BOSTON- Growing up playing ice hockey in Flint, Michigan, Petrich was one of the only girls on the ice. It wasn't until seventh grade when she noticed the color of her skin mattered to someone else.

She reflects back to that time during a competitive game where she was called racial slurs on the ice by the other team; she was only 12 at the time. "How does anyone feel when they get called something they don't like? Being so young, I didn't understand the magnitude of the meaning behind the word being spewed at me, but I knew it was wrong. It was infuriating." Petrich said, "Retaliating the way that I did subsequently got me kicked out of the game, as well as my dad. I was angry the refs thought my actions came out of nowhere. I was angry the refs chose not to believe the story I was telling them just because they hadn't heard it being said. That's why, throughout my youth coaching career and to this day, while coaching the Austin Prep Cougars, I have such a strict "no retaliation policy". Unfortunately, more often than not, the first offender is usually not penalized."

Before receiving a full athletic scholarship to Northeastern, Petrich attended Shattuck St. Mary's High School where she received an athletic/academic scholarship. Fast forward to her time at Northeastern, she earned All-Rookie Team honors and was voted captain in her final season. In April 2007, Petrich received the Reggie Lewis Award which recognizes student-athletes who maintain proper academic standing while showing good sportsmanship and who are among the top athletes in a sport with varsity status. Petrich earned a spot on the 10-player All-Decade Team for Northeastern Women's Ice Hockey. In 2004, Petrich earned MVP in women's ice hockey. The following year she was named Rookie of the Year and was named to the Hockey East All-Star Team that competed against team USA. During her final season with the Huskies, Petrich was a Black Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada nominee and was also an attendee of the U22 USA Women's ice Hockey Team Training Camp.

Northeastern women's hockey alumnus, Nikki Petrich, has continued to have a strong impact on the hockey community after her collegiate career where she appeared in 130 games, notching 40 goals and 43 assists. Her senior season she tallied 11 goals and nine assists while being named Hockey East Player of the Week after scoring her seventh and eighth goals of the season against Quinnipiac, including the game-winner for the Huskies with just 47 seconds left in regulation to lead her team to a 2-1 win. "I'm just trying to have a positive impact on the lives that I do touch and challenge the hockey culture to think differently about who hockey is for. To change the paradigm." said Nikki Petrich.

Currently in her fourth season, Petrich is serving as the assistant head coach for the top-ranked MIAA D1 high school girls ice hockey program in the state of Massachusetts. She helped to lead the Austin Prep's girl's hockey team to a runner-up finish in 2019 and a state championship in 2020. "Austin Prep has been so incredibly fortunate to have Nikki as part of our Girls Varsity Ice Hockey coaching staff. We could not ask for a greater role model for our girls to look up to. Nikki holds herself to the highest personal standards, but not for her own advancement or accolades. Rather, she sets this bar of excellence to honor her responsibilities to the team in their collective pursuit of greatness both on and off the ice. Nikki truly is the embodiment of an individual wholeheartedly committed to being part of something bigger than herself." said Jonatan Pollard, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment and Athletics.

Sticking with the hockey community, Petrich also works for TC's Training Center as a personal youth hockey instructor. She recently partnered up with SCORE Boston, a program that focuses on teaching inner-city youth the fundamentals of hockey while teaching lessons about inclusivity and respect. "Our mission is to improve the outcomes for children in the city of Boston and the surrounding communities by using ice hockey as a platform to highlight the importance of education, teach life lessons about perseverance, teamwork, overcoming adversity, and foster an environment of tolerance and respect for others." Petrich now serves on the USA Hockey Diversity, Equity and Inclusion board. The goal of this board is to create a welcoming environment for all by building a diverse, equitable and inclusive game. USA Hockey believes that "meaningful action can positively affect important change in our sport and carry over into our everyday lives".

Following in her family's long line of service to the healthcare industry, Petrich has found as much success off the ice as she did on the ice. With over 12 years of experience in medical sales, the former Northeastern captain is working with the ground-breaking oncology company, Guardant Health. Guardant Health is the first company to receive FDA-approval for a liquid biopsy test which helps to detect mutations in 7 days and identify targeted treatment therapy.

Just a kid from Flint, Nikki continues to strive for greatness and dedicates much of her time giving back to the hockey community, that has afforded her so much. "The want for creating a welcoming and open community sadly only exists in the people and friends of those who need the change to happen. Of course, I want hockey to be a welcoming and open community, but it's not. Imagine if the hockey community could become more inclusive and diverse, where all players do feel welcomed and accepted. How amazing would that be?"

"Quoting my late grandfather, Dr. Samuel R. Dismond, "There is a wonderful blending of human experience that does happen if we have faith, if we exist, if we stick to a goal, stick to a dream. It happens. There's no doubt about that. The best exercise for the heart is reaching out and lifting people up, having compassion, still being able to love people, not being so hardened by what's going on in the world, and then on a personal level we can reach out to care for our neighbors."

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