PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: Jane Kuehl handles the puck their past winter in her senior season for the Princeton University women’s hockey team. After a superb final campaign that saw star forward Kuehl tally 13 goals and 14 assists, she was selected 44th overall by the Toronto Sceptres in the fourth round of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Draft. Kuehl will be starting her pro career this November. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Jane Kuehl was thrilled to land an offer for a job in New York City last November as she started her senior year at Princeton University.
But by this past January, Tiger women’s ice hockey star Kuehl changed course and decided that she wanted to take a shot at playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) instead.
“There are no classes going on, it is winter session, and we are just there for hockey,” said Kuehl, a 5’6 native of Minneapolis, Minn. “I remember just having the most fun, going to the rink, getting extra time there, getting extra focus there, and hanging with girls longer. I remember thinking this would be a nice life with no classes and just playing hockey. Courtney (Princeton head coach Courtney Kessel) had coached in Boston in the PWHL. She was the one that told me, ‘You know what? I see the league play and I would want to pick you for my team.’ She encouraged me to put my hat in the ring for the draft.”
After producing a superb senior season that saw her tally 13 goals and 14 assists to help Princeton tie Yale for the ECAC Hockey regular season title as it went 23-1 overall, Kuehl was selected 44th overall by the Toronto Sceptres in the fourth round of the PWHL Draft.
Staying in Minnesota for the draft, Kuehl didn’t actually hear her name called.
“We had people come over and we were watching it at home. I think I would have even more nervous if I had been there at the draft,” said Kuehl. “You want to get picked so bad. It is out of your control so you are trying your best to have a positive attitude. I didn’t even know I got picked. I wasn’t in the room watching, someone was coming in and I was helping out. All of a sudden I hear screaming in the living room. I go over and, ‘Oh my goodness that is me.’”
After processing the situation, Kuehl was fired up to be heading to Toronto.
“Once I got picked I was so happy; I had calls previously with Toronto, they are great,” said Kuehl, who was one of three Tiger seniors to get picked as Issy Wunder was taken 13th overall by Las Vegas in the second round and Emerson O’Leary was selected 56th overall by Toronto in the fifth round. “I was super excited to get picked. Toronto is such a great place. Emerson gets picked right after by Toronto. It is always nice seeing your friends get picked. Selfishly, it makes me feel even better that she is going to the
same place.”
Kuehl enjoyed a great final campaign for the Tigers. “My senior year was awesome, winning the ECAC regular season was something that was really hard, but when it happened it was our Senior Night with all of our friends and family there,” recalled Kuehl. “That was insane. What I remember most was the locker room after, hanging out with all of our friends and family. It was so much fun. That group of girls was really close. What I remember most is fun times with them.”
Over the years, Kuehl developed a deep connection with classmates and fellow forwards Wunder, O’Leary and Katherine Khramtsov.
“I think since freshman year we have been so competitive,” said Kuehl. “It is rare that you enter college as a class with four forwards and one goalie (Taylor Hyland). We are definitely an interesting class and so competitive with each other which pushed us to play better. When we did play with each other, we would bounce ideas off of each other and make fun passes and plays. Over the four years, the four forwards definitely grew a lot. Every year we kept getting better and better. That is the best part of having a good class coming in. Those are my best friends.”
For Kuehl, the biggest areas of progress over her career came from being true to herself.
“I think just owning my strengths a little bit more,” said Kuehl.
“Owning that I am really fast and how do I utilize that more and use it as a weapon. I like to think I have a good shot so how do I use it more. Then in the offseason really trying to work on those things so I am at my best at those things instead of trying to be the player that I am not.”
Keeping her focus on speed and shooting helped Kuehl produce a career year as a senior with the 13 goals she tallied last winter being one more than the 12 combined she scored as a sophomore and a junior.
“I am really proud of the way I played,” said Kuehl, who totaled 67 points on 28 goals and 39 assists in her Tiger career. “I didn’t think I was going to play professionally too so I was just playing to play for the team. My confidence really grew this past year and I give a lot of credit to Courtney for that as well. My family talked about how proud they are of the way I have played and the way I have stepped up. It was such a fun senior year. It was a good way to close out, having your best season be your last.”
Kuehl was proud to see Wunder and O’Leary join her as PWHL draftees.
“The three of us were captains, we did a lot of work for the team and put ourselves out there to declare for the draft,” said Kuehl. “It was nerve-racking. When the three of us got picked, it shows how strong our class is and how competitive we have been the last four years. It was really rewarding to see our success. Hopefully it will inspire some of the younger girls. I want more girls to get picked with having such a good season as Princeton did.”
In prepping for the draft, Kuehl consulted Tigers former teammates like Maggie Connors and Sarah Fillier who are playing in the league.
“I was seeking more advice on how do I deal with the draft how do I deal with the nerves and how do I put myself out there,” said Kuehl. “They were super helpful, they helped me prep for some calls. In the weeks leading up to it, the teams call you up and they interview you. I got flashbacks from November getting interviewed for jobs.”
In the wake of the draft, Kuehl has been in contact with Toronto management.
“I have talked to the GM (Gina Kingsbury) and I have talked to the new coach (Pascal Rheaume),” said Kuehl. “They have both been great and super supportive. For right now, it is still pretty early. They like to see my consistency and they like to see my speed. They said just keep working on that and that we will get into the nitty gritty more later this summer.”
With the season not starting until November, Kuehl is playing it smart with her training on and off the ice this summer as she prepares for the rigors of pro hockey.
“We have so much time so I am trying to really build my foundation of my base; I am working out at the gym more and I am skating twice, three times a week,” said Kuehl. “It is funny because the college girls here are skating five times a week now. You have the itch to go out there and go skate and play but you don’t want to tire yourself out. That was the biggest piece of advice I was given by those Princeton alums. It is try to not skate as much as you can right now, try to save it because it is going to be a lot in season. I am trying to dial in my nutrition, trying to get a little stronger but also trying to focus on the player I am. The reason why they drafted me is for my speed but you do have to be stronger. I don’t want to change exactly who I am.”
As Kuehl looks forward to joining the Sceptres this fall, she is determined to make a strong impression.
“I want to make an impact but I also want to just be as serviceable as I can,” said Kuehl. “It will look a little different from my time in Princeton but I am ready for the experience and meeting the girls and continuing to be a good teammate. I think it is going to be super fun playing with all of these veteran players, what a great opportunity that is. I am excited for a new challenge and a new chapter in my life.”