Taylor Heise opens up about the Pro Women's Hockey League, her high school career and Olympic dreams

Oct. 19—KASSON — Taylor Heise started playing hockey when she was 8, a relatively old age to start, by the sport's standards.

No matter, though. Heise's drive, determination and natural ability has led her to become one of the best players in the world. The 23-year-old has accomplished nearly everything a hockey player can in a relatively short period of time.

She was

Minnesota's Miss Hockey in 2018,

when she wrapped up one of the best high school careers in state history. She

won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best women's college hockey player in the country in 2022

as a senior at the University of Minnesota. Last month, she was the

No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural Professional Women's Hockey League Draft,

selected by Minnesota.

Through it all, Heise has never forgotten her southeastern Minnesota roots.

"It's super important to me to continue to give back and to maybe give girls someone to look up to and know that I'm not just saying something," she said. "I talk and walk and do everything the same way they do. They just have to keep working hard."

Heise was at Dodge County Ice Arena on Monday, when she

led the captains practice for the Dodge County girls high school team,

then signed autographs and took photos for local youth hockey players and fans.

She also talked to the Post Bulletin about everything from her own high school career to meeting tennis legend Billie Jean King, to the stability the PWHL will offer compared to previous women's pro leagues.

You played in state tournaments, won Miss Hockey, scored literally hundreds of goals. What are your favorite memories of high school hockey?

A lot of athletes will say it — you don't remember the goals or the games you won or anything like that. I remember the bus rides, I remember walking into the rink and thinking 'gosh, it is cold,' and knowing that the ice was going to be good that night, and that my parents might suffer in the stands ... (I remember) the locker room times, the dancing to music, the pre-game routines. All that stuff in high school was so good, it was fun. And that all continues onto college and higher levels as well.

What would you tell high school athletes today about separating those times — enjoying the off-ice times while focusing and taking the on-ice times seriously?

In high school, I remember thinking my team was good but also you have to honestly take away the on-ice portions and really remember the off-ice portions because those are the times that you were with your best friends. It wasn't always 'go, go, go.' It was more so, take it all in and love on each other.

Along those lines, what advice do you have for high school players going through the college recruiting process while still trying to enjoy their high school season?

High school hockey in Minnesota is something that you can't replicate. I have a lot of friends from other states and they don't quite understand it. I always talk about how the state tournament is one of the best times you can have, but also high school hockey here in Minnesota is huge. For me, I didn't leave home, I stayed here and continued to work in southern Minnesota. I did everything I could to continue to be my best, but just knowing how huge high school hockey is ... and college is a big decision. I weighed the pros and cons of all the teams I wanted to play for. But I also took advantage of that after my high school season. I know not everyone has that ability to wait. I took full advantage of the time I had in high school hockey. When I was choosing my college, I took advantage of that time I had outside of high school hockey, to decide.

How are you spending your time now, leading up to the start of PWHL training camp on Nov. 15?

Hockey, hockey, hockey. (laughs) But I do that in the mornings, then in the afternoons I always find something else to do. I really love to cook and I really love to bake. I told the girls out there, you have to find those hobbies outside of hockey that aren't going to drive you insane when you have a bad game or a bad practice. You can come home and realize there are things you love in life other than hockey.

Without a college season to prepare for, how did you spend your time over the summer?

The biggest keys for me this summer were continuing to get quicker in the gym, maintaining the work I've been doing and then continuing to get 1% better every day. If that 1% looks like pulling my shot in another half-inch, or finishing my stickhandling moves better, or working on one-on-ones, I always come up with little goals each day in my head. I don't really share them with anyone. Whether or not I'm successful each day, I take that and come up with something new the next day.

The PWHL, the way it's structured and set up, what do you think about it compared to previous women's pro leagues?

The biggest thing we did is we had a CBA (collective bargaining agreement) signed before we started. Protecting the players is obviously a key for me, since I am a player. I can't possibly give more props to the girls on the committee, that we got that in before we signed as a group. I also think this year, it's obviously a shortened season, but you also don't want to cram too many games in. So I think it was great they set up a 24-game season. Next year it'll be 32 or 34 games, taking breaks for (World Championships) and the (U.S.-Canada) Rivalry Series, but I give them all props — this is not an easy thing to do. They did a really good job of continuing to not only keep women's hockey at the forefront of people's minds, but continuing to keep people excited about it.

Billie Jean King announced your name as the No. 1 overall draft pick last month. What was that like to hear her do that, then to walk on stage and have her stand next to you?

She's an inspiration to not only women, but to everyone in the world. She went through women's sports when it wasn't necessarily as popular and didn't have as many fans. For her to make the jump and the leap to where she got to, and to now, where everyone knows her name ... When I saw her up there, she had her speech, then I saw 'oh, she's still staying up there.' Then I saw 'oh, she's announcing the first pick,' then I heard my name and everything just went black in my head. For her to be up there and for me to receive that from her was an honor. She DM'd me and made sure that I felt loved on the whole thing. She just is someone who is such an inspiration to women in sports. That photo is going to be in my phone for the rest of my life. That was something I'll never forget.

You mentioned the Rivalry Series and World Championships. Can you describe what it's like to pull on a USA jersey and play in one of those events, especially the games against Canada?

I think, even now, we need to continue to televise it more and continue to build audiences and keep growing it. ... When I put on the USA jersey and we play not only Canada — the international game is growing by leaps from where it's been in the past — it's a different game. If people want to say that women's hockey isn't physical, they should turn around and watch one of our games. I come out with at least three new bruises, puck marks everywhere, ice bags everywhere. It's a different game and it's so much more of a team game than people might think. You want to win, but you're not going to do it by yourself. You have to put your full effort and attitude and trust in the fact that your teammates are going to show up, too. It's an honor for me, too, to get to play with and against the best players in the world every day. I get to train with the best, and if you get to do that, you're going to be one of the best.

You seem like a shoo-in for 2026, but how much does the goal of making an Olympic team still drive you?

It drives me every day. I think it's driven me ever since hockey became a passion and it was something in my future, and obviously it's something I look forward to. It's also something that, in the back of my mind, when I don't want to wake up in the morning at 6 a.m. — when I just don't want to get out of bed — that's what's in the back of my mind. ... Also, playing for the USA and playing for a pro team, those are three things I can look at every single day. (The Olympics) is something that I hope to accomplish one day, but I think there's a lot more to my future until then. I have opportunities to make teams, opportunities to win a gold medal. Those are all huge, but it's something that I keep in the back of my mind and I'm reminded of a lot, especially when I didn't make the last one, and that's something that pushes me every day.