Watch the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League draft
Click on the video player above to watch live coverage of the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) draft from CBC headquarters in downtown Toronto.
Former University of Minnesota star Taylor Heise is staying home to begin her professional hockey career.
The Lake City native, who topped the NCAA in scoring in each of her last two years with the Gophers, was selected first overall by Minnesota in the inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League draft on Monday at CBC headquarters in Toronto.
Live streaming coverage is available at CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, and also on radio-canada.ca/sports and the Radio-Canada info app. For international audiences, got to CBC Sports and Radio-Canada’s YouTube pages.
Heise, considered the most skilled player available with a nose for the net, is familiar to Minnesota general Natalie Darwitz, a former Gophers assistant coach.
When considering her options after Minnesota won the draft lottery on Sept. 1, Darwitz focused on a player who could remain with the organization long-term.
“Not only that, [a player] who can grow the game and grow the market in Minnesota, who has great visibility,” Darwitz, former captain of the U.S. women’s team, said recently.
And who better than a homegrown player?
The 23-year-old Heise scored a combined 58 goals the past two seasons in college and in 2022 won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best female player in NCAA Division 1.
Last September, the smart five-foot-nine centre scored seven goals and 18 points to help the United States women win a world championship silver medal.
Defenceman Jocelyne Laroque of Ste. Anne, Man., was the first drafted player to join one of the three PWHL’s Canadian-based teams, going second to Toronto.
Ninety players among a pool of 268 will be chosen for the original six franchises — including Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa — during a 15-round selection period. Each general manager will build a roster ahead of a scheduled January 2024 puck drop.
WATCH | Jayna Hefford discusses PWHL with CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux:
CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux sits down with the PWHL’s SVP of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford after their announcement of the founding six franchises.
