Most coaches look to the NHL for the ultimate examples of clips to show their players, but they're missing out if skipping over the Professional Women's Hockey League.
Enter Taylor Heise, who I'm calling the American Mikko Rantanen. Recently I shared clips of Colorado's power forward demonstrating the game played the right way, and now we have another shining example: PWHL Minnesota's Heise.
Heise recently led her team to the league's first championship thanks to her power, her precision, and her excellent habits. Her game is one from which we can all learn and share with our players.
Taylor Heise is a straight-up assassin.
Here are seven clips from the PWHL star's innaugural playoff run and some international play mixed in for good measure.
1. Good Habits
Watch Heise stay above the puck as it's rimmed into the zone, staying on the defensive side and getting rewarded for her positioning. Her wicked wrist shot becomes a consistent theme in this package, but it's her habits and positioning that creates the opportunities in the first place.
2. Above the Puck
Heise scores lots of goals this way - being above the puck. It's a strong habit that's easy to replicate. Show your players these clips when you're trying convince them of the value of good defensive habits. Picking off pucks is the result of good positioning!
3. Win Battles With Skill
Bit of a longer clip, this demomnstrates Heise's willingness to not only join the dispute, but her ability to emerge with the puck on the other side. Once possession is secured she sneaks into a vulnerable spot and crushes a one-timer through the back of the net.
4. Skill That Requires Effort
What sets players like Heise and Rantanen apart is their determination with and without the puck. Shooting the puck from inside the dots is a critical skill, but it doesn't happen without stopping hard on the boards, battling through a check, stopping to set her feet and eventually turn her feet downhill. This clip only happens through agility, power, and intensity.
5. Lose it, Get it Back
Heisie loses possession after a late offensive zone faceoff. We've all coached players who stay low and beneath the puck when this happens. Not Heise. This is another skill that requires effort and determination. She hustles back to her end in a straight line and is once again in the right spot at the right time to pick off a loose puck to put the game away.
6. Two-way Dominance
Heise has demonstrated her ability with the puck, but the true superstars are relied on when an inevitable push is coming from the opponent. In this clip she directs traffic in Minnesota's zone defensive coverage, stays in the middle of the ice, and once again salts the game.
7. Little Bit of Everything
May of 2024 was a momentous time for women's hockey and the game at large. We were treated to phenomenal crowd support as the true best of the best in women's hockey took the stage. Players like Heise and her Minnesota teammates lived up to the hype. Let's see more!
