Frost Coach Ken Klee on championship win: ‘To be able to repeat is unimaginable’
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Another championship for Minnesota’s professional women’s hockey team. The Minnesota Frost cinched the game 12 minutes into overtime Monday night, winning 2 to 1.
The team will celebrate with a victory parade Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in downtown St. Paul. Minnesota Frost coach Ken Klee spoke with MPR News host Clay Masters about the win.
The Minnesota Frost entered the playoffs as the lowest seed. Did you have any doubt that this team would be able to pull that win off?
No. I mean, in our league, the teams are also tight. So, I mean, we were all pretty even, and we just knew it’d be about playing the right way at the right time. And obviously we had tremendous goal tending from both of our goalies, and we had some players score some clutch goals at key times and that's how you win in the playoffs. Obviously doing it once was super special, but to be able to repeat is unimaginable.
This is the second championship in a row for this team in a league that’s only two years old, that’s a powerhouse team. But it sounds like the journey here wasn’t easy. Can you kind of speak to who or what helped make this happen?
Pro sports is very competitive the way the league is designed, basically all the teams are even. So, you know, it’s just really tough because you’re going to have equal games every night.
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Both teams are going forward, and both teams have a lot of good players. It’s just a mental grind, I think, and our players have just found a way, really, to rise up at key moments, like I said, and it’s really a testament to them and how great they are.
Now the Frost has gained some press for its strong fourth line. For the hockey unfamiliar that’s often a line that is defensively strong, but this team’s fourth line can do it all. Liz Schepers made that game-winning goal. Talk about this a little bit.
Yeah. I mean, for me, I really don’t have a fourth line, but I have a blue line, and that’s Liz’s line. They were awesome for us. You know, they don’t get as many minutes, maybe, as some other of our lines, but you know what? They know their minutes are important minutes, and they’re out there to do a job, and so when we put them on the ice, we expect them to contribute and be responsible defensively, but also help out offensively when they get the chance.
And they certainly did that. They had an unbelievable last couple of games, I think scoring, you know, three out of our four goals. So it was pretty special.
Was there a moment last night where you could kind of catch your breath? Describe how it felt to be in the room while this was happening.
Yeah, I mean, a little, a little nerves, I think, right when we scored and the place went crazy, just because last year we scored, and then they pulled it back off the board. So I just wanted to make sure that it was totally on board.
When I got the thumbs up from the ref that was a good goal then certainly we could, you know, just take a deep breath, because it’s just something that you’re striving for all year.
The PWHL is expanding to eight teams, and that means the Frost will lose four players. Does this make this win kind of bittersweet for you?
It’s kind of exciting, because the league is expanding, right? There’s gonna be two new teams and 50 new jobs for players. The flip side of that is every team is going to lose four players, us included. That’s professional sports, those things happen.
You know, I think we might have had six or seven new players this year. And, you know, I was already kind of counting that we’d have six or seven new next year. Right now we’re just really cherishing this moment with this group, and really enjoying it.
And I assume that you pivot quickly to start thinking about next season, maybe after the last confetti has fallen?
Exactly. Yeah, that’ll be on Monday’s list of things to do. Right now we’re just really trying to enjoy it.
