Taylor Heise
Taylor Heise is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League. A member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, she has won five IIHF medals—three consecutive U18 World Championship gold medals and two Women's World Championship gold medals. She was named Tournament MVP at both the 2018 U18 World Championship and the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she led the tournament with 18 points, the most by any player in nearly 30 years.
Heise played college ice hockey at the University of Minnesota, where she won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2022 as the nation's top player. During her five-year collegiate career, she recorded 227 points on 97 goals and 130 assists in 175 games, setting a program record for most games played. She was a two-time CCM/AHCA First-Team All-American and two-time WCHA Forward of the Year, leading the NCAA Division I in scoring as a senior with 66 points and in goals as a graduate student with 29.
Heise was selected first overall by PWHL Minnesota in the 2023 PWHL Draft. She helped lead the franchise to back-to-back Walter Cup championships in 2024 and 2025, becoming the first player in PWHL history to win consecutive titles with the same team. She was awarded the Ilana Kloss Playoff Most Valuable Player in 2024 after leading the playoffs with eight points in ten games.
Born in Lake City, Minnesota, Heise grew up in a basketball family but began playing hockey in first grade. She attended Red Wing High School, where she was a six-year varsity player. As a senior in 2018, she recorded 74 goals and 30 assists in 29 games, earning the Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award and USA Today High School Sports All-USA Girls Hockey Player of the Year honors.
Early life
Born in Lake City, Minnesota, a small town along the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota, Heise grew up on a dairy farm outside Lake City with her parents, Amy and Tony Heise, both of whom were former college basketball players at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Heise has two younger brothers, Nathan and Ryan, who followed their parents' footsteps into college basketball.As a first-grader, Heise brought home a flyer from school about an introductory hockey lesson and expressed interest in trying the sport—unexpected news for a family centered on basketball. "It was a tough few nights, because we live in Timbuktu, where there is no hockey," her father Tony recalled. "We knew if we started hockey, it would be a long road." Lake City did not have a hockey program, with organized hockey limited to one day per week on an outdoor rink. Heise began skating on the outdoor rink in Lake City, where practices depended on weather conditions and whether someone had shoveled the ice. She played there for approximately three years, competing only against neighboring Wabasha, before transitioning to Red Wing for youth hockey. The family's commitment to Heise's hockey career required significant sacrifices. Daily trips to Red Wing were necessary for youth hockey, and she traveled to and from the Twin Cities four days per week during the off-season—a one-to-two-hour drive each way depending on traffic. Despite being a talented basketball player herself, Heise ended her basketball career after sixth grade. "I loved basketball, but at the end of the day, hockey is more freeing to me," Heise said. "I'm more independent, so I felt like I'd be able to learn this and do it on my own." In fourth grade, Heise informed her parents that she would open enroll at Red Wing High School beginning in seventh grade to play hockey, as Lake City High School did not have a hockey program. The decision was emotional for the self-described "homebody." "I will never forget it. Like I cried a few times about it," Heise recalled. "Every time I'd go to USA Hockey camps I'd cry in the car." Her grandfather Ken Heise, who lived a mile from Red Wing High School and had recently retired from being a bus driver, drove her to and from school before she obtained her driver's license.
Heise joined Red Wing's varsity team as a seventh-grader in the 2012–13 season, recording five goals and nine points on a team led by future Division I players including Nicole Schammel, Paige Haley, and Reagan Haley. The Wingers won three consecutive section championships during Heise's first three seasons, and placed third at the Minnesota State Class A Tournament three consecutive years—as a seventh-grader in 2012–13, eighth-grader in 2013–14, and freshman in 2014–15. Heise served as team captain during her junior and senior seasons. By her junior year in 2016–17, Heise had recorded 142 goals and 128 assists in her high school career. At Red Wing High School, Heise was a four-time USA Today American Family Insurance All-USA honoree. As a senior in 2018, she recorded 74 goals and 30 assists for 104 points in 29 games, leading Red Wing to a consolation runner-up finish at the state tournament. She recorded nine points in three state tournament games and was named to the 2018 Minnesota State Class A All-Tournament Team. Following an outstanding season, she was named the 2018 USA Today High School Sports All-USA Girls Hockey Player of the Year and won the Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award.
