On Dec. 19, 2022, Kendall Coyne Schofield played what could have been the last game of her U.S. national team hockey career.
“I remember putting my jersey on the laundry cart, and I remember putting it down and saying, ‘You know, this might be it. This might be the end,'” she recalled in a recent interview.
She played that game while nearly three months pregnant, a fact that few knew at the time (the few included doctors who cleared her).
Coyne Schofield, the 2022 Olympic team captain, knew she wanted to return to the sport after childbirth. But she couldn’t predict how that next year would go.
“You look at the journey, you look at those who’ve come before you,” she said. “Unfortunately, there haven’t been many that have ever returned (to the national team) from giving birth. And so I had to be realistic with that in mind, knowing, man, this would really suck, but this might be the last time I have the opportunity to put on this jersey. And so taking it off was really, really hard in that moment.”
Coyne Schofield and husband Michael, an NFL offensive lineman who retired last year, welcomed son Drew on July 1, 2023.
On Jan. 3, 2024, Coyne Schofield captained her Minnesota team for the Professional Women’s Hockey League club’s first regular season game in the league’s inaugural year.
A babysitter brought Drew outside the locker room after the game. Coyne Schofield took him on the ice for a picture, then back to her Boston hotel room, fed him and put him to bed in a Pack ‘n Play. (Michael was still finishing his season with the Detroit Lions.)
Then on Feb. 7, 2024, Coyne Schofield suited up with the national team for the first time as a mom, playing in a rivalry series game against Canada.
“To be able to put that jersey back on,” she said, “was very inspiring.”
Now, a year out from the Milan Cortina Games, Coyne Schofield is bidding to make her fourth Olympic team and to help the U.S. reclaim hockey gold after a final loss to Canada in 2022.
It is believed she would be the second mom to play for a U.S. Olympic hockey team after Jenny Potter, who did so in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
In 2017, Coyne Schofield and other national teamers fought successfully for a more equitable contract from USA Hockey. It now includes six months of maternity leave.
Since 2017, several players donned the red, white and blue after childbirth for camps and games outside of the Olympics.
Still, when Coyne Schofield announced her pregnancy, a common response was a congratulations on a great career. Many thought she was retiring.
“I’m like, no, this is only the beginning, the beginning of a new road, a new journey,” she said.
She never wanted Drew to think he was the reason she stopped playing hockey. Rather, he’s the reason she continues to play.
“There’s a perception that when you have a baby, your body’s completely different and changed and you can’t be the same hockey player you once were,” she said. “I think the exact opposite. This only empowered me to be a better hockey player than I once was.”
Coyne Schofield made the team for last April’s World Championship and was put on a line with Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter. Those three are the only active U.S. women to score 20 or more goals in world championship history, with Knight holding the all-time record of 65.
Coyne Schofield’s nine points over seven games were one off the tournament lead. She played the third-most minutes of any U.S. forward. A month after worlds, Coyne Schofield led Minnesota to the first PWHL championship.
During pregnancy, Coyne Schofield skated through 30 weeks. She never stopped working out.
“I wanted to make sure I continued to feel the game as long as I could, getting on the ice, feeling my edges, shooting pucks, stick handling through cones,” she said. “Obviously, there was no contact. I was on the ice by myself. But I really wanted to do the best that I could to stay on the ice because I had the goal of returning to play.”
Coyne Schofield was motivated by Allyson Felix, who returned from childbirth to win Olympic gold and bronze medals in 2021, and Alex Morgan, who played at the Tokyo Olympics and 2023 World Cup as a mom.
She’s also thankful for her own teammates, who not only embrace Drew but also offer to carry the stroller and diaper bag.
“Everyone assumes a hockey mom is a mom helping their child tie their skates or whatever, but I’m a hockey mom that plays,” she said. “The inspiration that he’s provided me, and the perspective he’s provided me, ultimately, he’s made me a way better hockey player. There’s nothing greater in the world than after a game, just coming home to him.”
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