Having devoted much of her childhood and teenage years to her single-minded intention of becoming an elite hockey player, defender Caroline Harvey had little time to stop and consider there being more to life than skates, sticks and pucks.It wasn’t until Harvey was sidelined by a left knee injury early into her sophomore season at Wisconsin when the realization flickered.“It taught me how to have more balance,” Harvey said of the time she missed rehabbing an injured medial patellofemoral ligament in the fall of 2023.Rather than review film to dissect her performance as she would do most nights, Harvey learned to turn off her phone. She got into yoga, started doing breathing exercises, took up cooking and even thrifting. Just as important was Harvey watching from the stands to gain perspective and find her voice in providing feedback to teammates during and after games.
“I am grateful for it now looking back, and as much as it sucked,” she said. “It did teach me a lot about myself that I didn’t know before. And it helped me mature a lot.”At 23, Harvey already is one of the most accomplished players in women’s hockey. She is coming off a senior season in which she won a third NCAA title and was named college hockey’s MVP. Internationally, she was the Olympic tournament’s MVP while winning gold representing the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Games in February.
