Heise earns Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award

PWHL Minnesota forward Taylor Heise won the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award on Wednesday.

Heise led the Walter Cup Playoffs with five goals and eight points in 10 games en route to her team's Walter Cup triumph.

"It's a special moment. ... (The MVP trophy) will sit in my basement somewhere, but I'm more excited about the group," Heise said. "I'm more excited that I get to live this life with this group of girls who've cared about me since Day 1."

Minnesota head coach Ken Klee praised his young star after a roller-coaster campaign.

"She was tremendous obviously in the playoffs," Klee said. "I think she had a pretty tough first year. As a rookie season, it's a different grind when you come out of college and come to pro hockey. I think she'd be the first to say she definitely had her ups and downs during the year.

"Not a great regular season, she got injured. .... Then, as the playoffs came around, all of a sudden, she started finding her game. She had some great chemistry with Michela Cava and Kendall (Coyne Schofield), obviously. Then, you can just see it in her confidence growing. And the three of them together were just an awesome trio."

Minnesota selected Heise with the first overall pick in September's draft. The 24-year-old tallied four goals and 13 points in 19 contests. She was injured midseason while representing the United States at the Rivalry Series, forcing her to miss four games.

Heise went 11 contests without a goal before ending her drought in Game 5 of the semifinals against Toronto. She scored the game-winner on the power play and added an empty-netter in the decisive contest.

The University of Minnesota product carried that momentum into the finals against Boston. Heise registered another two goals and an assist in Game 1 and added another goal and an assist in Game 4.