After playing three-years with Harvard University and finishing up her NCAA college playing career with a season at Clarkson University, Petrie took a giant step toward that desire of playing in the PWHL.

That giant step occurred on June 10 when this talented 23- year-old forward from Hermosa Beach, Calif. was picked in the fifth round, 27th overall, by the Minnesota Frost.

“I was at home in California where we had a watch party,” Petrie said. “We had the draft live streamed on YouTube.”

In reflecting on that moment when Minnesota selected her, Petrie said: “There were tears, sighs of relief, excitement, smiles and lots of high fives.”

Dominique Petrie scored the tying goal to force overtime in the season opener against New York. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

A big highlight in the early going of the season has been the home fans which drew lots of strong praise from Petrie.

“Minnesota has an amazing fan base,” Petrie said. “Minnesota is the state of hockey. I’m really excited to have been drafted by Minnesota. It’s (playing for the Frost) an awesome cool experience.”

The biggest electrifying on-ice highlight which Petrie described as being “on top of the list for one of my greatest hockey moments,” occurred in the Frost’s first regular-season game of the year.

Leaving her mark early
Playing on Dec. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Petrie was absolutely pumped when at 15:47 of the third period she scored and celebrated her first PWHL goal, which at the time tied things up 3-3 of an eventual 4-3 overtime loss against the New York Sirens.

“I couldn’t have written a better story,” Petrie said about the goal. “It was a two-on-one (with Denisa Křížová), just like we’ve worked on in practice. I got in on my stick and let it rip.

PWHL players and fans watched as the Walter Cup Champions banner was unveiled before the season opener on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“The fans erupted and my teammates were celebrating, and it was a cool moment. It’s at the top of my list for great hockey moments.”

Naturally, Petrie was presented with that milestone puck which she still has.

“Right now, it’s sitting on a shelf. I will take it back home at some point,” Petrie said.

In talking about that regular-season opener, Petrie couldn’t help but to once again deliver more praise toward the Minnesota fans.

“The fans were decked out in our paraphernalia,” Petrie said. “When we scored, the fans got really loud. It’s definitely a special market and the fans pump us up.”

Prior to Minnesota’s season opener, fans got to experience PWHL history as the Minnesota had their Walter Cup championship banner raised to the Xcel Energy Center rafters.

“The banner ceremony was a cool experience,” Petrie said. “To look around and take it all in was a cool moment.”

In putting on the Minnesota Frost jersey for her PWHL debut, Petrie called it “a surreal moment.”

“I felt blessed and thankful,” Petrie added.

During that much anticipated debut against New York, Petrie had three shots on goal and was a plus-one.

Petrie played at Harvard, then Clarkson
Before embarking on her PWHL career, Petrie played three years of college hockey at Harvard University where she graduated with a degree in economics and a minor in psychology. In looking to continue her education and college hockey career, Petrie transferred to Clarkson for a Masters of business administration.

Her three-year playing career at Harvard saw her play 76 games where she produced 30 goals and 71 points. In her time with Clarkson last season, she scored 15 goals and 35 points in 40 games.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” Petrie said. “I enjoy challenging myself, and I was fortunate to be able to play hockey and get an education.”

Without question, Petrie’s greatest moment playing for Clarkson occurred in March 2024 when playing at home in front of a sold-out Cheel Arena. She made history by scoring in quadruple-overtime for a 3-2 win against the University of Minnesota Gophers. The win sent fourth-ranked Clarkson to their first Frozen Four since 2019, though they lost to Ohio State in the semifinal.

In making that jump from college hockey to the PWHL, Petrie said a big difference is how much more physical the pro league is. However, Petrie referred to herself as a physical player, so it’s something she isn’t bothered about.

From an early age, Petrie’s passion to play hockey was inspired by her brother, Guy, who played college hockey at the University of Utah.

On the international stage, Petrie has also had success in helping the U.S. Women’s National U-18 team take home gold at the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championships. A year later, she captained the squad to a silver.

In her first three games as a Frost player, Petrie has three goals and is a +2.

“I’m happy Minnesota took a chance on me,” she said. “I just want to show what I can do.”

It might be extremely early, but chances are Petrie has definitely made a loud statement to the Frost organization that she can play in the PWHL.

The post Dominant Dominque appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Frost roster skated onto the ice wearing new purple sweaters with the frosty “F” on the front. Player introductions were first, followed by about a 10-minute ceremony to recognize the inaugural season, 2024 Walter Cup Champion Minnesota team ahead of their season-opening game – an eventual 4-3 overtime loss – against the New York Sirens.

