Delivering almost identical words from last year's opening round of playoffs, Minnesota Frost head coach Ken Klee defended forward Britta Curl-Salemme following another ejection saying "she's not out there obviously trying to hurt anyone."
It was almost a year ago to the day when Minnesota Frost head coach Ken Klee addressed media answering to a check to the head delivered by forward Britta Curl-Salemme in the opening round of playoffs. That incident resulted in a one-game suspension to Curl-Salemme for her hit to the head on Toronto's Renata Fast.
On Saturday, following Minnesota's 5-4 overtime win over the Montreal Victoire, Klee found himself delivering a nearly identical message again to media following another ejection for Curl-Salemme for a hit to the head, this time against Montreal's Kaitlin Willoughby. The hit garnered a five minute major and a game misconduct on the ice.
"Yeah, I mean, it's tough, Britta's awesome. She's a great great player, great person in our room, plays hard, plays the right way, plays physical," said Klee. "I mean, she's not out there obviously trying to hurt anyone. She's out there just trying to play hard."
It was an echoed message from a year ago when Klee addressed media May 8, 2025.
"Britta's a hard player..." he said at the time. "For me it's just, it's one of those hockey plays. It's nothing malicious, obviously it was a stiff penalty that she received and it was tough. She's a good player, a great player, a great person, she plays extremely hard. She's an asset to our team as she would be to any team."
Last season, Curl-Salemme became the first player in the PWHL to face supplemental discipline three times. Her first came in early January when Curl-Salemme used "her stick to recklessly and dangerously make contact with [Theresa] Schafzahl in the neck and head." For that incident, she received a one-game suspension. In March, 2025, Curl-Salemme was suspended for one-game again when she "extended her elbow upward and outward as she delivered a high hit on opponent Megan Carter, making her head the main point of contact." The third came in the playoffs for her hit against Fast, where Curl-Salemme "delivered a high and forceful check on opponent Renata Fast, making the head the main point of contact on a play where such contact to the head was avoidable."
In March of this season, Curl-Salemme received her fourth supplemental discipline, this time a fine when she "raised her stick with both arms and struck her opponent while she was in a vulnerable position with a forceful cross-checking motion."
With game two of Minnesota and Montreal's series scheduled for Tuesday, the PWHL Player Safety Committee will again be reviewing a Curl-Salemme hit. Klee knows the league will be looking at it, and says the Frost will be prepared to react to the decision, whatever the outcome.
"The league's going to make their call and then we'll just react," said Klee. "I mean, we kind of shuffled our lines a little bit when she went out and obviously our ladies know it's next player up mentality that we rely on everybody. You know, Britta is a great player for us, but we have a lot of good players."