Kendall Coyne Schofield (born May 25, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player and captain for the Minnesota Frost and the United States national team. With the national team, she has won seven gold medals at the IIHF World Women's Championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2025) and the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

As captain of the Minnesota Frost, she led the team to back-to-back Walter Cup championships in 2024 and 2025. In 2019, she won the Isobel Cup championship with the Minnesota Whitecaps in the National Women's Hockey League. At Northeastern, she won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA women's hockey (2016), the Hockey Humanitarian Award (2016), and the NCAA Today's Top 10 Award (2017).

Coyne Schofield has also been a color commentator for the San Jose Sharks. In 2020, she was hired by the Chicago Blackhawks as a player development coach for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. In January 2019, she became the first woman to compete in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, posting a time of 14.326 seconds in the fastest skater event.

Early life Born in Palos Heights, Illinois to John and Ahlise Coyne, Kendall began skating at age three, following her older brother Kevin to the ice hockey rink. Initially, her parents enrolled her in figure skating, but after approximately one week, Coyne informed them that she wanted to play hockey instead. Growing up in Palos Heights, she developed her passion for sports and being active largely through area parks. Coyne has two brothers and one sister. Her oldest brother, Kevin, played NCAA Division III hockey. Her younger brother, Jake, is a member of the United States Army. Her younger sister, Bailey, is a forward for the Lindenwood Women's Ice Hockey Team.

From 2006 to 2010, Coyne attended Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. During this period, Coyne played for the Chicago Mission Under-19 girls' team. In the 2009–10 season alone, she scored 53 goals and registered 34 assists in 46 games. Over three seasons with the Mission, Coyne accumulated 254 points in 157 games. She participated in two national championship games with the Mission, winning one title.

For the 2010–2011 academic year, Coyne attended the Berkshire School, a prep school in Sheffield, Massachusetts. During her single season at Berkshire, she totaled 77 points on 55 goals and 22 assists in just 25 games. Her exceptional performance earned her recognition as the New England Prep School Player of the Year. As a child who loved to read, Coyne searched for books about people pursuing paths similar to hers in hockey, but found limited representation of women in the sport on library bookshelves. This experience of forging her own path in a sport that "did not make it easy for a young girl to get a skate in the door" would later inspire her to write her own memoir.

Playing career Collegiate On April 28, 2011, it was announced that Coyne committed to the Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey program. She enrolled at Northeastern in the fall of 2011 and immediately made an impact on the program. During her freshman season in 2011–12, Coyne appeared in 37 games and recorded 59 points on 26 goals and 33 assists, earning Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors. She helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament.

In her sophomore year (2012–13), Coyne tallied 80 points on 35 goals and 45 assists in 37 games, setting a Northeastern single-season points record. She was named Hockey East Player of the Year and earned First Team All-American honors from the American Hockey Coaches Association. As a junior in 2013–14, despite missing time due to her Olympic commitments with Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Coyne registered 59 points in 29 games. She again earned First Team All-American recognition.

In her senior season (2015–16), Coyne had another dominant year, recording 65 points on 26 goals and 39 assists in 38 games. She became Northeastern's all-time leading scorer, finishing her career with 263 points (113 goals, 150 assists) in 141 games. On March 26, 2016, Coyne was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top female college ice hockey player in the United States, becoming the second player from Northeastern to win the honor (Brooke Whitney, 2002). She also received the Hockey Humanitarian Award that year for her community service efforts. During her time at Northeastern, Coyne was a four-time Hockey East First Team All-Star and helped elevate the profile of the Huskies' women's hockey program.

Professional

Boston Pride (2015) In the 2015 NWHL Draft, Coyne was selected third overall by the Boston Pride on June 20, 2015. She was one of the top selections in the inaugural National Women's Hockey League draft, reflecting her status as one of the premier players in women's hockey. However, Coyne did not play for the Pride, as she focused on her final collegiate season at Northeastern and preparation for international competition.

Minnesota Whitecaps (2016–19)

In July 2016, following her graduation from Northeastern, Coyne signed with the independent Minnesota Whitecaps, who were competing outside the NWHL at the time. The move allowed her to play professionally while remaining close to the U.S. national team's training center in Minnesota.

Coyne played two seasons with the independent Whitecaps before the team joined the NWHL for the 2018–19 season. In the Whitecaps' inaugural NWHL season, Coyne helped lead the team to the 2019 Isobel Cup Finals, where they defeated the Buffalo Beauts to win the championship. She recorded 14 points in 13 regular season games that year.

