Minnesota forward Taylor Heise has been chosen as the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner. The honors were presented live on NHL Network on Saturday. The award, which is in its 25th year, is presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey by the USA Hockey Foundation.
Heise is the third winner from the University of Minnesota, joining Krissy Wendell, who won in 200d and Amanda Kessel, who won in 2013. Heise was selected from a group of three finalists that included senior defender Sophie Jaques (Ohio State) and senior forward Gabbie Hughes (Minnesota Duluth).
“To be named the Patty Kazmaier Award winner, I don’t really have words for it. It means the most to me. This doesn’t feel real to me. It means the world to have my name on an award named for Patty,” said Heise.
The Lake City, Minnesota native lead the country with 66 points (29g, 37a) and was named a First Team All-American, WCHA Player of the Year, WCHA Offensive Player of the Year, and WCHA Scoring Champion. She was given HCA Player of the Month honors twice and WCHA Forward of the Month three times. At a prolific, high-scoring program, she had the second most shots in a single season by a Gopher (235) and surpassed the 100 and 150-career point and 50 career-goal milestones this season
Coming up big in the clutch, Heise had six game-winning goals and scored five shorthanded goals. In eight games in February, she had eight goals and ten assists. She lit the lamp in every game the Gophers played from mid-February to March 5 and tallied a point in 16 of the Gophers’ 19 games in the second half.
She did not set any milestone related-goals for the season, she said. She was focused on being quicker out of the corners and making quicker decisions to open up time and space for her teammates.
The most telling proof of Heise’s impact can be seen in her linemates. Catie Skaja registered 14 more points this season then she had her previous three combined and more than doubled the number of shots she put on goal. Abigail Boreen’s 59 points were just shy of doubling her total output from the previous three seasons combined and she more than tripled her previous season-high in shots.
The three players live together and do most everything together on and off the ice. Heise said she used to call her linemates her children, but an auto-correct in the group chat led her to change their name to the Ducklings.
“I would not be where I’m at without them. Those are two women I grew up with,” she said. “It’s awesome to have that off ice communications, that resiliency to get through the hard parts of this season. I call them my ducklings because I take care of them. They’re my sisters in everything I do.”
Heise plans to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility afforded because of Covid and play a fifth season for the Gophers. Her goal has always been to win a national championship and that’s something the team has not accomplished. After being shocked to not receive an NCAA big last year, the Gophers built through the 2021-22 season and were the top-ranked team by the end of it. Their season ended before they wanted, but progress was made and Heise said she hopes to take the team even further next season.
The quarterfinal loss to Minnesota Duluth stung and Heise said she took a few days to process it, but she’s already back on the ice and training for next year. Winning this award took a little bit of the sting of that loss away, she said.
Both of Heise’s parents played basketball in college and her brother Nate, is a freshman guard at the University of Northern Illinois. When she was young, Heise said it was 50/50 whether she would pursue hockey or basketball.
Growing up, her home rink was outdoors and her first gear was used equipment that was donated during an area event with the Minnesota Wild, she said. Not only did that lead her down a path that she said was dramatically different than it would have been if she stuck with basketball, but it instilled in her the importance and impact of giving back.
Beyond another year with the Gophers, Heise said she doesn’t know what the future holds. She plans to keep playing hockey as long as her body lets her, she said, mentioning a hopeful future with USA Hockey and the PWHPA. She is where she is, she said, because she was able to look up to players like Wendell, Kessel and Kendall Coyne-Schofield, who took part in the televised ceremony.
Heise hopes to help continue to grow the game and bring the opportunity to play to even more young girls.
