Zumwinkle Finds Success on Ice in New PWHL

New league? No problem. Carlson School of Management alum Grace Zumwinkle, ‘21 BSB, is making her mark in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which opened its inaugural season this January.

“I think it's just awesome to see the fruition that women's hockey is having on Minnesota and our country as a whole,” Zumwinkle shared.

The former Minnesota Gophers standout kicked off her professional career on PWHL Minnesota with the game-winning goal in the season opener and followed that performance with a true hat trick in front of a record-setting crowd at the Xcel Energy Center. It was a full circle moment for the Excelsior, Minn. native who grew up watching the Minnesota Wild. Now, she’s the one hoping to inspire others.

“This league is so powerful in a lot of different ways … to now have female role models and people to look up to and have young girls come to our games and thinking that was once us at that time,” Zumwinkle reflected. “I think just the growth of this sport and it's just so cyclical and I think that's only going to be something that's going to continue to grow.”

This step in the new league adds to Zumwinkle’s already impressive resume: a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, multiple Frozen Four appearances, and the eighth all-time points leader in Gophers program history. But she says it’s her skills off the ice that have helped her navigate her hockey successes.

“A lot of the skills that I've learned from a more traditional business setting have applied to team sports … I think especially at the Carlson School, you definitely learned some people are maybe more analytical or some people are more gifted on the marketing side,” she described. “ I think the prime example of when you show up to hockey is leveraging everyone's skillset and making the most out of it.”

Among a roster chock full of homegrown Minnesota talent—including fellow Carlson School alumni Kelly Pannek, ‘19 BSB, and Lee Stecklein, ‘17 BSB—Zumwinkle’s sights are set on helping her team capture the PWHL championship later this year. She says it’s all part of a journey, years in the making.

“There are so many people who want to truly help you in life, if that's business, or in hockey, or life in general,” reflected Zumwinkle. “I think it's truly important to thank those people. So I'm very fortunate for all the coaches I've had at the University of Minnesota and the professors I've had in shaping my career and how I've got to where I am today.”