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The day Nicole Hahn scored her first goal for the 51��Ƶ-Dearborn Women’s Ice Hockey team, her sister Victoria, who was in goal that night, threw her arms in the air, bolted down the ice and gave her a huge hug. It’s the kind of on-ice moment you’d think they, as sisters who grew up playing hockey in central Ontario, would have shared dozens of times. But this is actually the first time the Hahn sisters have played on the same team. Victoria, who’s 23 and the oldest of four hockey-playing sisters, and Nicole, 19, the youngest, were a bit too far apart in age to play together in youth leagues that typically grouped kids in two-year ranges. That meant they still usually had a Hahn sister by their side — just not each other: Nicole often played on the same teams with her older sister, Alexa, and Victoria got used to keeping an eye out for her younger sister, Jessie, who she says “was a good little skater but the shortest out of all of us.” “My mom likes to tell this story about when we were kids and Jessie was in the corner and this girl came up and hit her and she went down,” Victoria says. “And the next shift I went over to this girl and hit her and told her she better not touch #16 again.”

Victoria and Nicole say they’re still both really protective of each other, though most often that takes the form of support rather than taking a run at people on the opposing team. Having a sibling on the roster does seem to give them a little extra something. Because they know each other’s games so well, they’re often each other’s best source for candid feedback when one of them is struggling on the ice. And their connection is also a big boost with the mental part of the game. “Like, if someone says something that upsets me, I’ll look over at Nicole, and she’ll already be looking at me,” Victoria says. “She knows me, and she knows what’s going to calm me down. And when she builds me up, it means more.” Victoria says it’s also just straight up more fun with Nicole on the team. 

Victoria, who started at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn in 2019, had three years with the team before her younger sister joined her. But Victoria says she didn’t try to influence Nicole’s decision about where to go to college when she was getting scouted, even though Victoria thought it would be pretty amazing to be going to the same school. “I actually moved out when I was 17 so I could play hockey on a team in Windsor. So I kind of missed out on that last year at home with her, and I did really miss her,” Victoria says. “But I didn’t want her to feel pressure. I didn’t want her to come here and feel like, ‘Oh, my big sister is here so I can’t do whatever I want’ — like I’m her mom or something.” Nicole says the fact that Victoria was already here didn’t factor too heavily in her decision, though it has proven to be a big positive in her life. “We had basically five years where we only saw each other on special occasions or during the summer, and now we see each other almost every day,” Nicole says. “So it’s been this period of not ‘meeting’ her again, but rebonding. And the things we would have talked about when she was 17 and I was 13 are a lot different than the things we talk about now.” The sisters say they’ve found the right balance living in the same building, but not the same apartment — though Nicole has unlimited unannounced drop-in privileges at Victoria’s place.

Victoria may have had a little more direct, though still unintentional, influence on her sister’s academic path. Victoria started off as a business major, but decided late in the game to add a second major in behavioral and biological sciences with a minor in psychology. Nicole entered school with a biology major in mind, but also made a switch to biological and behavioral sciences. Victoria, who graduates this spring, says she is thinking about a career in genetic counseling and recently accepted a job in Southeast Michigan as a behavioral technician working with children with autism. Nicole is working on a minor in criminology and criminal justice and is thinking about a career working with young people who are impacted by the justice system.

Next year is poised to bring a different rhythm of life for the Hahn sisters. This is Victoria’s final season with the team, which means Nicole will be losing her biggest cheerleader and “the person I cheer the loudest for.” “It’s started to hit me these past couple of months that she’s not going to be here,” Nicole says. “Like, at senior night a few weeks ago, I got a little emotional about it, just thinking what it’s going to feel like to not have her next door anytime I want.” Victoria is more blunt about what it’s meant to have her sister with her these past two years. At a few points in her life, Victoria says she’s struggled with “falling out of love with hockey,” and as she closes out her college career, she’s definitely feeling a bit of that burnout. She had an extra year of athletic eligibility because of COVID, and she says she may not have played this year if Nicole wasn’t here. “But it’s my sister. And when are we going to have another chance like this? She made it worth it.” 

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Story by Lou Blouin. Photos by Annie Barker.