Frost looking for a repeat after historic title
Published
The Minnesota Frost forever have the distinction of being the PWHL’s first-ever champions, but off-season moves quickly overshadowed their title.
One month after winning their five-game finals series over the Boston Fleet, general manager Natalie Darwitz unexpectedly parted ways with the team and Melissa Caruso was hired as the new GM in September.
At the draft in June, Minnesota was criticized for their selection of forward Britta Curl at ninth overall after her social media activity revealed Curl supporting transphobic and controversial views.
"I specifically recognize that my social media activity has resulted in hurt being felt across communities including LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals,” said Curl in a social media statement after being drafted. “I just want to apologize and take ownership of that."
On the ice, the Frost made very few changes in the off-season and are expected to have an offence capable of doing damage.
Forward Grace Zumwinkle earned rookie of the year honours after scoring 11 goals with 19 points in 24 games. However, she did not keep up that pace in the playoffs, scoring just one goal in 10 games.
On the opposite end, 2023 first-overall pick forward Taylor Heise did not dominate in the regular season with four goals and nine assists in 19 games but took it up a notch in the playoffs, scoring five goals with three assists in 10 games to claim playoff MVP.
Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield had six goals and 16 points in 24 games.
On the blueline, Lee Stecklein returns and will be a key piece again after averaging over 25 minutes of ice time in 20 of 24 regular season games she appeared in.
The Frost focused on defence in the draft, taking defender Claire Thompson third overall.
Missing last season attending medical school, Thompson had a compassionate waiver exemption to play for New York but did not sign a full-time contract and opted to declare for June’s draft.
Thompson had a high-scoring career at Princeton and had an historic Olympic Games in 2022, setting the record for points by a defender with 13 as she helped Canada win gold.
In goal, the tandem of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney was steady and shared the crease pretty evenly. Hensley appeared in 14 games, going 7-6-1 with a .919 save percentage and 2.19 GAA while Rooney went 5-3-2 with a .915 save percentage and 2.08 GAA in 10 games.
During the regular season, Minnesota was in the middle of the pack on offence with 54 goals but allowed the second-fewest goals with 54, second only to regular season champ Toronto (50). Despite the offensive firepower available, the Frost had the second-worst power play at 8.2 per cent and had by far the worst penalty kill at 67.2 per cent.
Minnesota has the pieces to make another playoff run but will need to shore up their special teams and have continued growth from players like Zumwinkle and Heise to be more of a regular season threat.