The American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Hockey Team for the 2017-18 season was selected based on performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Tom Resor, Noble & Greenough
MORE: FIRST TEAM | SECOND TEAM | THIRD TEAM
PLAYER PROFILE:
Name: Taylor Heise
School: Red Wing (Minn.)
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
College: Minnesota
The question was simple, but Red Wing (Minn.) girls hockey coach Scott Haley wasn’t sure how to answer it. What does Taylor Heise do better than everyone else on the ice?
“Seriously, she does everything better,” Haley said of his 5-foot-10 senior star.
The veteran coach, who retired as coach late last month, is hardly exaggerating. Heise (pronounced HIGH-zee) enjoyed a season for the ages for the Wingers, pouring in 74 goals to go with 30 assists in 26 games to earn American Family Insurance ALL-USA Player of the Year honors.
After scoring 58 goals in the regular season, Heise was even better in the playoffs. The Wingers (24-6) scored 24 goals in the postseason, and Heise had a direct hand in 21 of them—16 goals and five assists—as the team skated to a sixth-place finish in the Class 1A state tournament. The season ended with Heise winning the state’s Miss Hockey award.
The University of Minnesota commit scored more than once in 20 of 26 games with five three-goal games, five four-goal games, two five-goal games and playoff games with six and seven goals.
A native of Lake City who commutes up to a half-hour every day to go to school in Red Wing (her hometown high school doesn’t have a hockey team), Heise concluded her prep hockey career with 216 goals and 158 assists.
“Taylor has incredible speed and a motor that seems to last forever,” University of Minnesota coach Brad Frost said after Heise made her commitment to the Gophers official in November. “She makes others around her better with her communication, vision and execution. Taylor has a great shot and a knack for putting the puck in the net.”
Heise did more than just dominate the Minnesota high school hockey scene. Heise was also captain of the Under-18 Women’s National Team that traveled to Russia for the World Championships in January. All she did there was win MVP honors with four goals and four assists in five games, including three set-ups in a 9-3 rout of Sweden in the gold medal game. It was her third gold medal in three years at the U-18 World Championships.
“She’s an incredible leader,” Haley told Fox Sports North. “She’s an incredibly hard-worker. She hasn’t sat back and relied on her talent. She’s a kid that has continued to improve. She hasn’t plateaued, which is kind of hard to (believe), especially when you’ve set the bar and standard at such a young age.”
LOOKBACK: 2017-18 ALL-USA Preseason Girls Hockey Team
ONE YEAR AGO: Who made the ALL-USA Team last season?