In the first Winter Olympic games to have PWHLers on the participating nations’ hockey teams, it was Vancouver Goldeneyes defender Nina Jobst-Smith who scored the tournament-opening goal. It was on the power play, less than 10 minutes into the game, when Jobst-Smith put the puck past Swedish goaltender Ebba Svensson Träff [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/international/ljungblom-leads-sweden-over-germany-in-olympic-women-s-hockey-opener] to put her team up by one. It was the first Olympic goal scored by Germany’s women’s team since 2014. You could say Jobst-Smith’s goal was one that had been years in the making. “As a defen[der], I feel like you don’t really go in with a lot of scoring expectations. So to score that first goal with our power play group that we’ve been working together with for a couple of years now, it was just a super cool feeling, I think, just a lot of excitement, especially against Sweden, being such a good team, we were really excited to get up on the board first in that game,” she told The Hockey News upon her return to Vancouver. Jobst-Smith was an instrumental piece in Germany’s path to qualifying [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/jobst-smith-karvinen-and-vanisova-are-the-first-three-vancouver-goldeneyes-named-to-2026-winter-olympic-rosters] for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Even from their first match against Sweden, it was clear her role as a high-minute player would continue. The defender, who has taken part in both her first PWHL season and first Olympics this year, ended up averaging a total of 26:32 minutes per game through Germany’s five-game tournament. She even logged her team’s lead in shots taken during the competition with 27. The cherry on top? Her parents, uncle, and brother were present at every game she played in. “Just a huge honour to be able to play with the group and have my coaches put me out in a lot of those situations, so never something you take for granted,” Jobst-Smith said of her on-ice experience of playing at the Olympics. “Just trying to make every shift count and help push our team in the right direction.” Off the ice, Jobst-Smith’s Olympic experience was one she took advantage of despite being under a bit of a “time crunch.” With such a quick turnaround between games, and different matches taking place in different parts of Italy, there wasn’t as much of an option to tour different cities or sightsee. Still, the Goldeneyes defender was able to make the most of the experience by connecting with her fellow athletes. “I didn’t go around too much touring, but I was able to watch some figure skating, which was really cool. [...] Being around other athletes and getting to ask them about their experience, it was really cool to see just how figure skating worked and learn a little more about their sport.” Some of the athletes that Jobst-Smith recalled meeting were figure skating pair Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez from Great Britain. “We were going to the opening ceremonies, and we talked to them on the bus for like, 30 to 45 minutes. And then again, when we went and watched their competition, they came up in the stands and were helping explain all the scoring and everything.” Watching the other competitions wasn’t the only way Jobst-Smith was able to connect with her peers. Pin-trading was a big deal for many staying in the Olympic Village, with this being a fun way for the athletes to spark conversations with one-another while sharing common spaces. “I got one from Australia that I’m really proud of,” Jobst-Smith said of her pin collection, which she couldn’t quite put a number on due to the sheer volume of it. “Obviously there’s a certain number of athletes from each country, and there were very few from Australia. So we were always trying to find the rarest countries and people to talk to. Our team got pretty into it.” Feb 5, 2026; Milan, Italy; Katarina Jobst-Smith (28) of Team Germany celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Team Sweden in a women's ice hockey Group B game during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/2faa2f9c-ba9c-49e5-a3ab-f941bf2e629d.jpeg] Feb 5, 2026; Milan, Italy; Katarina Jobst-Smith (28) of Team Germany celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Team Sweden in a women's ice hockey Group B game during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images While this was Jobst-Smith’s first time taking part in the Winter Olympics, as a fan watching in Vancouver back in 2010, she’s seen the way the women’s game has grown through recent years. Even from last year, as part of Germany’s pursuit for Olympic qualification, she noted the uptick in talent level. “All the teams are very competitive now. A team like Italy that, a few years ago in Olympic qualifications, wasn’t a tough matchup for us, this year, they came out and had a great tournament. It’s great to see just the overall skill and compete level of all of the top teams rising. I think it’s great having the PWHL and having players come over here and play in this league. I think it only adds to the pace of the game. I like to also think too, with the smaller rink, the puck moved pretty quick, and it was quite physical. It was nice to play a similar game to what we do here in the PWHL, which I feel is very complimentary toward many of the players that are in this league.” While many may have noted that the Olympic break could be a detriment to some teams, for Vancouver, this may actually work the other way. The Goldeneyes have a very favourable schedule ahead of them, as they’ll be the last PWHL team to skate in their first game back from the Olympics when they take on the Toronto Sceptres on March 1. Not only that, but their next five games all take place on home-ice, where they’ve found some of their biggest success this season. On a personal level, taking part in Olympic play six games after returning from a lower-body injury is something that Jobst-Smith views as a positive, especially given her role with Germany. “I think it was really good to have that experience, especially coming back from injury, getting my feet under me — literally — it has felt really good. So I’m just hoping to continue building off the confidence and playing whatever role the coaches need from me here and continue to be a good teammate.” Though the Winter Olympics are now in the rearview for Jobst-Smith, clearly, the experience both on and off-the-ice will stick with the Goldeneyes defender as she helps her team try to make a playoff push through the second-half of their season.
