California Native Dominique Petrie Rode Her Own Wave To Pro Hockey – Minnesota Wild

Thousands of lakes or ice rinks didn’t surround Dominique Petrie. Instead, the California native grew up near the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean. Hockey opportunities weren’t as plentiful out west as some of her PWHL teammates and opponents might have had in Minnesota or Canada.

She grew up playing boys’ triple-A hockey throughout her youth. She even played with her older brother, Guy, on the same team when they were younger.

“That just helped develop my game at a young age of playing at a faster pace with bigger bodies as well,” Petrie said.

That development helped her reach the professional level, and she became a solid rookie forward for the Minnesota Frost this season. She has three goals and eight points in 16 games, and also dealt with an injury in between.

Petrie credits her brother for the reason she started playing hockey: “Because I was the younger sister that wanted to do everything with him and be just like him,” she said. 

She recalls Guy fell in love with the sport after attending a San Jose Sharks game. Then, Petrie got her first pair of skates for her third birthday. Once she had those strapped on, she wanted to go to the rink whenever her parents took Guy to play.

She also had another influence: Watching the movie “MVP: The Most Valuable Primate,” about a hockey-playing chimpanzee.

“I thought that was the coolest thing ever, with him going under people’s legs, scoring goals,” Petrie said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I want to be like that and that when I get older.’”

Petrie, who goes by “Doms,” is still living out her hockey-playing dreams, carving her own path along the way. She’s close with her family and a self-described “homebody,” so she stayed in California and pursued hockey growing up. She played for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks and San Diego Jr. Gulls before playing three seasons at Harvard from 2018 to 2022, scoring 30 goals and 71 points in 76 career games.

She was also a U.S. Women’s National U18 team member, winning gold in 2017 and 2018, and taking silver in 2019.

The 24-year-old’s unique hockey path can also remind other girls out there that they, too, can have a different road than other hockey players.

“You don’t always have to go off to prep schools or the East Coast or Canada or whatever it was,” Petrie said. “I think now we’re starting to see more and more girls see that they can stay in California and play in college and at the next level, which is really cool to see.”

Her parents, David and Jo Ann, attended the Frost home opener on Dec. 1. It was a special moment anyway, but Petrie scoring her first goal on top of it made it extra meaningful. Unfortunately, Petrie missed most of the team’s home games earlier in the season, but her folks still watch from afar on the league’s YouTube channel.

They also have two children working in professional hockey. Guy, who played hockey for the University of Utah, works for the Utah Hockey Club as part of the in-game video review team.

“It’s kind of funny because we both joke to my parents, he’s like, ‘Yeah, you got two kids now that are in the show,’” Petrie said. “I think it’s pretty cool. But it’s awesome for him, too. I think to just stay involved with the game, too. It’s actually really cool because he’s learned a lot and been able to talk to me… and see different things that’s helped my game as well this year.”

Petrie said she and her brother talk a lot about how much hockey has grown in Utah over the last year, too, with the first season of the NHL team in town. A lot of kids in the area are getting involved with the sport.

After Harvard, Petrie went to Clarkson University, scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 40 games in 2023-24.

Petrie and fellow Frost forward Brooke McQuigge were roommates during Petrie’s first season at Clarkson, the year Petrie missed due to injury. Petrie was happy for her former roommate and reached out to her after the Frost took McQuigge in the fourth round of the 2024 PWHL Draft.

“I think in the back of my mind, I was like, ‘Oh, it would be cool if we got picked up together,’” Petrie said. “But as it goes with the draft, you never know what’s going to happen.”

When Minnesota also called Petrie’s name that night, in the next round at 27th overall, she had another sigh of relief. She’d go to her new team already having a close friend and teammate to lean on.

McQuigge knew better than anyone the type of offensive-driving player Petrie is on the ice.

“She can get the dirty goals around the net,” McQuigge said. “And she’s somebody that’s confident with the puck. So, can make everyone else around her better.”

Petrie’s PWHL career got off to a hot start as she scored a goal in her first three games in early December. The start was everything she could have asked for, she said. She’s also a physical player, which is an aspect of the game players need to have in the PWHL, according to Frost coach Ken Klee.

“She’s a presence around the net,” Klee said. “I think those kinds of players have success in our league.

“She likes to get in and mix it up and play hard, and that’s why she’s having success.”

But Petrie sustained an upper-body injury in the fourth game of the season, on Dec. 19 against Ottawa. She missed 11 games on LTIR and didn’t return to game action until Feb. 11, missing about two months. With any injury recovery for an athlete, there are good days and bad days. Sometimes it’s about leaning on others to help get through it.

Unfortunately for the Frost, forward Grace Zumwinkle was also out injured for a significant amount of time. Fortunately for Petrie, she had a teammate in the same boat who could help her. When the Frost were on the road, Zumwinkle and Petrie worked out and skated together.

Petrie could also draw on her past experiences of working her way back from injury. After graduating from Harvard a few years ago, Petrie took a knee-on-knee hit, blowing out her ACL and breaking her tibia during play with the U.S. collegiate team. That occurred about a week before she was set to head to Clarkson. She had surgery and redshirted that season.

She knew that once she returned with the Frost this season, it’s a little bit of “uncharted territory” getting right back into a heavy game and travel load.

“Knowing that it’s going to take time, and that once we kind of get our feet back and you get the feel of the puck, and you get the speed. … It’s like brick by brick, you’re able to sort of add each layer on top of another to get back to what it was you were doing,” Petrie said. “Then hopefully just to keep contributing to the team to help them have success down the road.”

Still, in the small world of women’s hockey, Petrie had some familiarity with her Frost teammates besides McQuigge. Petrie and Zumwinkle were roommates in Petrie’s first year on the U18 team and have been friends ever since. She also connected with Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield from these past national team experiences.

“Everyone was super welcoming and friendly and just allowing us to get settled in and really feel comfortable as the season started,” Petrie said.

In 12 games since her return from injury, Petrie has five assists. The Frost have also occasionally struggled collectively over the past couple of months to score goals and get the maximum number of points in a game.

The PWHL standings are tight, and the Frost find themselves one point out of the playoff picture headed into the final three games of the season when they return from the international break at the end of this month. Not surprisingly, Minnesota is focused on one game at a time, trying to get the three points that come with a regulation win. Ultimately, the Frost would love to get back in the playoffs to have a shot at winning back-to-back Walter Cup championships.

Petrie would also love to get back in the goal-scoring column on her own stats sheet.

“But just playing the right way, playing my game, being fast and on pucks, physical, doing whatever I can to help our team win,” Petrie said. “Even if that doesn’t always end up on the scoresheet, just knowing that I’m doing the best to help contribute to the team’s success.”