Minnesota Frost star Taylor Heise hosts hockey camp for next generation
It's a hockey camp with the Taylor Heise touch.
"I don't do things the same way as other people. I feel like the reason why I was able to be so good at a young age was I was doing things other people weren't," said Heise on the day her "Taylor Heise 27" hockey camp began at Ridder Arena. "Today we're gonna do a lot of tight turns. We're gonna work on edgework and we're going to get the goalies a lot of shots."
Just a couple of years removed from her Gopher career, Heise has an avid following. This weekend, fans turned into students with a detailed teacher.
"She's super good. She's got speed and she can really dangle and she makes super smart plays," said rising sophomore hockey player at Alexandria High School Maddy Gimbal. "She's really good at shooting. She's always top shelf and always in the right position."
Heise's Frost are back-to-back PWHL champions. It's been all systems go for a while now and Heise isn't one to slow down.
"I've taken the last month to just understand my body," she said. "Feel a little bit better. I had broken a finger, my thumb in the playoffs. Just trying to get that back to normal. Just trying to understand and wrap my head around the last two years. It's been a whirlwind."
Heise and former Gopher hooper Parker Fox recently got engaged. But don't expect wedding bells soon. It's an Olympic year.
"Obviously this is gonna be my first one if I were to make that team," said Heise. "It's the focus level. Everything is times 10. It's a really important time of year."
Like many of those names up on the walls at Ridder Arena used to be, Heise has become the current face of women's hockey in Minnesota.
"I am in the spotlight and a lot of my life is looked at by other people in a scope," said Heise. "So, getting used to that a little bit. But exciting because it means I get to do really fun things and be a part of really fun opportunities like this."