The top-10 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Finalists are listed below, with their stats.
Looking at the list, I don’t know how Monique Lamoureux can be missing from this list; honestly, she is the top scoring defenseman in the country. Monique is leading the second place defenseman Megan Bozek from Minnesota by 12 points.
In case you’re wondering what the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is, it’s the equivalent of the Women’s College Hockey Hobey Baker Memorial Award that was named after a famous woman’s college hockey player that died of a rare blood disorder.
[From the webpage] “An award of The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Other selection criteria include outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement.”
Looking at these criteria, I could see Monique Lamoureux’s as a legitimate candidate for this award, based on her play on the ice, as well as her work in the class room; Monique carries a 4.0 grade point average. Unfortunately, Monique will never get a chance to find out; she never received a second nomination for the award.
Not knowing what the criteria was, I asked what takes to be nominated for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. To be able to make the list, a player needs to be nominated by a two NCAA Division I woman’s coaches.
Wait, what? You mean to tell me, there isn’t a single second coach, in the WCHA, or in all of Division I women’s hockey, that didn’t noticed Monique Lamoureux racking up 64 points from the blue line this season, the same defenseman that is number two all-time for scoring in the WCHA. It just doesn’t seem right to me. This is also the same defenseman that somehow only able to make all-WCHA Second Team last year, leaving UND fans to scratch their head on that snub as well.
Breaking it down further, Jocelyn and Monique Lamoureux are ranked 1-2 all-time in the WCHA for points Jocelyne Lamoureux (125g-158a—284pts) and Monique Lamoureux (112g-152a—264Pts). On Saturday, with her (2g-4a—6pts) Monique also passed former Wisconsin Badgers forward Hillary Knight (143g-119a—262pts).
In closing, people will wonder, why do I care? I care because I want to see people that deserve to be recognized, receive the recognition that they deserve, nothing more, nothing less.
The Top-10 Patty Kazmaier finalists include:
1. Senior defenseman Megan Bozek (18g-34a—52pts), (Buffalo Grove, Ill./University of Minnesota).
2. Freshman forward Hannah Brandt (29g-48a—77pts), (Vadnais Heights, Minn./University of Minnesota).
3. Sophomore forward Alex Carpenter (31g-37a—68pts), (Reading, Mass./Boston College).
4. Sophomore forward Kendall Coyne (35g-30a—65pts), (Palos Heights, Ill./Northeastern University).
5. Senior forward Brianna Decker (29g-26a—55pts), (Dousman, Wis./University of Wisconsin).
6. Senior forward Jillian Dempsey (23g-20a—43pts), (Winthrop, Mass./Harvard University).
7. Junior forward Brianne Jenner (32a-31a—63pts), (Oakville, Ont./Cornell University).
8. Junior forward Amanda Kessel (43g-51a—94pts), (Madison, Wis./University of Minnesota.
9. Senior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux (35g-44a—79pts), (Grand Forks, N.D./University of North Dakota).
10. Senior goaltender Noora Raty (33-0-0, 0.92 GAA , save percentage .956, 15 shutouts. (Espoo, Finland/University of Minnesota
Cross-posted at Inside Hockey
