Zoe Hickel is a former professional ice hockey player who is currently working in community hockey programming with the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL. Hickel played collegiate ice hockey with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs program, a member of the NCAA Division I. After her senior year in 2015, she joined Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League, helping them earn the Isobel Cup in the inaugural season of the NWHL.
Hickel ventured north for her next professional step, spending two seasons in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) splitting time between the Kunlin Red Star based in China (’17-18) and the Calgary Inferno (’18-19). In her final CWHL season, Hickel was a league All-Star, 1st Star in the Clarkson Cup Championship game and finished third in the league for plus-minus. The start of Hickel’s professional endeavors ran simultaneously alongside also playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team and assisting Merrimack College integrate and thrive during its inaugural D-I season. While with the U.S. Women’s National Team, she seized the pair of World Championship gold metals and added four Nations Cup titles.
During the 2019-20 season, she played in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League (SDHL), skating for Linköping HC where she paced the squad in points, served as Strength Coach and ran on-ice skill sessions for senior and junior level teams. Hickel joined the Buckeye coaching staff in July of 2020 and in her first season in Columbus, she helped the Buckeyes reach their second consecutive WCHA Final Faceoff title game as well as the program’s second appearance in the Frozen Four in the last four years. Ohio State finished 13-7-0 overall and was ranked in the top five of the national polls every week of the season.
Hickel graduated from Minnesota Duluth with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a minor in Coaching. She has volunteered for many organizations, including more than 10 years of coaching and volunteering for Sports Programs for Youth Development Education and Recreation. Outside of hockey, she enjoys skiing, fishing, camping, hunting, and mountain running.