Heise finished her six-year high school career with 216 goals and 370 points, while maintaining a 3.96 grade point average. In December 2023, Red Wing honored Heise by unveiling a banner featuring her name and number 9, which hangs alongside that of Alyssa Johnson, a pioneer in Red Wing girls hockey. Heise was also a three-sport athlete, earning six letters in hockey, two in track and field, and one in soccer.
Playing career
College
Heise began her collegiate career for the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the 2018–19 season. During her freshman year, she recorded 13 goals and 22 assists in 39 games. She led the team with 147 shots on goal, and second on the team with four multi-goal games. She also ranked tied for second in the WCHA and ninth in the nation with a team-best five game-winning goals. She led WCHA rookies with 22 assists, and ranked third among WCHA rookies and sixth among NCAA rookies with 0.90 points per game. Following the season she was named to the WCHA All-Rookie team.During the 2019–20 season in her sophomore year, she recorded 18 goals and 25 assists in 36 games. She ranked third on the team with a career-high 43 points, ranked second on the team with 25 assists, and ranked second on the team and sixth in the WCHA with 168 shots on goal. Following the season she was named to the All-WCHA Third Team. During the 2020–21 season in her junior year, she recorded seven goals and nine assists in a season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She ranked second on the team with 74 shots on goal, and third on the team with 16 points.
During the 2021–22 season in her senior year, she led the NCAA in scoring with 66 points on 29 goals and 37 assists in 39 games. She recorded five shorthanded goals, the most in the nation, and third most in a single season in program history. She became the first player in program history to surpass 60 points in a season since Dani Cameranesi. She was named the WCHA Forward of the Month and the HCA National Player of the Month for the month of November. She recorded eight goals and eight assists. She recorded a multi-point game in five of six contests in the month. She scored her second career hat trick on November 12, 2021, in a game against RIT. She was named the WCHA Forward of the Month and HCA Co-National Player of the Month for the month of March. She recorded eight goals and 10 assists in eight games during the month, including five multi-point and two multi-goal games. She became the first Gopher to win the award three times in a single season since its inception in 2016–17. Following an outstanding season, she was named first-team All-WCHA, WCHA Offensive Player of the Year and WCHA Player of the Year. She was also named CCM/AHCA First-Team All-American and won the Patty Kazmaier Award. She led the NCAA in both total points and points per game, and ranked second in goals and sixth in assists.
During the 2022–23 season in her graduate student year, she led the NCAA in goals with 29, and ranked second in points with 65 in 37 games. During the regular season she led the conference in scoring with 19 goals and 51 points in 28 games. She was named HCA National Player of the Month in December and WCHA Forward of the Month in February. Following an outstanding season, she was named first-team All-WCHA and WCHA Forward of the Year for the second consecutive year. She was also named CCM/AHCA First-Team All-American.
