(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
Gulliksen grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois, about thirty minutes outside of Chicago. There, hockey was a common game — but she wasn’t one to stay stagnant in a city with the mainstream sport.
“Hockey there is pretty big even amongst girls,” Gulliksen said. “It wasn’t that strange of a thing to be a girl hockey player in Illinois.”
The sophomore spent some time playing for the Chicago Fury prior to venturing to the desert. She branched off to a city where hockey was most likely the least common sport thought of, but she joined at the perfect time.
“I didn’t even know that hockey existed out [in Arizona],” Gulliksen said. Women’s hockey at Arizona State has existed for just a handful of years, but the strides the team has made might be as smooth as the strides Gulliksen has made on the ice wearing the Maroon and Gold.
Her strides of skill and poise on the ice and her transition into a leadership role have developed in just over a year already. She feels that the biggest influence in her hockey career comes from two very close members of her family.
“My dad played when he was younger and then my sister she started playing before me she’s younger than me,” Gulliksen said. “Of course I wanted to follow along.”
Gulliksen had three goals and 11 assists en route to finishing third on the team in points last season.
“Last year it was figuring out school a lot more,” Gulliksen said. “This year I can concentrate a lot more on hockey.”
So far this season, she has three points — all of which being goals. Gulliksen is already on pace to set a new personal best in the goals department but still feels her role remains the same even without a single assist.
“I feel like last year a lot of my points came from assists,” Gulliksen says. “I feel like this year it’s pretty much the same.”
For the Sun Devils as a whole this season, they are on pace to have their best season to date, with a young core at the helm but also a sense of veteran presence — even with the majority of the roster being underclassmen.
Gulliksen sees the importance of helping the freshman grow on the ice, but she emphasizes the importance of time management off the ice as well. She feels she has made leaps and bounds in this area of her own growth.
“Even off the ice, my time management has improved a lot better,” Gulliksen said. “On the ice, I’m just working hard and keeping my head in the game a lot better this year.”
With half of the season left, Gulliksen and the Sun Devils have a much needed off-week heading into their next games in Michigan, where ASU will square off against Adrian College and the University of Michigan.
Gulliksen continues to prove that balance is key during times like these, especially for first-timers.
“It gets tough sometimes,” Gulliksen said. “Sometimes your head is in the game sometimes thinking about schoolwork but you just gotta be able to time manage.”
Being a student-athlete is by no means easy, but Gulliksen and her teammates make the transition to the collegiate level much easier for themselves and the freshmen. When Gulliksen has free time to focus on herself, she simply just enjoys relaxing.
“I like watching Netflix,” Gulliksen said. “Once I have a second off I love to relax.”
Part of enjoying her time off the ice comes from spending quality time with her teammates, one in particular. Abby Steinman and Gulliksen have been friends going back to the pair’s freshman year.
“We roomed together last year at Manzanita [Hall],” Gulliksen said. “We’ve since then become a lot closer.”
Gulliksen spends ample amounts of time with the rest of the team regardless and frequently goes out with them on the team’s off-days.
She and the rest of the ASU squad have already taken to their newly named captains very well (Kat Jones, Danielle Dupont, Molly Potter, and Jordan Nash-Boulden), and Gulliksen feels content with the decisions.
“The captains and everyone on the team this year I think they’ve really stepped up as leaders,” Gulliksen said. “I think that’s very important especially for our freshman I think it’s really important for them to have that.”
It’s about balance for Gulliksen and the Sun Devils, who currently find themselves to be one of the top teams in all of collegiate hockey. On or off the ice, Gulliksen stays motivated to bring success to herself, but most importantly, her team.
