The Frost sent eight players to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy, and for most it will be a familiar experience. Of the six Minnesota players on Team USA, only forwards Taylor Heise and Britta Curl-Salemme are first-timers.
And for Heise, it’s been a long time coming.
Minnesota Frost’s Grace Zumwinkle, left, throws out a ceremonial first pitch as teammate Taylor Heise, right, watches before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Minnesota Twins, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The Lake City, Minn., native and former Gopher was left off the U.S. team that would win a silver medal in the 2022 Games in Beijing, and it was difficult. “I was pretty close,” she said.
“Four years is a long time to wait,” Heise said.
She and Curl-Salemme join Frost teammates who have been here before: Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein, Kelly Pannek and Grace Zumwinkle.
For Heise, the most notable name there is Zumwinkle, the Gophers teammate who moved on to Beijing in 2022 while Heise stayed in Minneapolis.
Both agreed it was a growing moment in their relationship, and that their bond as friends is tighter than either could have expected back in 2022.
“We’re the best of friends on and off the ice, so it’ll be super cool to share that experience together,” Zumwinkle said. “I know we’ve both had to overcome times of adversity in the past, and it’s ultimately brought us closer together. We’re super excited for it together, and I think it should be a lot of fun.”
And perhaps sweeter than it would have been in 2022, when the Games were played under strict COVID restrictions that severely limited the athletes’ ability to mingle and had them playing in mostly empty arenas. As usual, the 2022 gold medal was decided by a game between the U.S. and Canada that Canada won, 3-2.
For Zumwinkle, an Excelsior native who played high school hockey at Breck, these Games will be an exciting change.
“I have a lot of family and friends coming over, so we’re excited about that,” she said. “And I think it’ll be a completely different experience.”
Heise and Zumwinkle have been Gophers, Frost and World Championship teammates. Now, they’re Olympic teammates.
Upon officially earning a spot on the 2026 team on Jan. 2, Heise said being cut in 2022 — by then-head coach and Gophers assistant Joel Johnson — was appropriate. “I wasn’t ready,” she said, and after looking inward, she vowed to get better.
And she did
That spring, Heise won the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s best college player after scoring 29 goals and amassing 66 points in 39 games for the Gophers. In the summer, she was the MVP and leading scorer (18 points) at the IIHF World Championships.
After a last season with the Gophers, Heise became the first overall draft pick in PWHL history, picked by the Frost in September 2023. Since then, Heise has been a Team USA fixture and two-time PWHL champion.
Being separated from longtime teammate and roommate Zumwinkle, Heise said, was, “Honestly, probably the best for both of us.”
“I learned a lot, she learned a lot separately,” she said. “I think this time, being 25, we’ve kind of understood the process now. I’m just super excited to be along with her. So I know it’s going to be a good ride.”
Heise will have her fiancé, former Gophers basketball player Parker Fox, among friends and family in Italy, and she will reunite with former Gophers teammate Abbey Murphy, one of four current Minnesota players in Milan.
“Crazy,” Heise said. “It’s been a month. But (I’m) just super excited to get there, and obviously the chance of a lifetime. So, trying to take advantage of that.”
The U.S. won Olympic gold in 2018 with a team that included Coyne Schofield, Pannek and Stecklein.
Gophers senior Taylor Heise, right, celebrates her game-winning goal with teammate Nelli Laitinen in a 3-2 overtime victory over Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 4, 2022, at Ridder Arena (Bjorn Franke / Gophers Athletics)
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