PWHL Minnesota enters season with firepower up front, led by 1st overall pick

Coverage of the first PWHL regular-season game on Jan. 1 (Toronto vs. New York) will be available on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and CBC TV, beginning with a pre-game show at 12 p.m. ET.

Relentlessness. 

That's the word that came to PWHL Minnesota general manager Natalie Darwitz's mind when asked what she learned about her team after three pre-season games in upstate New York earlier this month.

Down 3-1 to Ottawa in the second period of the team's first game, Minnesota stormed back, scoring five goals in a row en route to a 7-4 victory.

The next day, Minnesota was in a hole again, this time trailing 3-0 against a Toronto team that looked dominant. But once again, Minnesota came back and eventually won 5-4.

It was that character to keep battling back that Darwitz took from those games.

"I love our grit and our battle level," she said at the end of the exhibition camp.

WATCH | Darwitz discusses team's progression after pre-season games:

Minnesota left Utica, N.Y., with three wins in three games — a grain-of-salt sample size in a league where every team is still figuring out chemistry and systems.

But there were encouraging signs for Minnesota's leadership.

"They play hard," head coach Charlie Burggraf said. "They don't quit."

Minnesota looks strongest on forward and in goal, with several players who've been part of Team USA over the years. More than half of the national-team roster hails from Minnesota, and some have been playing together for years. 

Others are familiar in name only, and need more time to get used to each other and flourish within Burggraf's puck-possession style of hockey.

Minnesota is powered up front by Taylor Heise, the 23-year-old from Lake City, Minn., who made history when she became the first-ever PWHL draft pick in September.