Minnesota’s Taylor Heise entered this inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season as a self-described “pass-first kind of gal.”

With Minnesota one win away from capturing the PWHL championship and Game 4 of the best-of-five Walter Cup Final to be played at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night, Heise clearly has seen the light when it comes to shooting the puck. Specifically, the red light.

The former Gophers’ star leads the PWHL playoffs with five goals and seven assists. She scored Minnesota’s first goal in Friday night’s 4-1 win over Boston to go with a pair of two-goal games in the postseason.

All that after scoring four goals in 19 games during the regular season.

Heise points to some pointed words from her father for the change of approach — and change of fortune.

“He said, ‘When you’re on a roll, the only person that can stop it is you,’” Heise said. “He said that stopping that (roll) is me making a pass first. I’m always going to look to pass if it is the right play, but I’ve gotten better with the confidence that (her coaches and teammates) want me to shoot, they want me to score.

“They’re never going to look at me and ask, ‘Why did you not pass that puck?’ Because they know that is not ever me.”

During Friday’s game, Heise carried the puck into the Boston zone on a two-on-one with Kendall Coyne Schofield and elected to shoot. Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel made the save but taking the shot was the right decision. Heise acknowledged on Saturday that in the same situation earlier in the season, she would have passed the puck

Minnesota coach Ken Klee said he has not spoken to Heise about shooting the puck more, but he’s glad she has taken it upon herself to do so.

“She’s got a great shot,” Klee said. “I sat down with (goaltender) Maddie Rooney over the break and asked her about our players — who shoots well. Taylor and Zum (Grace Zumwinkle) came to the top of the list pretty quick.

“(Taylor) has a heavy shot, she can pick where she wants to shoot. She’s got a great skill set; she can take a slapper, she can snap it top shelf either side. She is a team player, so she does look (to pass) but with the three of them (Heise, Coyne Schofield and Michela Cava), they’re just reading off each other. They are having a lot of fun making plays together.”

Heise’s pedestrian goal-scoring numbers during the regular season were due in part to a shoulder injury that had her out of the lineup for five games. She also found out early on that the pro game is not that similar to the college game.

“Here, when I get the puck I’m not going to have five seconds to make a play,” Heise said. “It’s going to be one or two. I want to get five or six shots off in a game, but if I don’t, I can’t expect myself to put the puck in the back of the net.

“So, changing the way that that works, and also having the perspective of, ‘I need to go out there and throw some hits, too.’ I think getting yourself into that makes the game easier for me.”

Coyne Schofield said no one in the Minnesota locker room has been surprised by the success Heise has had in the postseason.

“Some people have made comments about her being a little quieter during the regular season,” she said. “Obviously, she dealt with an injury that kept her out for a little bit, but you’re seeing why she was drafted first overall.

“She’s doing what she does — at the most important time. She’s a clutch player, wants the puck on her stick when the game’s on the line.”

While Heise has been on a memorable run, she has not been alone in leading Minnesota to the brink of a title. As she put it, “I’m confident in what I’m doing, but I’m also very confident in my teammates.”

It can all culminate with a win on Sunday. Should Boston tie the series at 2-2, Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Boston.

“The last one to win is the hardest one to win — by far,” Coyne Schofield said. “We can’t look to the outcome, we have to look at the process that is going to take for us to get to that outcome.

“Everyone is banged up. No one is feeling their best, but you find a way to be your best.”

A St. Paul man was found guilty on Friday in the 2022 kidnapping of a woman from an Arden Hills parking lot, authorities said.

Raphael Raymond Nunn, 58, of St. Paul, was found guilty of kidnapping, bank fraud and identity theft after robbing two women at gunpoint and stealing from another, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger said Friday.

Raphael Raymond Nunn (Courtesy of the Ramsey County sheriff’s office)

Prosecutors say Nunn was wearing a mask and gloves and armed with a black handgun when he approached a 61-year-old woman who had just parked in an underground parking garage at 3900 Northwood Drive in Arden Hills.

The criminal complaint alleges that when the woman got out of her vehicle about 7:25 a.m. Sept. 13, Nunn approached her with the gun. After the woman grabbed the barrel of the gun, he pushed her to the ground and then forced her back into the vehicle at gunpoint.

He ordered her to drive to an ATM at Wells Fargo at 2600 E. Franklin in Minneapolis. There, he forced her to withdraw cash using her debit card until she reached her limit of $1,000. He then forced her to call her bank and get a PIN number to withdraw cash from her credit card. He also took $30 from her wallet. He then ordered her to drive to Matthews Park at 2438 27th Ave. S. in Minneapolis.

Once at the park, he told her to get out of the vehicle and leave her key fob and phone in the car. He told her she could find her vehicle at the other side of the park after he was gone. When the woman walked to her vehicle, her kidnapper was gone and she called the police.

According to the complaint, multiple video surveillance cameras showed a man getting out of her car and walking to Cedar Food & Grill at 2600 Cedar Ave. in Minneapolis. Once inside the store, the man bought a bottle of soda and took off his hood. He was no longer wearing the mask, which he had discarded during his walk. Four days later he returned to the store in his own vehicle which led authorities to him as a suspect.