Along with Jayna Hefford, PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations, and Amy Scheer, PWHL senior vice president of business operations, joining the ceremony on the purple carpet, past championship team members were introduced for the celebration, too. Amanda Leveille, Lauren Bench, Nikki Nightengale and Brittyn Fleming touched the Walter Cup as captain Kendall Coyne Schofield skated the trophy to a table where the banner would be raised. Sixteen current Frost players were already on the ice and part of that championship team.

“I think we kind of had a unique run at the championship,” said forward Grace Zumwinkle, Minnesota’s leading scorer last season, with 11 goals and 19 points in 24 games. “And losing the last five games of the season and then coming through. I think, a huge testament to the group of us just flipping the script and turning it around.

“I think that’s something our group is so proud of.”

The championship banner was unveiled and raised during a pregame ceremony before the Minnesota Frost home opener on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

After a highlight video showcased the historic 2024 season, the championship banner was unveiled. Players greeted each other and posed for a photo with the Walter Cup trophy and Walter Cup Champions 2024 banner (white with the team’s color purple trim and lettering). Then the banner was raised toward the rafters above the Minnesota goal, while the announced crowd of 8,022 cheered and waved commemorative rally towels.

“It was really exciting to see some of our teammates be able to come back,” Coyne Schofield said. “Wish everyone could’ve been there for it, of course. But I hope those that weren’t were able to watch from wherever they were.

“But yeah, just a reflection of so many people who made that possible. That’ll always be woven within that banner that’s up in the rafters forever.”

Frost focused on the season ahead, not offseason moves
One of the people instrumental in putting together last year’s championship roster who was not there was former Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz. Just days after Minnesota celebrated its Cup-clinching Game 5 victory in Boston, the PWHL announced it had “parted ways” with Darwitz. The league hired Melissa Caruso as Minnesota’s new general manager this summer.

After Darwitz was let go in June, she released a statement to reporters addressing her time with the organization last season: “As the General Manager of PWHL Minnesota, I gave my heart and soul to provide a first-class experience to the players, staff and fans.

“I am very proud of the team and organization that was built and the championship we brought home to this great State of Hockey.”

Training camp last month was the first time many Frost players met with the media in person since the offseason drama surrounding the team. That included Coyne Schofield, the player multiple media outlets reported was one of the drivers behind removing Darwitz.  

“I think the decisions that are made are not the decisions that are made by us players,” Coyne Schofield told the media on the first day of training camp Nov. 14.  “Those were league decisions. We’re here, and we’re here to play hockey. And we’re here to defend our title.

“It’s never fun to see people writing false narratives about you, false statements, and tearing you down when they don’t know the truth. But, you know, I can’t control that. I can control who I am, the way I do things, the way I carry myself, the way I lead this team. And that’s what I can control.”

A new season means a fresh start, and Minnesota’s second-year coach Ken Klee made it clear from day one of camp that his team is focused on moving forward.

“We’re focusing on the future,” Klee said on Nov. 14. “Pro hockey, things happen. It’s some unfortunate things. And some things out of our control. We’re looking forward. Excited to get the season going.”

Lee Stecklein handles the puck during the season opener for the Minnesota Frost. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Quick goals bookend the season-opener scoring
Once the puck dropped Sunday, Minnesota didn’t waste much time picking up where it left off. Zumwinkle scored the fastest goal in PWHL history, netting a shot from the slot on a feed from Kelly Pannek only 21 seconds into the game. Zumwinkle was also the first Minnesota player to score in last year’s home opener, scoring a hat trick in a 3-0 victory over Montreal.

The Frost dominated play against the Sirens in the first period Sunday, taking a 2-0 lead and outshooting New York by a five-to-one margin. Coyne Schofield scored the second goal for the Frost, pouncing on a rebound at the goalmouth with two minutes, 14 seconds to play in the first period.

But the Sirens tied the game in the second period. First, it was a power-play goal from Jessie Eldridge about halfway through the period. Two minutes, 58 seconds later, Blaine native Gabby Rosenthal fired a sharp-angle shot top-shelf to tie the score, 2-2.

The Sirens made it three straight goals for a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Sarah Fillier, the 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick, got the puck at neutral ice and tossed a beauty of a cross-ice pass to Alex Carpenter for a goal off the rush.

“When we can get up ice quick and take advantage of odd-man rushes, I think we both want to bury them,” Fillier said.

Minnesota responded to tie the game and force overtime with rookie Dominique Petrie’s first professional goal with 4:13 left in regulation.

Blaine native Gabby Rosenthal (No. 15 in white) celebrates her first goal of the season with the New York Sirens. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

But as quickly as Zumwinkle scored to start the game, the Sirens finished off overtime by an even quicker margin. With forwards Coyne Schofield and Taylor Heise, plus defenseman Lee Stecklein, on the ice to start the 3-on-3 overtime, Fillier and Carpenter connected again, with Carpenter scoring the winner only 19 seconds into the extra session.

