'Dream Come True': Palos Heights' Coyne Schofield Inks Pro Hockey Deal

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Kendall Coyne Schofield already boasts a wealth of hockey accomplishments. But come January, the Palos Heights native and Olympic gold medalist and captain of the U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team will check another box in a new professional women’s hockey league.

Coyne Schofield, 31, has signed with the yet-to-be-named Minneapolis franchise of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which will debut in January, the team announced on Wednesday. Coyne Schofield was among the first free agents to sign with Minnesota, joining forward Kelly Pannek and defenseman Lee Stecklein.

All three players agreed to terms on three-year deals which will run through the 2025-26 season and financial terms were not disclosed per the league’s players association deal.

However, Coyne Schofield told Patch on Thursday that while she has been working on the formation of the league since 2019, she wasn't certain she would be among those selected when the league's Original 6 teams started selecting players on Wednesday.

Coyne Schofield and her husband, former Bears offensive lineman Michael Schofield, welcomed their first child — a son, Drew — two months ago. Coyne Schofield hasn't been on the ice since May and was uncertain how open team officials would be to adding a new mother to a roster in the new league.

"I know it's been a little bit of time I've been away from the ice and the last nine months haven't looked like what they have traditionally," Coyne Schofield told Patch. "Just because I have a child doesn't mean I can't be the player I was before him.

"I think it's extremely important to show players that you can be a mom and a hockey player at the same time. ..I never wanted our son to think he was the reason I stopped playing hockey. I think he's going to be the reason I continue to play hockey."

Prior to signing with Minnesota, Coyne Schofield served as USA Hockey’s captain since 2019 and has captured a gold medal along with two silver medals during her Olympic career. She has also won nine medals (six gold, three silver) at the IIHF Women’s World Championships.

Coyne Schofield also worked with the Chicago Blackhawks as the team's first female player development coach and saw the opportunity as another way of using her skills and expertise in the game to provide even more opportunities for women working in the game. She also played one season with the Premier Hockey Federation’s Minnesota Whitecaps in 2018-19 and helped guide the Whitecaps to the Isobel Cup.

But since 2019, she has served as the President of the Players Association for the new league and has worked with league officials to get the new league off the ground. She hopes that as the league expands, Chicago will be given a team as the league looks to showcase the hockey talent of the top female players in the world.

That's the goal of Minnesota from the start, team officials said on Wednesday.

“With the signing of three of the top players in the world, Minnesota cements its foundation as a team built on excellence,” Minnesota General Manager Natalie Darwitz said in a statement issued by the team. “Kendall, Lee, and Kelly’s world-class hockey skills and leadership qualities embody the excellence that the culture of Minnesota will be built on. We are thrilled that they are the first three players to join Minnesota as we build a championship team.”

Coyne Schofield, who played collegiately at Northeastern University, has worked throughout her hockey career to shatter ceilings and provide opportunities for girls who dream of playing hockey. She calls the formation of the league a "dream come true" where players will be compensated as professionals and will operate under a collective bargaining agreement that affords players the benefits and working conditions found in other professional sports leagues.

Coyne Schofield said that since college, she and other women's hockey players have been forced to piece things together in between Olympic Games and world championship tournaments. But now, players will move to the respective cities where they will be playing to begin life as full-time hockey players – and in Coyne Schofield's case – a working mom.

She said she is juggling a lot learning to be a mother just two months in. Coyne Schofield and her husband will move to Minnesota this winter, ready for the next step in her career.

"We're working every day and now we have that platform to showcase the work that we put in every day," Coyne Schofield told Patch. "I think you're going to see the product grow at an exponential rate because players aren't going to be managing six or seven things. They're not going to be finding their own ice, their own weight room, skating at 10 o'clock at night because that's what they're able to do in between the 2-3 jobs they may hold.

"This is going to allow players to be professional hockey players. There hasn't been a league that has allowed women to do that and this is the first of its kind. It's been a long time coming."