On December 5, 2018, Coyne was named to Team Szabados for the 2019 NWHL All-Star Weekend, one of ten Olympic medalists selected for the event.

Chicago Pro Hockey League (2018) On July 11, 2018, Coyne became the first woman to play in the Chicago Pro Hockey League at MB Arena, a league that features 80 professional players and 80 amateurs competing in summer hockey. Her participation in the co-ed professional league demonstrated her skill level and competitiveness against male players.

NHL All-Star Weekend and broadcasting (2019–20)

On January 25, 2019, Coyne made history when she was named a replacement for Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon at the 2019 NHL All-Star Skills fastest-skater challenge as part of the 2019 NHL All-Star weekend in San Jose, California. Although she was originally scheduled to demonstrate the challenges, she became the first woman to compete in an NHL All-Star skills competition when MacKinnon withdrew due to injury. Coyne recorded a time of 14.326 seconds in the fastest-skater competition, placing her seventh out of eight skaters, which was comparable to several male competitors in the field. Connor McDavid won the competition with a time of 13.378 seconds, less than one second faster than Coyne. Her performance was widely praised and brought significant attention to women's hockey.

Following her All-Star appearance, Coyne served as a broadcasting analyst during the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning game on Wednesday Night Hockey on January 30, 2019, marking her debut as a hockey broadcaster. She was a color commentator for some San Jose Sharks games during the 2019–20 season. On January 15, 2020, Coyne was one of ten players named to the US roster for the Elite Women's 3-on-3 tournament at the 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend in St. Louis, continuing her involvement with NHL events.

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (2019–23) Following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League in May 2019, Coyne Schofield was one of over 200 prominent North American players who announced their intent to boycott existing professional leagues, citing dissatisfaction with low salaries, lack of health insurance, and inadequate resources. On May 20, 2019, she became one of nine founding board members of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for a sustainable professional women's hockey league in North America. Coyne Schofield stated at the time, "We are fortunate to be ambassadors of this beautiful game, and it is our responsibility to make sure the next generation of players have more opportunities than we had."

As a board member and later president of the PWHPA, Coyne Schofield helped organize the organization's Dream Gap Tour from 2019 to 2023, a series of barnstorming exhibition games held in NHL arenas and other venues across North America to build support for a new professional league. The tour included a landmark game at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2021—the first professional women's hockey game ever played at the venue and the first to be broadcast live on television. She served as a player representative on the PWHPA board and was instrumental in connecting the organization with Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, who helped bring investor Mark Walter to the project.

Minnesota Frost (2023–present) On September 6, 2023, Coyne was one of the first players to sign a contract in the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), signing with Minnesota. As one of the most recognizable players in women's hockey and a multiple Olympic medalist, her commitment to the league was seen as a major endorsement for the new professional organization, which aimed to provide sustainable, professional opportunities for women's hockey players in North America.

2023–24 season

Ahead of the start of the league's inaugural season, Coyne was named Minnesota's first captain on January 3, 2024, just days before the season opener. The announcement recognized her leadership experience with the U.S. national team and her status as one of the franchise's marquee players. During the regular season, Coyne appeared in 23 games for Minnesota, recording 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. She helped lead Minnesota to a strong regular season performance, as the team finished with a record that earned them a playoff berth. Beyond her on-ice contributions, Coyne served as an ambassador for the league, participating in media events and helping to build the PWHL's profile during its crucial first season.

In the playoffs, Minnesota advanced through the postseason bracket, with Coyne providing veteran leadership and key contributions in key moments. The team reached the Walter Cup Finals, where they faced Boston in a best-of-five series. On May 29, 2024, Coyne captained Minnesota to a 3–0 victory over Boston in the decisive Game 5 of the Walter Cup Finals at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. With the game already secured, Coyne scored an empty-net goal in the final minutes to seal the 3–0 victory, becoming the first captain to lift the Walter Cup in PWHL history. The championship victory was particularly meaningful as it came in the league's inaugural season, establishing Minnesota as the PWHL's first dynasty and cementing Coyne's legacy in professional hockey. Following the championship, Coyne spoke emotionally about the significance of the moment for hockey, stating that the PWHL represented the future of the sport and the culmination of decades of advocacy for better professional opportunities for female players.

2024–25 season