Professional
Minnesota Frost (2023–present)
On September 18, 2023, Heise was drafted first overall by PWHL Minnesota in the 2023 PWHL Draft, with her name called by tennis legend Billie Jean King, a member of the league's board of directors. On October 26, 2023, she signed a three-year contract with Minnesota. On January 3, 2024, in Minnesota's inaugural game against PWHL Boston in Lowell, Massachusetts, Heise scored the first goal in franchise history unassisted in a 3–2 victory. One week later, on January 10, Heise had a breakout performance with two highlight-reel goals and an assist in a 3–1 win over PWHL Toronto, giving her three goals in her first three professional games. Her first goal came late in the opening period when she rushed the puck down the wing and beat two Toronto defenders before tucking the puck past goaltender Kristen Campbell. The game-winner came on a breakaway in the second period when she deked and fired a shot over Campbell's shoulder. Heise's regular season was affected by injury, and she missed five games. During the 2023–24 season, she recorded four goals and nine assists in 19 regular season games, finishing fourth on Minnesota and fifth among rookies in scoring. Minnesota clinched the final playoff spot on the last day of the regular season after losing five consecutive games to end their campaign.In the Walter Cup playoffs, Heise elevated her game significantly. In the semifinal series against top-seeded Toronto, she scored the game-winning goal on the power play at 8:30 of the third period in Game 5, firing a wrist shot from the top of the left circle over Campbell's glove to give Minnesota a 2–1 lead and clinch a spot in the Finals. The goal was Minnesota's second power play marker of the game after they had been 0-for-12 on the power play in the series prior to Game 5. Heise won 68.8% of her faceoffs in the series, the highest percentage among all players. In the Finals against Boston, Minnesota won the decisive Game 5 on the road with a 3–0 victory to capture the inaugural Walter Cup championship. Heise led the playoffs in goals with five and tied for the postseason lead with eight points in ten games played, earning her the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award.
Heise entered the 2024–25 PWHL season dealing with a knee injury sustained while practicing for Team USA before the season. The injury limited her ice time early in the season, as she sat seventh among Frost forwards in ice time through the first four games. As her knee healed, her playing time increased significantly—she played a season-high 33 minutes against New York, followed by 18 minutes against Montreal. Despite the injury challenges, Heise demonstrated her playmaking abilities with eight assists through the first six games, ranking second in the league. After meeting with head coach Ken Klee and teammates who encouraged her to shoot more, Heise responded with a two-goal performance against Boston on January 26, 2025, helping Minnesota win 5–2 and end a three-game losing streak. Her first goal came 11 minutes into the game when she sniped in a pass from Michela Cava, and her second came less than two minutes after Hilary Knight's goal for Boston, pushing Minnesota back to a 3–1 lead.
In the 2025 playoffs, Heise scored her first goal of the postseason in dramatic fashion, netting the overtime winner in Game 4 against Toronto on May 14, 2025, to clinch Minnesota's spot in the Walter Cup Finals with a 4–3 victory. The goal came with four minutes remaining in overtime when she took a pass from Grace Zumwinkle and fired a shot with Brooke McQuigge screening the goaltender. Heise celebrated by throwing her arms in the air, pounding the glass, then dropping to her knees and coasting toward center ice as her teammates poured off the bench. Minnesota went on to defeat Boston in the Finals to win their second consecutive Walter Cup championship, making them the first back-to-back champions in PWHL history.
Entering her third professional season, Heise and the Frost began their pursuit of a third consecutive Walter Cup championship on November 21, 2025. The Frost returned nine players from back-to-back championship teams, including Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, Grace Zumwinkle, and goaltenders Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney. However, the team faced significant roster changes with the departure of key players including Sophie Jaques, Claire Thompson, and Michela Cava to the expansion Vancouver Goldeneyes. Heise struggled to find the back of the net early in the season, going scoreless in her first six games despite recording multiple assists. She broke through with a two-goal performance against the Boston Fleet on January 26, 2025, in a 5–2 victory that ended Minnesota's three-game losing streak. Through the first half of the season, Heise demonstrated her playmaking ability with eight assists, ranking second in the league, though she admitted her tendency to pass rather than shoot had limited her goal production. On December 27, 2025, Heise scored her first goal of the season—an overtime winner against the Vancouver Goldeneyes at Rogers Place in Edmonton during the PWHL Takeover Tour. Heise circled the offensive zone before firing a shot just under the crossbar at 2:57 of overtime, giving the Frost a 2–1 victory before a crowd of 10,264. The goal was her first overtime winner since Game 4 of the 2025 PWHL Playoffs against Toronto.