Minnesota looks to spoil Boston’s home opener as both teams make their historic PWHL debut
Minnesota looks to spoil Boston’s home opener as both teams make their historic PWHL debut
The last two PWHL teams kick off their season tonight at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell as Boston hosts Minnesota in front of a nearly sold out crowd.
"I'm sure the Boston crowd will bring it," Minnesota netminder Nicole Hensley said. "And obviously, we're really looking forward to getting home on the sixth and playing in front of our crowd."
Tonight's match will feature the three most recent Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recipients, as Sophie Jaques and Aerin Frankel suit up for Boston, while Taylor Heise skates for Minnesota.
Minnesota Connection Runs Deep
While Ottawa boasts the league's most diverse roster, Toronto has six athletes from Team Canada’s gold medal-winning team from the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Montreal is home to nine Quebec-born players; Minnesota's roster is akin to the state it plays in.
The squad has 13 players who will be representing their home state of Minnesota and a league-high 20 Americans. This familiarity is seeming to help their team gel. Their 3-0 record through the preseason showed how quickly they developed chemistry while flashing their high-octane offense.
The Minnesota connection runs deep through this roster. Their highly skilled offense helped spark multiple multi-goal comebacks in the preseason, and it all starts at the top with Lake City's Taylor Heise.
Players to Watch
Taylor Heise - Heise, the first-overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft, was a no-brainer selection for general manager Natalie Darwitz. The State of Hockey product was ecstatic to stay home, and given her collegiate track record, it's easy to assume she'll dominate right out of the gate.
"It's my home, everyone that I love is there, and it's the state of hockey," Heise said on-air following her selection back in September.
The University of Minnesota product rose to stardom during her five-year tenure with the program. The 23-year-old won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2022 for her 29-goal, 66-point performance, then followed that up as a top-10 Patty Kazmaier finalist in 2022-23 after posting her second-straight 29-goal, 65-plus point season.
"Her shot’s lethal," Hensley said. "If she's got a second to get it off, it's lethal, it's hard to stop."
Sophie Jaques - Looking to shut down Heise and her lethal shot is a fellow first-year pro and 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award winner, Sophie Jaques.
Boston drafted Jaques 10th overall in the second round of the PWHL draft. The smooth-skating, right-handed defender posted back-to-back point-per-game seasons during her time at Ohio State University, including a career-high 24 goals in 2022-23, which helped her beat out Heise, teammate Alina Müller, and others for the coveted collegiate award.
Jaques is joining a deep Boston blue line headlined by Megan Keller and Kaleigh Fratkin. Jaques is known for her offensive ability—evidenced by the 107 points she scored through 79 games with Ohio State over the last two seasons—but she is not too shabby in her end either. Although given the defensive depth on Boston's roster, if the first-year pro struggles early in the season, head coach Courtney Kessel can comfortably shelter her.
The Goaltending Battle
One of the most intriguing storylines entering tonight's matchup is the goaltending battle between Minnesota’s Hensley and Boston's Frankel.
Frankel, the 2021 Patty Kazmaier winner, was one of Boston's first three signings and led Team USA to gold at the World Championships last year, posting a .932 save percentage (SV%) through six games.
Hensley, the first goaltender chosen in the PWHL draft, backstopped Team USA to silver at the 2022 World Championships. At the tournament, she recorded a .930 SV% and 1.08 goals-against average through five games. Last season, Hensley posted a .921 SV% through 13 games in the PWHPA.
Two of Team USA's best goaltenders will go toe-to-toe in Massachusetts, each aiming to guide their team to victory.
"It's so exciting," Hensley said. "You know, getting together in, what was it, November? It's just kind of an itching to go. It's been a short two months in some ways and a long two months in others, and I'm just excited to play games. And obviously, this league's been a long time coming, so I'm just excited to get out there and compete."
Minnesota will open their season aiming to upset the arguable league-favorite PWHL Boston at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. Catch the game on Bally Sports North, NESN, and TSN, or stream the match on YouTube at 7:00 p.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. CT.