Frost fans salute their PWHL champions

One by one, Frost players made their way onto the stage at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday night as they were introduced at the start of the ceremony celebrating the team’s second consecutive PWHL championship.

Each one wore a big smile and a black T-shirt with an interesting message printed across the front: Minnesota vs. Everyone.

The shirts were made up in response to the rough treatment first-year player Britta Curl-Salemme received from fans in Ottawa following her game-winning goal in overtime in Game 2 of the best-of-five PWHL Finals.

Curl-Salemme had made a similar comment in the locker room following the game, and the message resonated with her teammates. Now, with their second title in hand, there can be no debate — the Frost do indeed stand apart from the rest.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter reiterated the point as he spoke to the crowd on what he proclaimed to be Minnesota Frost Day.

“We refer to them as the PWHL champion Minnesota Frost,” the mayor said. “But we need only to say the PWHL champion, because they are the only ones to win it.”

And only those who were in the locker room truly know what it took to make it happen.

“When you start this journey as a professional athlete, the goal is to win a championship,” said Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. “That’s the vision, the mission, from Day 1. So to see it through two years in a row is very special.

“Being in many championship settings, I realize that I hate losing more than I like winning. It’s something that drives me. It’s been a special year to say the least.”

Wednesday’s event ended with the players sticking around to sign autographs, and not one of them offered any hint that they were in a hurry to leave.

Watching Lee Stecklein patiently work her way through the crowd of well-wishers, one couldn’t help but sense that the 31-year-old Roseville native truly was living a dream. The former Gophers star has spoken often about how grateful she is to be able to be playing professionally in a stable league.

And to be doing it in her hometown.

“I was thinking the other day, I was lucky enough to win a state championship in this building 10 years ago,” Stecklein said. “To think I would be back here to play in a professional league and to win a championship here, it really is incredible.”

Stecklein was not named the most valuable player in the playoffs, but she certainly was deserving. She led all scorers with four goals and four assists while continuing her role as a shut-down defender.

“Lee Stecklein is one of the greatest defenseman to ever play this game,” Coyne Schofield said. “People don’t talk about it enough. If you look at Lee’s track record, she has won at every level she’s played at.

“It’s not because Lee Stecklein’s been on great teams; it’s because Lee Stecklein had made teams great. I can’t emphasize that enough. I know I wear the ‘C’, but she’s the backbone of this team.”

Stecklein said she feels she is still playing at the top of her game.

“Some things change, some things are harder than before,” Stecklein said. “But getting to play in a league like this, with the staff that we have, you’re able to keep getting better in so many ways.

“I think any competitor will say you want to keep improving. Whether it’s my best or not, I’ll never know. But I know there’s still things I can work on.”

Change comes with every passing season, but it figures to hit the Frost especially hard with the upcoming expansion draft. Credit should continue to go to former Frost general manager Natalie Darwitz, who did a masterful job of putting together a championship-caliber roster prior to last season.

That foundation was added to by coach Ken Klee, who ran last year’s draft while continuing to push the right buttons behind the bench.

“You look at the roster we had last year, and it was so deep,” Steckelin said. “So to come in this year and to be able to add players like Britta Curl and Claire Thompson, I mean …

“And then down the line with people I didn’t know as well. Brooke McQuigge, Katy Knoll, and continuing to add depth with amazing players who got better as the year went on, which was incredible.”