With Valentine’s Day in the books and a new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) full of talent, it’s time to take a quick look at PWHL Minnesota’s roster and see what players have captured fans’ hearts so far. Of course, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Nicole Hensley, and Maddie Rooney are all popular players.
There’s so much excitement around this team since they’re brand new, and seeing the excitement on the player’s faces is enough to make a fan smile. Unfortunately, it is shorter than an NHL season, so fans don’t see these players on home ice as much as they’d like, but that makes it even more exciting when the team is at home. A few players have made their way into fans’ hearts, and we’ll start with Taylor Heise.
Heise Wows Fans
Since the first PWHL Minnesota game, Heise has been impressing fans. She was drafted first overall in the first PWHL Draft by her hometown team and scored the first-ever goal in franchise history. She’s a born and raised Minnesotan from high school to college to pro. She’s played all her hockey in Minnesota, and that’s always a win with local fans. Watching a player mature and improve throughout their career is always fun.
She’s a feisty player who’s quick on her feet and has a talent for scoring goals. She’s played in nine games for PWHL Minnesota this season, and in that time, she’s scored three goals and assisted on three others for six points. She’s always smiling when the camera is on her and appears to have fun whenever she’s on the ice. Whenever fans see players enjoying themselves, it makes it easier to cheer for them. Heise has won fans over in a short amount of time and will continue to do so throughout her career.
Zumwinkle Continues Tallying Points
Another Minnesota native makes the list, as this team is full of them. Grace Zumwinkle followed a similar path to her teammate Heise. She played high school hockey in Minnesota and went to the same college, the University of Minnesota, where they played together. Now they’re playing together again with PWHL Minnesota. What’s not to like about so many players staying in their home state?
She was the first PWHL Minnesota player to record a hat trick, and she did it in just their second game and the team’s home opener. Just like Heise, she always appears to be having fun on the ice, attracting fans to their play and scoring. She’s played in nine games and has the team lead with six goals plus two assists for another team-leading eight points.
Watching her play, she’s one of those players who can carry the puck and move down the ice so quickly you don’t realize it’s her until you see her jersey number. She’s not afraid to take a shot on the net and can force her way through to create chances. She earned fans right away in her first couple of games and will continue to earn more as she plays.
Boreen Multi-Tasks
Abby Boreen is the final player on this list, and the reason fans love her is her dedication to her schooling and her hockey career. Being a full-time student studying pharmacy, she can’t play the whole season with PWHL Minnesota, but she’s able to do two 10-day increments, and she recently finished up her first with their win over PWHL Ottawa on Feb. 14.
Despite a lot of work at school, she’s a hard-working player who can maintain the status of a professional hockey player. After their Valentine’s Day win, she was asked more about it. She said, “It’s pretty tough, but my fifth year at the University of Minnesota was last year, and that was my first year of pharmacy school, so I kind of learned how to balance both, just before the game I had two tests so I was scrambling to get here, but I think playing my fifth year and knowing what that school was like, it’s helped me.”
Related: Get to Know the 2024 PWHL Minnesota Players
How can you not love someone who works so hard to fulfill her passion for a pharmacy career and be a professional hockey player at the same time? Things may have to change depending on how the season goes, but it’s still pretty interesting to hear her side and see her and some of her teammates continuing their education while playing professionally.
PWHL Minnesota’s Next Game & Honorable Mention
PWHL Minnesota will be on the road this weekend for a back-to-back against PWHL Ottawa and PWHL Montréal. They’ll have to work hard to come out with two more wins, but now that they have one under their belt, they’ll have momentum in their favor. We wrapped up the main list of players who’ve captured fans’ hearts this season, but there is an honorable mention. That spot goes to newcomer Sophie Jaques, who made an impression in her first game.
Their coach Ken Klee liked what he saw and said so in their postgame press conference after their win over PWHL Ottawa on Feb. 14. “She was really good, you know I think she’s only going to get better, I don’t know how many minutes she was playing before but I don’t think she was playing the minutes that we asked her to play tonight and obviously when you play with Lee Stecklein, you should feel confident out there, you should feel like you can play with anybody and she’s really physical and really strong which that super impressed me. You know not only did she have a good shot on the power play goal but just her overall strength I was super impressed.”
Just from those words, it sounds like she’ll find her way into fans’ hearts, especially with how quickly she’s already made an impression. As the season goes on, this team will get more and more fans, with more players getting noticed. It’ll be fun to see where this list is at next season.
