Chasing a hockey dream together: How Luke and Sophia Kunin make the first NHL-PWHL marriage work

ST. PAUL, Minn. — For years, Luke Kunin watched as his girlfriend, then fiancée, then wife, Sophia, supported his career.

She was a shoulder to lean on when things got tough in Minnesota. Moved to Nashville when he was traded there. Was a constant during the toughest season of his pro career — last year with the San Jose Sharks, when he tore his ACL.

So Kunin can’t wait to walk into Xcel Energy Center — the arena where he began his NHL career as a Minnesota Wild rookie seven years ago — on Saturday with the shoe on the other foot. The 1 p.m. CDT game will be his first time watching Sophia play at the highest level in person, as she’ll take the ice with Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team to face Boston in its regular-season home finale ahead of next month’s playoffs.

“I’ll get to see what it’s all about,” Luke said. “I’ve watched her games on the internet all year — as much as I can with our schedule — but I think of all the things she’s sacrificed for me over the years so I can live out my dream. I can’t wait to be there to support her and watch her live her dream.”

Luke and Sophia Kunin’s relationship has helped them come through so much to arrive at this point. Meeting as teenagers. Watching each other excel in hockey. Becoming college sweethearts. And Luke being Sophia’s “rock every step of the way” after the most traumatic event of her life, the death of her younger brother, Drake, at the start of her sophomore year.

Luke, 26, is a hard-nosed, hard-working forward for the Sharks who hails from suburban St. Louis. Sophia, 27, who grew up in Wayzata, Minn., and is now one of PWHL Minnesota’s fastest, most reliable forwards, was known as Sophia Shaver until the Kunins were married last summer in the Twin Cities.

They are the only husband and wife professional hockey players in their respective top leagues in North America.

For now.

“I think the more our league’s around, the more we’re going to start to see it,” said U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Natalie Darwitz, GM of PWHL Minnesota and a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Minnesota. “Not to say that romances are going to happen left and right at the rink, but as more franchises start to share facilities and we’re around, it only makes sense because who better to understand the other’s schedule and commitment than another professional hockey player.

“To me, Luke and Sophia is such a cool story. It’d be even cooler if…