Six Canadian hockey players up for 2020 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award

COLORADO SPRING, Colo. — Six Canadians are among the 10 finalists for the 2020 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

The top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey will be announced March 21, as part of the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four weekend in Boston.

Canadians up for the award are Cornell senior defender Jaime Bourbonnais (Mississauga, Ont.), Princeton sophomore forward Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont.), Clarkson junior forward Elizabeth Giguere (Quebec City), Ohio State junior forward Emma Maltais (Burlington, Ont.), Wisconsin sophomore forward Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon) and Wisconsin junior forward Daryl Watts (Toronto).

The other finalists are Cornell junior goaltender Lindsay Browning, Northeastern junior goaltender Aerin Frankel, Northeastern sophomore forward Alina Mueller and Wisconsin senior forward Abby Roque.

Canadians have won the award the last three years: Clarkson forward Loren Gabel (Kitchener, Ont.) in 2019, Watts in 2018 and Wisconsin goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que.) in 2017. 

The selection process began earlier this month when NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. Players who were nominated by multiple coaches were then placed on an official ballot, which was sent back to the coaches to vote for the 10 finalists.

The 10 will be cut to three ahead of the awards ceremony. The final three, to be announced Feb. 27, will be chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, an at-large member and representative of USA Hockey.

The award is named after the late Patty Kazmaier, an All-Ivy League defenceman at Princeton University from 1981 to 1986. Patti Kazmaier-Sandt died Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2020.

The Canadian Press