For the PWHL's top draft pick Taylor Heise, pressure serves as a privilege

Before she stepped on the ice for her very first professional hockey game on Monday, Taylor Heise tried to remind herself she was going out to play a kids' game.

As her Minnesota team lined up against Ottawa in pre-season Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) action in Utica, N.Y., Heise thought about how long she'd dreamed of this moment. 

"I need to go out there and have fun," Heise said, describing her thought process before that first game.

"I sometimes get caught up in the little details of things. That's definitely been something I've been trying to fix and focus."

It didn't take long for the first-game jitters to dissipate. Heise scored Minnesota's first goal in the second period. After two pre-season games, she has three goals to her name.

WATCH | PWHL's top pick Heise turning heads in pre-season play:

It's the culmination of a whirlwind autumn for 23-year-old Heise, who was the PWHL's first overall pick at the league's inaugural draft in September.

Her selection marked a historic moment for the new league, and you couldn't have scripted it better for the Lake City, Minn., native to go to her hometown team.

A few months later, she was named MVP of the Women's World Championship in Denmark, after leading the tournament in scoring with seven goals and 11 assists.

Now, Heise can call herself a pro league player, a fact she has to remind herself of all the time.

"I sometimes forget to say it," she said.

"But it's an amazing feeling. To work as hard as we all do, to have this accomplishment now to say we're professional is really awesome. It makes the hard work worth it."

For Heise, the pressure that comes along with being the first overall pick isn't something that gets to her. She sees it as a privilege.

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