“I saw Filly get the puck, so I was like ‘get going. Get to the net,’” Carpenter said. “Just trying to find a nice seam. She was able to find it, and then get anything on net.”

The Frost earned a point but lost despite outshooting the Sirens 38-20. The Frost also went 0-for-2 on the power play, while the penalty kill went 0-for-1.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Klee said. “It was just finishing our chances. That’s kind of the message after that: We played hard, we got a point. And now, we just need to continue to get better.”

The post Hang The Banner appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

PWHL Minnesota put a bow on its remarkable playoff run by defeating PWHL Boston 3-0 on Wednesday in the deciding game five of the PWHL Finals. Minnesota became the inaugural Walter Cup Champion, with captain Coyne Schofield hoisting the Cup first after the postgame celebration.

The brand-new league officially got going with training camp starting in mid-November last fall. When Coyne Schofield was asked at that time about what she hoped to accomplish this season, she was very clear.

“Win a championship,” Coyne Schofield said. “That’s the goal of any professional athlete, is to bring home a championship trophy to the city.”

Kendall Coyne Schofield is the first champion to lift the Walter Cup. (Photo courtesy of PWHL)

Accomplishment achieved.

Minnesota dominated Boston in the winner-take-all game five in Boston, outshooting them 44-17 in the game, including 19-3 in the third period. Minnesota’s play was suffocating, with no better example than just before Michela Cava’s goal in the third period for a 2-0 lead. Before she buried the wraparound tally, Minnesota skated around the offensive zone with ease, cycling the puck, passing it around and even changing out players on the fly.

Liz Schepers, who had a solid playoff run with four assists, scored her only goal of the season for a 1-0 lead in the second period. Melissa Channell also recorded three assists in the game. The final Minnesota goal of the game? That was all Coyne Schofield, using her speed to get to a loose puck and bury an empty netter with 2:06 to play in regulation. Talk about a storybook ending.

In goal, Nicole Hensley earned her second shutout of the Finals with 17 saves. In four starts in the final series, she made 87 saves on 89 shots. The goaltending tandem with Hensley and Maddie Rooney shined throughout the season but especially in the playoffs. Rooney was a big reason for their success against Toronto in the semifinals, when she put up similar stats with 92 saves on 94 shots across four starts and two shutout victories.

Minnesota coach Ken Klee rotated between the two netminders all season.

“Maddie was an absolute rock star in the first round, and Nicole got in and she started pitching shutouts,” Klee said.

A long, winding road to the championship
What’s perhaps the most intriguing about Minnesota’s championship season are all of the obstacles it overcame to reach the pinnacle. Starting from the beginning, there were rumors that this new women’s hockey league wouldn’t even place a team in Minnesota.

Even before the historic puck drop on PWHL Minnesota’s season – which was bookended with victories at Tsongas Center on Boston’s home ice – the team made a coaching change on Dec. 27. Charlie Burgraff stepped away from the position, and Klee stepped in about a week before games started. Klee had familiarity with some players, like Coyne Schofield, blue liner Lee Stecklein and Hensley, from his work on the national team, but he still had to find a quick learning curve with his new team.

Lee Stecklein added another championship to her extensive hockey resume. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Minnesota started and ended this season well, winning their first three games in early January. They broke an attendance record (at the time) with more than 13,000 fans at Xcel Energy Center for the home opener, a 3-0 victory over Montreal which included a Grace Zumwinkle hat trick and the first of multiple shutouts this season for Rooney.

They rolled along near the top of the league, going 5-0 in March before the international break. But Minnesota could not buy a victory in the final five regular-season games. As Klee put it, they were “finding ways to lose hockey games,” even though he said they played well. But they weren’t necessarily at their best, with normally crisp passes finding skate blades instead, the offense drying up and special teams stats continuing to spiral.

Minnesota had multiple chances to clinch a playoff spot and didn’t. They needed help on the final day of the regular season to get in as the No. 4 seed. Yes, this championship team almost missed the playoffs in what would have been considered a huge collapse down the stretch.

Top-seeded Toronto waited nearly a full day to choose Minnesota as its opponent in the semifinals. So, Minnesota stayed on the road and played the first two games of the best-of-five series in Toronto, getting shut out 4-0 and 2-0 and facing a must-win game at home for game three. Their losing streak reached seven games.

From the brink of elimination to jubliation
Forget a victory; would Minnesota even score a playoff goal? But the turnaround was about to get started. It took an entire team effort from start to finish, Coyne Schofield said.

“You look at the way that we won,” Coyne Schofield said, after winning the championship. “We were almost out. And as soon as we knew we weren’t out, there were times we got down, but we were never out. And that group in there believed that we could be champions.