He was arrested Sept. 22, 2022 in Minneapolis. A search found evidence of the kidnapping and further evidence of theft from a second person and a gunpoint robbery of a third person.

After a four-day trial, Nunn was found guilty Thursday on one count of kidnapping, two counts of bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.  A sentencing hearing will be held at a later date.

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Anthony Edwards suddenly looks far more like Clark Kent than Superman — very average.

The 22-year-old superstar guard’s aura was at an all-time high in the middle of the Western Conference semifinals, in which the Wolves ousted the defending champion Nuggets.

But after a pair of duds against Dallas to open the Western Conference Finals — both losses on Minnesota’s home floor — praise is quickly, and justifiably, devolving into criticism.

The man who captured the hearts of basketball fans across America with his electric style of play has seen his force neutralized by fatigue and indecisiveness.

Dallas continues to combine heavy gap help and rim protection with a variety of defensive looks and, frankly, it seems to have Edwards second-guessing himself.

The result through two games is Edwards shooting 33% from the floor and Minnesota’s offense largely bogging down at the most inopportune moments.

“They’re just showing me crowds, man, sitting in the gaps,” Edwards said. “But I’m turning down a lot of shots, like my mid-ranges and stuff. I’m turning a lot of those down.”

Edwards has had plays where he starts to attack the defense on the bounce, only to pull it back out. In the final 20 seconds Friday, he got to the middle of the floor, pulled up, opted not to try to shoot a free-throw line jumper over Dallas big Dereck Lively II and instead threw the ball out of bounds for a turnover that opened the door for Luka Doncic to play the role of assassin on the other end of the floor.

“I wanted to get downhill, and then the gap man was in the gap,” Edwards said. “I tried to make a play and then I think I just passed it too late. So that’s how that was.”

Edwards has been praised for his willingness to get off the ball over the past two-plus months when opponents loaded up to stop him. But the key to that was proper decisions were being made in a split second. Now, when Edwards does make a pass, it’s only coming after over dribbling or excessive ball holding.

That makes life easier on a defense when it doesn’t have to be scrambling around the floor in a reactionary manner.

“I think with Anthony, he’s gotta pick up his decision-making,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “I think (Dallas guard Kyrie Irving) is actually a good example — he’s playing quick off the catch, he’s trying to beat our defensive pressure with everything on the catch, going quickly.”

The coach added that Edwards needs to attack more in transition. He said Edwards started Game 2 by playing with burst and getting downhill. As a result, he was living at the free-throw line.

“Then kinda just phased (that) out as the game went along. Went in there a few times, thought he coulda done it more. And we need him to do it more,” Finch said. “Yeah, he has to do some more early, gotta play off the catch a little bit more. I thought he could be a little more shot-ready. I thought he turned down some open looks, too.”

That all reeks of someone who’s less sure of himself than he usually is. Never was that more evident on that final, fateful turnover. After the game, Finch lamented not calling timeout to get Mike Conley — who’d subbed out for defensive purposes on the possession prior — back into the game to secure a good shot for the Wolves at that pivotal point.

At the moment, possessions guided by Conley are proving far more fruitful for Minnesota than anything Edwards can muster.

“I’m trying to get the ball and be in controlled situations, especially late. Get the guys the ball when they are in good spots to be aggressive. Naz, KAT, Ant, Rudy, Jaden, everybody trying to get guys where they can be super effective,” Conley said. “Especially for Ant, just trying to relieve him from a lot of the duties. He has to do so much for us, he has to guard, he has to play make, he has to score.

“It’s my job to alleviate that pressure a little bit, and I’m probably going to have to be more involved in that, be aggressive, be aggressive offensively. It takes little pressure off of him and try to play make for him, as well.”

Because Edwards’ burden is heavy; He’s played heavy minutes throughout Minnesota’s postseason run, often carrying the offensive scoring load while guarding one of the opponent’s best players. Chasing Irving around is a full-time job. Doing so while also trying to guide an offense is exhausting.

Edwards’ usual on-court bravado has been lacking through two games of this series, while it’s oozing out of Doncic. He might not have the energy to produce it.

Edwards denied it, but ESPN reported the guard was wearing an oxygen mask near the bench at one point during Friday’s Game 2. But, the reality is, at this point in the season, there is no time to be tired. Doncic is battling lower-body injuries, hobbling around the court and still producing at an MVP-type level.

Edwards’ burden will not lessen. His resolve — physically and mentally — must strengthen. He will continue to guard one of the opponent’s best players. He will continue to be tasked with igniting the offense, and he needs to do both at a higher level. If not, this series may not last much longer.

“It’s the Western Conference Finals, man. You can’t look to hide people or try to take breaks,” Finch said. “I don’t see Kyrie shying away from a matchup out there. It’s what you’ve got to do if you want to win.”

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“For people who are receiving denials, but are accessing legal services, they’re going to be able to have some kind of advocacy,” said Deborah Berkman, supervising attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group. “Without legal services, it seems almost impossible.” 

