the honesty. I I guess then, you know, when you're looking at maybe p hopefully making that jump, what will a team be getting in Sydney Healy? What will a team be getting in the locker room, on the ice, off the ice? Let's put on our our GM hat here for just a moment. What what what am I getting in in terms of Sydney Healy? speaker-0: you know, I would consider myself to be a very optimistic and positive person off the ice and on the ice, but ⁓ just in the locker room and stuff, like very much someone who just like enjoys being there and kind of being, you know, around, surrounded by people that, you know, have the same goals and enjoy my presence as much as I enjoy theirs. obviously, you know, work ethic is that I very much pride myself on and I love to be doing something every day and whether it's just like simply going for a walk or you you're doing a hard lift, like I'm always I'm always doing my best. I'm always trying my best and I'm always trying to learn from especially, you know, over the years, like learn from my seniors and kind of learn from, you know, the upperclassmen and stuff. Obviously I'm an upperclassman now, but during that time kind of learning from them and Yeah, so I think like the work ethic and the positivity and the optimism ⁓ is something I very much pride myself on being, just as a person in general. ⁓ you know, on the ice, work ethic. I'm gonna work hard and I'm gonna, you know, I'm I'm I'm not afraid to ⁓ play gritty if I need to. and I love a good puck battle. It's my favorite. I love I love a good I love a good battle. ⁓ but you know, I think alongside that I really like to be creative and find open open slots, open areas and stuff to try and make plays. and I'm a very adaptable player. Like I'll play with anyone. ⁓ it's not a problem for me. Like I'm I'm always down to play with everyone. I don't I don't need a specific player I gotta play with, so yeah. speaker-1: Yeah, ⁓ a lot of those reasons are a lot of the reasons why watching you play is something that's very, very exciting, which is all the more reason why I'm excited to see what will happen in this next chapter because gotta get more eyeballs on you. You're an exciting player. I want to now move on to the final buzzer segment of the show, the last segment of today's episode. ⁓ it's a nice, fun, rapid fire way to wrap up the conversation. speaker-0: ⁓ thank you. speaker-1: I always say it's only rapid fire because I'm gonna try not to ask any follow up questions. You can take as long as you want in answering the questions. It's only rapid fire from this side of the conversation. ⁓ we are going to start with what is your go to pre game meal? Ooh. speaker-0: Carlos. It's a hold on, hold on, hold on. Pause. ⁓ it's a really good pasta place in Boston. You look you can ⁓ my gosh, it's so good. So we would get our pregame meals here normally. we get them catered here and it's I don't know what kind of sauce they use. It is the best thing I've ever had in my life. I'd always have some chicken. Some pasta. ⁓ I'd have one piece of bread and some broccoli and I was good to go. That was my go to always. speaker-1: Well now I'm starving, so that's good news. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's good. ⁓ what's ⁓ I feel like I know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask it anyways to see if maybe it's different. But what's one word your teammates might use to describe you? speaker-0: Yeah basically. Ooh. ⁓ I mean I ca I think I kinda said it like I would probably I don't know, maybe maybe I'll use the word like kind instead. Maybe I'll I'll switch it up a little bit. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Same but different. I like it. Yeah. That's fine. That's keeping me on my toes. Yeah. But that's what that's what I thought you might go. Yeah, I thought you might go with something like that. That's good. ⁓ what is on your game day playlist? Like what is a go to song for you or an artist that gets you real dialed in on game day? Or maybe that's not your approach to game day. There's that too. speaker-0: But you ⁓ wait, can I can I look at my phone real quick? I gotta I gotta go through my ⁓ speaker-1: Yes, you can. What? speaker-0: have a game day playlist that I'll play, but then sometimes I'll like switch it up and I'll put stuff on there. but most of the time there's one song I always play and it's somewhere in here. Well, okay, first of all, artists go