“We never lost sight of that.”

Minnesota evened the series with two shutouts behind Rooney, including one in double overtime. Then in game five back in Toronto, Minnesota found their offensive game again, and a 4-1 win sent them to the PWHL Finals to face 3-seed Boston.

“There were moments this year, unfortunately, especially at the end, where we were pretty down,” Stecklein said. “But we were able to pull it together. Just really proud of this group.

“Again, it wouldn’t be possible without Kendall Coyne and her leadership.”

Minnesota grabbed a series lead and thought they won the Cup in game four during double overtime. Sophie Jaques put the puck in the net late in the second OT session, sending the Minnesota team and its fans into a celebratory frenzy. But the celebration was short-lived after a review of the play determined goaltender interference as Taylor Heise slid into the crease and made contact with goalie Aerin Frankel.

A little more than a minute later, Alina Muller scored the winner for Boston, leaving Minnesota and fans stunned.

Taylor Heise was the first overall pick at the PWHL Draft last fall. She added PWHL Playoffs MVP and Walter Cup Champion to her list of accolades in her rookie season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“I think they robbed us in game four,” Heise said. “And we all felt that very much. So I think to have the feeling of being a champion taken from you is one of the worst things ever. I can’t say that it’s happened to me before.”

So, once Minnesota actually won the Walter Cup on Wednesday, Hensley shared the team’s celebration graphic on X with her comment: “So nice we won it twice.”

Oh, and about those special teams? Minnesota had a league-worst penalty kill (67.2%), allowing 20 goals against. But their PK was a perfect 19-for-19 in the playoffs. Quite the reversal, indeed.

Minnesota wins the Cup
Once the final buzzer sounded in game five, Minnesota players in their white jerseys with purple lettering rushed on the ice for hugs, smiles and maybe even some happy tears. The Walter Cup was presented in a similar fashion that hockey fans see with the Stanley Cup in the NHL, with music and a walk out to the ice.

Coyne Schofield hoisted the Walter Cup first, pumping it into the air with a giant smile as she skated over to her crowd of teammates. A few minutes later, she choked up during an on-ice broadcast interview, emotions that seemed to spill over to her 10-month-old son, Drew, who burst into tears as he was placed in the Cup during the team photo.

Alternate captain Stecklein was the first to get the Cup hand-off from Coyne Schofield, followed by Pannek, the other alternate captain and a Minnesota native. From there, players took turns skating with the Walter Cup: Hensley, Rooney, Sophia Kunin, Cava, Emma Greco, Channell, Denisa Krizova, Clair DeGeoge, Schepers, Natalie Buchbinder and Sydney Brodt, among others.

The other piece of business was honoring Heise, who was voted the recipient of the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award. Heise scored five goals in 10 playoff games after scoring four in 19 regular season games. Heise said “it’s awesome” that the PWHL is the only professional women’s hockey league she knows, coming right out of college.

“Not quite sure where I was going to go,” Heise said. “But this league came at an amazing time. … and I’m very honored to be a part of it.”

This championship marks the second time in five years that a Minnesota women’s professional hockey team won it all in their first season in a league. In 2018-19, the Minnesota Whitecaps won the Isobel Cup in their first year in the National Women’s Hockey League (later renamed PHF). That Whitecaps team included Coyne Schofield, Stecklein and Amanda Leveille.

Minnesota players celebrated a championship twice, this one on home ice after what turned out to be an overturned goal for goaltender interference in game four. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

That championship celebration happened after an overtime goal from Stecklein for a victory against the Buffalo Beauts in front of a sold-out crowd at TRIA Rink in St. Paul. Coyne Schofield, Stecklein and Leveille had another chance to celebrate a first in women’s hockey this week, too.

“There’s something very special about being the first to do something in life,” Coyne Schofield said, following game five. “And for us to be the first Walter Cup champions is something that is extremely special that will be part of this league’s legacy forever.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of teams that have won and that haven’t won. For whatever reason, you remember the teams that win.”

Klee shared a perfect example of that with his players before the final game. Klee received a text message from an old teammate, “not somebody that I talk to very often,” Klee said, with a reminder that 30 years ago to the day, Klee won the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League.

Klee told his Minnesota team ‘this is what you want.’

“It’s not about the trophy or a ring or anything like that,” Klee said. “It’s about having the connection with the people that you’re going to have 30 years from now.”

Photo galleries from the PWHL Playoffs: 

Gallery: PWHL Semifinals Game 3, Toronto vs. Minnesota
Gallery: PWHL Finals Game 3, Boston vs. Minnesota
Gallery: PWHL Finals Game 4, Boston vs. Minnesota

The post Cup Champions appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.