Waterloo Region Record

Coyne Schofield enjoys full-circle moment

Mom and champion.

In 11 short months, Kendall Coyne Schofield delivered a child and a championsh­ip to Minnesota while at the same time realizing her vision of establishi­ng a women’s profession­al hockey league in North America.

And the only moment the 32year-old, three-time U.S. Olympian looked uncomforta­ble in the postgame celebratio­n of Minnesota winning the PWHL title on Wednesday was when teammate Kelly Pannek crashed the news conference to praise her captain.

“She won’t say this but the only reason this happened from the players’ side is Kendall. Like legit the only reason, and she hates it (the attention),” Pannek said pointing a finger at Coyne Schofield following a Walter Cup-clinching 3-0 win over Boston in a decisive Game 5.

“To do it with a growing family and amongst all these other things, she still shows up and does her job every single day as a hockey player,” Pannek added, as Coyne Schofield squirmed in her seat.

It’s a celebratio­n five years in the making since Coyne Schofield and members of the U.S. and Canadian national teams put aside their competitiv­e difference­s to form the Profession­al Women’s Hockey Players’ Associatio­n following the demise of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

And it comes less than a year since the PWHL was establishe­d after Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter bought out the rival Premier Hockey League and committed hundreds of millions of dollars to launch the six-team PWHL.

While Walter deserves credit for the financial backing, Coyne Schofield was influentia­l for sticking to her vision of players having a voice at the negotiatin­g table that led to players ratifying a collective bargaining agreement the same weekend she gave birth to her son.

It came full circle Wednesday night. Coyne Schofield sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 2:06 left before becoming the first captain to hoist the Walter Cup and share the moment with 10month-old Drew in her arms.

“To see Kendall score an emptynette­r I think was the highlight for me of the whole year,” women’s players’ associatio­n executive director Brian Burke said.

The moment was not lost on Coyne Schofield’s competitor­s, including Hamilton’s Sarah Nurse, whose PWHL Toronto team lost to Minnesota in a five-game semifinal series and is a players associatio­n vice-president.

“We would not be here without her,” Nurse wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “It’s a fullcircle storybook moment that she was able to raise the Walter Cup. It has been incredible to work alongside the inspiratio­n she is.”