to nickelback for sure. But speaker-1: Sure. Yeah. But speaker-0: I'm a big I listen to this song a lot. Paralyzer. speaker-1: Yeah, okay. Paralyzer. Yeah, finger eleven. Yeah, okay. Okay. Good throwback. Yeah, so good throwback. ⁓ speaker-0: Big yeah, like Theory of a Dead Man, Shine Down, Nickelback. And then maybe I'll throw a couple of little rap songs in there just to like or country. I have a very large like array of songs that I'll listen to. It's whatever I'm feeling that day. speaker-1: Well, I I thought you were gonna go with country because you have the ⁓ the ⁓ hat in the background there. So that's what I that's yes, that's what I assume. speaker-0: Well, I do listen yes, I will. Like I'll listen to like I love like good like Luke Combs or something like that. Like something where it's like I love a mix. Eric Church, like any of those kind of artists, like I'll throw ⁓ in there every once in a while. But I don't really have like a specific artist that I always listen to, but I will listen to Paralyzer normally. speaker-1: Yeah, you have a I mean I would say that's a pretty pretty specific kind of genre. It's all kind of in the same sort of ⁓ vibe. Yeah, there's a guitar in there. Yeah. what's something that people may be surprised to learn about you? speaker-0: There's a guitar in there. I ⁓ I love to cook and bake, maybe. I feel like that's pretty like generic, but speaker-1: Do you have something that you br that you like to cook and or bake? Like is there like speaker-0: You should ask my roommate Clara Yoon about that and she'll probably give you like twelve different things. She loves speaker-1: ⁓ I wish I had known about that when I was speaking to her a while ago. speaker-0: Loves to try everything. ⁓ I've made some banana bread for her before. She's a really big fan. I learned how to make brookies. She loves them. I made them for her birthday. That's the one thing she asked me to make her for her birthday. And I learned how to make this. It's like a it's like a pasta with borsen in it. and like tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes that she really likes. I really like it too. But I love to make anything with salmon. I really do like salmon. speaker-1: I speaker-0: But I don't know. I'm a big fan of my air fryer. I really like my air fryer. Everything. Literally a secret weapon. Yeah. So like underrated. If anybody listens, buy an air fryer. They're the best things ever. speaker-1: Secret weapon. make make that a priority. First thing you do after ⁓ subscribe speaker-0: First thing you get, like you'll see where you know, where I'm I got my air fryer still set up. Like I I packed most of my stuff up to go home and that's the one thing I kept out 'cause I like, I know I'm gonna be useful. speaker-1: I know I'm gonna I'm gonna need this later. I'm gonna need it. Yeah. ⁓ last one for you. If you could go back and talk to your younger self and give her some advice. Go back to Arthur, Ontario. Give her some advice about the journey ahead and what it looks like, the ups, the downs, how to navigate it. What do you think you tell younger Sydney Healy? speaker-0: ⁓ be ready. ⁓ prepare yourself. everything always gets better and keep moving forward and stay positive. speaker-1: All right, she says with a giant smile on her face. ⁓ I love it. That's great. I love it. I love it. Hey, listen, I love great slogans, nice, short, simple, very straightforward, and I love it. It's great advice. And it's great life advice, anyways, too, right? So that's good. ⁓ well that wraps Yeah, of course. That wraps up the final buzzer segment and the final segment of today's episode. Sydney. I had so many more questions I wanted to ask you, but this was such a blast. Time flew by. I'm so thankful you carved out some time ⁓ to to join the show, to share your story, to chat, to laugh, to have some great conversation. Again, this has been an absolute blast. I cannot wait to cheer you on as you embark on the next chapter of your career. You better believe I'm going to be cheering very loudly. Thank you so much for joining the show. speaker-0: Thank you so much. speaker-1: And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your fellow hockey fans. Your support helps me to continue bringing you stories just like Sydney's from across the world of women's hockey. I'm Chris Sinclair. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll catch you next time on Ringside Rundown.