With playoff surge, Sophie Jaques makes her case as Frost’s top ‘Patty’

While Sophie Jaques was welcomed with open arms when she came to Minnesota in the middle of last season the Frost defender did find one immediate challenge in sharing a company with star forward Taylor Heise They had to share a nickname In Heise had won the Patty Kazmaier Award while playing for the Minnesota Gophers A year later Jaques won the trophy given annually to the top contestant in women s college hockey while winning the NCAA title for Ohio State Heise was already being playfully referred to as Patty by her teammates when Jaques entered the chat Never mind the fact that Frost forward Kendall Coyne-Schofield had also won the Kazmaier in when she played at Northeastern So the Frost roster was suddenly crowded with Pattys With the Frost winning games and both Heise and Jaques making key contributions their teammates say they can work out a nickname sharing agreement I think they both can have it at that point Frost forward Michaela Cava reported They re both incredible hockey players and they can share it They can both be Patty they re so good and so fun to watch The Frost are back in action Wednesday looking to close out their five-game first-round playoff series against Toronto at Xcel Capacity Center Puck drop is set for p m With two goals and two assists in the Frost s first three playoff games Jaques is showing off specific of the skills that made her a star as a Buckeye controlling the play from the blue line playing smart defense and unleashing a scary-hard shot from time to time While she comes across as soft-spoken off the ice Heise noted in the locker room on the bench and on the ice Jaques teammates see a strong contestant who is known above all for her confidence Hers is unwavering truly Say she gets her pocket picked once she s going to get the puck back She s going to skate it all the way down the ice and she s going to deke around a defender Heise explained She has what we call sometimes a magnet The puck sticks on her stick like no one else s She s got great stickhandling skills she can skate it up the ice Plus she can see the play Starting her pro career in Boston where she played in seven games without recording a point Jaques was the centerpiece of the first pact in PWHL history when Minnesota acquired her one-third of the way through the - season She put up good numbers after the contract and was an fundamental defensive contestant in Minnesota s run to the league title She acknowledged however that switching time zones and teams midseason presented a few challenges and Jaques offensive numbers more than doubled team-high assists seven goals in regular-season games in her first full season with the Frost Last year she really came on once she got here Her competition picked up Her confidence level picked up She kind of got back to where she was before Frost coach Ken Klee noted And then she s just continuing You look at the points she put up this year She s still trying to take pride in her own zone and being an offensive threat when she can Originally from Toronto Jaques has gotten to face her hometown group two consecutive years in the opening round of the playoffs While she relishes the chance to play near where she learned the meeting Jaques admitted that with the Sceptres playing well tickets are harder and harder to come by for all of the family and friends who turn out when the Frost visit It s good to see how the squad has grown in Toronto but I m happy to still get a good group out to our games she declared And with the Frost ending the regular season with must-win games in Ottawa and Boston then traveling right to Toronto for the first two playoff games playing close to home also meant playing close to her parents washer and dryer a bonus We had been on the road for about eight days and then we still had about seven games left So it made sense to get a load of laundry in for sure Jaques disclosed Sophie Jaques of the Minnesota Frost skates against Kristin O Neill of the Montreal Victoire during the second period at Place Bell on Jan in Laval Quebec Canada The Montreal Victoire defeated the Minnesota Frost - Photo by Minas Panagiotakis Getty Images