Now that PWHL Minnesota is officially the Minnesota Frost, per an announcement a week ago, it’s time to get back into their report cards. This time, we’ll be looking at Liz Schepers, who had a somewhat quiet regular season but found her way in the postseason. She may have had a quiet time during the regular season regarding points, but she was noticed every time she was on the ice.
In this article, we’ll examine how Schepers impacted the regular season and the postseason and then combine those efforts for an overall grade. First, we’ll look at what she did during the regular season that helped them sneak into the postseason and win the Walter Cup.
Schepers Presence Noticed
She didn’t score many points in her 19 games, just three assists, but she made an impression every shift she was on the ice. She’s a quick skater with a physical side that helped change the momentum in her team’s favor many times throughout the season. She also didn’t hesitate to skate end to end, depending on if she needed to defend or jump in offensively.
Schepers wasn’t afraid to take shots and follow through to ensure they hit their target instead of skating off in a different direction, which many players are guilty of. If it didn’t go in, she was ready for the rebound. As a center, she took a lot of faceoffs and won 48.6 percent of them, which also helped her team have possession and go on to score.
Part of the reason Schepers didn’t record as many points as others was she focused a lot on her defensive skills. She often stayed behind her linemates to be the last forward in the defensive zone to help clear the puck and then rushed to catch up when her teammates broke the puck out. She gave 100 percent every chance she had, and it helped earn her an A- for the regular season. Her grade is slightly lower because she could’ve been a little more offensive-minded, but overall, she did quite well.
Schepers Steps Up Big
While she wasn’t a scoring machine during the regular season, she found her scoring touch in the postseason. She played in all 10 games and had points in nearly half of them. She recorded one goal and four assists for five total points in those 10 games compared to her three points in 19 games during the regular season.
The postseason usually brings out the best in most players, and it’s easy to say Schepers followed that along with her teammates Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne-Schofield. Outside of her scoring, the rest of her game stayed the same. She was still speedy and kept up defensively. She also kept up her end-to-end action and swooped in to help out whenever she could.
The only area she struggled slightly in was faceoffs. Her win percentage dropped slightly, but she kept pushing. Looking over those improvements in her game, she earned an A for those efforts during the postseason. The only thing that held her back from an A+ was her faceoff percentage dropping slightly because that could’ve affected their game, but thankfully, it didn’t.
Schepers Overall Grade
After reviewing her performances from the regular season and the postseason, Schepers earned an A for her overall grade. She improved her game when she entered the playoffs, and she made a difference. She always gave a strong effort no matter the situation, which helped keep everyone playing at a high level.
Related: PWHL Minnesota Keeps Core By Signing Cava, Křížová & Schepers
While her overall grade could’ve been higher, her offensive skills were lower during the regular season, and her faceoff skills struggled during the postseason. However, her grade wasn’t lower because she bounced back with points in the postseason and kept her defensive skills going as well. She had an up-and-down season when it came to points, but she never let it deter her skating.
She kept her head down and played her gritty, end-to-end style with a flair for speed. Since she’ll be sticking around Minnesota this coming season, hopefully, she’ll find her scoring touch early in the season and help carry the Frost all the way into the postseason once again.
