Tessa Janecke is no stranger to building something from the ground up.
She did it from her youth hockey days, all the way to joining a Penn State program that was nowhere near the level it’s at now.
Janecke now becomes the focal point in starting from the bottom for PWHL Las Vegas. The first draft pick in team history signed a two-year deal Monday with the expansion club that will begin play this season.
“I’m super excited,” Janecke told the Review-Journal. “I think it’s a really cool market to be a part of. I think there’s so much of a community and fanbase I think that’ll be very supportive.”
The 22-year-old from Orangeville, Illinois, was taken No. 3 overall in the PWHL draft on June 17. Janecke put together a remarkable four-year run at Penn State, where she became the most decorated athlete in program history.
Janecke set program records with 89 goals, 112 assists and 201 points and was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award her senior year, given to the top female player in college hockey. She led Penn State to its first Frozen Four.
Janecke missed time during the season to represent Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Milan. She recorded five assists in seven games and helped the Americans to a gold medal-winning victory over Canada.
The last five months, plain and simple, have been a whirlwind.
“But it’s one I’m so grateful to be a part of,” Janecke said. “Any team I was on in the last five months has been around great people and people you’ll know the rest of your life. At least we were all in it together, for the most part, but it’s definitely something I’m super grateful for, but it was a lot at one point.”
Like any other top prospect, Janecke met with the other teams that were picking high in the draft.
The Vancouver Goldeneyes took Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey — the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award — first overall, then the Seattle Torrent took Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy next.
Las Vegas, while also holding the fifth pick, acquired No. 3 from PWHL Detroit in exchange for the signing rights to Hilary Knight and took Janecke.
Las Vegas was the only team Janecke met with in person, and for good reason. General manager Dominique DiDia was Janecke’s agent prior to accepting the role of calling the shots in Las Vegas.
“Getting to know her and having that relationship with her is awesome and it’s something that can just help us build what we want to do in Vegas,” Janecke said.
Janecke left Penn State with program records in almost every statistical category. A three-time Atlantic Hockey America Player of the Year, Janecke joined a program that was a .500 program or worse in nearly every season before she arrived.
The Nittany Lions won at least 22 games in Janecke’s four years, including back-to-back 30-win seasons her final two seasons.
It’s the kind of challenge she’s embracing as she begins her professional career.
“That’s kind of the person I am,” Janecke said. “I chose to go to Penn State to build something great and not be a part of something that was already built up with greatness. I think, for me, that challenge is not something that’s new to me. I get to kind of embrace that role again as a player, and having to carry it around is not something you take lightly.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
