Kelly Pannek went from having a shutdown checking role to being the PWHL's leading scorer. Here's more on her transformational season in this True Hockey Spotlight.
Kelly Pannek has always been one of women's hockey's most respected two-way veterans.
She's won Olympic and World Championship gold, NCAA national titles and two Walter Cup championships.
Pannek knows what it takes to win, even if, for the bulk of her career, it meant taking on a shutdown checking role.
This season, however, the 30-year-old Minnesota Frost alternate captain mixed things up a bit in her third PWHL campaign.
Pannek remained the physical, defensively reliable forward she's always been, but she opened up her game a bit and ultimately led the PWHL in goals and points.
Her 33 points in 30 games set the record for the highest single-season point total in the league's three-year history. Pannek also became the first player to score more than a point per game in a 30-game season in the PWHL. She also led the league in goals, with 16.
Pannek was a huge reason the Frost topped all PWHL teams in scoring this season, with 91 goals. Pannek, Taylor Heise and Britta Curl-Salemme were the league's top three scorers, and Grace Zumwinkle and Kendall Coyne Schofield were in a five-way tie for fifth.
Despite the depth and strength of Minnesota's offense, coach Ken Klee believes Pannek's performance is MVP worthy.
"I think she has to be; she led the league in scoring," said Klee. "I know at the end of the day, whether it's Kelly or Kendall or Britta or Taylor, they're not really worried about how much they're scoring. They're worried about us winning another Walter Cup. So, that's our focus."
Kelly Pannek won her second Olympic gold medal with Team USA in February. (Katie Stratman-Imagn Images)Pannek has won back-to-back Walter Cup titles in Minnesota. She also won gold at the 2025 World Championship after being named a tournament all-star, and this year, she helped Team USA capture gold at the Olympics.
Despite the team success Pannek has been part of, which includes winning two NCAA national championships with the University of Minnesota and a PWHPA title with Team Scotiabank, Pannek's individual performance this season was more than anyone could have anticipated.
Last season, she finished tied for 34th in PWHL scoring, with 11 points in 30 games. In two seasons in the league, Pannek totalled 27 points in 54 games. She went from scoring at 0.50 points per game her first two seasons to eclipsing her career totals and setting a new benchmark for offense.
"It's exciting," Pannek told CBS News in Minnesota of her scoring marks. "I mean, it's not something I set out for at the beginning of the year. For me, it's just what our team needed to be successful.
Despite her success, Pannek has been a team-first player for her entire career. This season, she also became one of the most prominent voices in sports in addressing issues affecting citizens and fans in Minnesota.
Her on- and off-ice impact for the Frost has been undeniable. Now, her attention is squarely on the playoffs and the opportunity to win a third consecutive Walter Cup title.
Minnesota Motivated After Being Picked
In the PWHL, the top seed entering the playoffs gets to select its opening round opponent.
This season, the top-ranked Montreal Victoire set their target squarely on the third-place Minnesota Frost.
Montreal passed up the chance to play the fourth-seeded Ottawa Charge in favor of taking on Minnesota, which they swept in their four meetings in the regular season.
As Pannek told CBS, however, it's not about finishing first in the regular season; it's about winning the Walter Cup.
"There's no award for being the first overall seed other than you get to pick your opponent," Pannek said before the series. "So they chose us, which is great motivation. They think that we're going to be the easiest team for them to beat, and for us now, we accomplished our first task this season, which is to get into the playoffs, and from here on out, it’s just try to win one game at a time."
Pannek had two assists in Minnesota's Game 1 win over the Montreal Victoire in the PWHL semifinals. (PWHL)Pannek and the Frost know that it's not about how you get into the playoffs that matters. After sneaking into the playoffs each of the last two seasons as the fourth seed, Minnesota won a championship both times.
They've got a tough opponent in Montreal, which has been firing on all cylinders.
But in Game 1 of their semifinal series, Pannek's Frost came up huge.
The Frost took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Victoire tied it. Minnesota took another lead, only for Montreal to tie it again. That happened yet again as Montreal's Laura Stacey completed a hat trick to tie the game at 4-4 heading into overtime.
In the extra frame, however, Pannek earned the primary assist on Jincy Roese's game-winner to give the Frost a 1-0 series lead.
Both teams face off again in the best-of-five series on Tuesday in Laval, Que., at 7 p.m. ET.