The city began rolling out stricter rules for migrant shelter reapplications this week, which make it tougher for adults without children to earn more time.

The changes are part of a legal settlement reached in March that temporarily redefined New York’s decades-old right-to-shelter policy, which generally requires the city to provide a bed to anyone who needs and requests it. Adult migrants without children whose time of stay has expired after an initial 30 or 60 days now need to prove they meet “extenuating circumstances” to qualify for an extension.

Since the Spring of 2022, nearly 200,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in New York City and about 65,000 are currently in the shelter system. Last July, the city began issuing controversial time limits to adults without children, extending the policy to families with kids in January, though with the option to reapply at the end of each deadline. Families with children are exempt from the new, stricter criteria.

“We have very limited tools for how we continue to manage,” Mayor Eric Adams’ Chief of Staff, Camille Joseph Varlack, told reporters during a press briefing Tuesday. “Every single week we still get hundreds, if not thousands of people coming into the system. We need to make sure that we have the space to take care of the new guests that are coming into the city as well.”

Officials said last week that they’d issued an initial 6,500 30- or 60-day shelter eviction notices under the new rules, 200 of which had deadlines that hit Wednesday. Those seeking more time were directed to the city’s Reticketing Center, based at the former St. Brigid’s School in the East Village, where they could make their case for an extension. 

City Hall didn’t provide numbers on how many reapplicants received denials under the new terms, saying Thursday they were still processing the data. In the meantime, advocates and legal providers are keeping a watchful eye, saying they want to make sure the city is giving each person’s case careful consideration. 

“We’re kind of working in the dark…about how to support young people in this process, because there’s been so little information from City Hall about how people are actually being assessed for extenuating circumstances,” said Jamie Powlovich, the director of the Coalition for Homeless Youth.

Some of the “extenuating circumstances” can generally earn someone an automatic extension: if they’ve signed a lease that starts soon; have an immigration proceeding, serious medical procedure or plans to leave the city within a month; are recovering from a medical procedure that impacts their ability to leave shelter, or are 18 to 20 years old and enrolled full time in high school. But others are less clear cut. 

Applicants can also show they’ve made “significant efforts” to leave shelter, such as if they’ve applied for Temporary Protected Status, are attending college or English classes, are looking for a job or already have one, among other scenarios. 

The city has evaluated those cases so far using a 20-point system, in which someone can earn points for each effort they prove. But the system is still being negotiated and could change, according to Josh Goldfein, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society.

He and other advocates are concerned because neither they nor migrants know exactly how those efforts will be weighed, and complained about the lack of clarity. 

They have also heard from migrants that the city’s process of determining whether to renew has moved quickly, raising questions about how much time applicants are being given to make their case.

“If the process goes quickly, and people are extended, then that’s fine. But if it goes quickly, and people are denied, and they did have relevant information to share, but the city didn’t take the time to gather it, then that’s a major concern,” Goldfein said.

When the city denies a request, it does so in a letter that should be issued in the preferred language of the immigrant, stating the reason for the denial. At least one letter shared with City Limits was written mostly in Spanish, but included one line in English.

“It’s a legal problem, and it’s like a practical problem,” said Deborah Berkman, supervising attorney of the Shelter Advocacy Initiative at New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG). 

To date, NYLAG has successfully intervened—with the advocacy of the Legal Aid Society—to help two migrants get extensions after initial denials. Legal Aid assisted another three in getting more time. 

But the appeal process, in which migrants can request an independent review of their decision, could pose a hurdle to some, advocates noted. The city advises those who can’t file their appeal via email to “please notify the staff person who gave you this notice, and they will assist you,” according to a denial letter shared with City Limits.  

“A lot of my clients who are new immigrants are not able to read,” Berkman explained. “If they hadn’t been able to be in touch with a legal services provider, it’s very unlikely that they would have had a place to sleep tonight.”

Both the Legal Aid Society and NYLAG said they don’t know how many people have received denials, and they’re only learning about these cases because migrants are contacting them.

“For people who are receiving denials, but are accessing legal services, they’re going to be able to have some kind of advocacy,” Berkman said. “Without legal services, it seems almost impossible, which I think makes it harder for us to know the number of people because unless they’ve come to us, we don’t know that they’re there. We don’t know that they’re being denied and then left outside.”

The thousands of migrants first impacted by the changes have been given a letter describing the new system, telling them to make a plan to move out of shelter and providing them with a resource guide, officials said last week. 

“Everyone after May 27 who’s come into our system will be subjected to this process,” Joseph Varlack told reporters on May 17.

Outside the Reticketing Center Wednesday morning, City Limits spoke to roughly a dozen migrants, none of whom said they had heard yet of the new settlement rules, or the evidence they must collect to extend their stays going forward. 

Marlon Ronquillo, 43, said he was asked a few questions when reapplying, such as if he had a family member in the country, if he could stay with someone else, or if he wanted to leave the city. After answering no to those queries and waiting a couple of hours, he received shelter for an additional 30 days.

“They imply that the city is no longer going to help you, as if they will not give you any more shelter,” Ronquillo said in Spanish. “As if this is the last time.”

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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