The finalists for the 2001 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, announced by The USA Hockey Foundation, are Harvard junior forward Jennifer Botterill, Minnesota senior defenseman Courtney Kennedy, and Harvard senior forward Tammy Shewchuk.
The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recognizes the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in women’s intercollegiate varsity ice hockey each season.
This year’s award dinner will be held the evening of Saturday, March 24 in Minneapolis at the Radisson Hotel Metrodome.
Individual dinner tickets are priced at $100.00 for adults and $50.00 for children 12 and under. Tickets, in addition to incremental levels of dinner sponsorship, may be purchased by calling The USA Hockey Foundation at (800) 566-3288, ext. 165; or The Missabe Group at (651) 455-9446. Individual tickets and sponsorship packages are tax-deductible.
Earlier this year, The USA Hockey Foundation asked women’s coaches to nominate up to two players from their team for the award. Those players were placed on an official ballot and sent to the coaches, who then voted for the top 10 finalists.
The finalists, as well as the recipient of The 2001 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, are chosen by an 11-member selection committee comprised of women’s coaches, representatives of the print and broadcast media, and a representative of USA Hockey, the National Governing Body for the sport of hockey in the United States.
Candidates for the award must compete for a women’s team at an NCAA-member institution. Other selection criteria include outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration will also be given to academic achievement and civic involvement.
The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award was presented to the inaugural recipient, New Hampshire forward Brandy Fisher, in 1998. Harvard forward and 1998 Olympian A.J. Mleczko received the honor in 1999, and Brown goaltender Ali Brewer was the 2000 recipient.
Now in its fourth year of existence, the award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letterwinner and All-Ivy League defenseman for Princeton from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-82 through 1983-84), Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.
