The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has announced that the annual national rookie of the year award is being named for Harvard and U.S. Olympic icon Julie Chu.
Chu has enjoyed a unique level of success in a hockey career that covers two decades and is still flourishing.
A member of the Harvard class of 2007, Chu came to the Crimson after prep success at both Choate Rosemary Hall and the Northwood School. She immediately established herself as a force at Harvard with a phenomenal freshman season in which she recorded 42 goals and 51 assists for 93 points enroute to a four-year mark of 284 points. Her 196 career assists and those 284 points were NCAA records at the time of her graduation.
She received the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2007 as the nation’s best female ice hockey player.
“On behalf of my fellow commissioners, we are delighted to name the women’s national rookie of the year award after Julie Chu,” said Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, president of the HCA. “Julie was incredibly productive as a player and was respected throughout her distinguished career for her character and leadership.”
On the international scene, the Fairfield, Conn., native’s star was equally bright. She participated in the Olympic Games four times (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014) and became just the second U.S. hockey player to serve as flag bearer. She also won gold medals at five IIHF World Championships.
Chu played professional hockey for a decade, beginning in 2007. She has played for the Minnesota Whitecaps, the Montreal Stars and Les Canadiennes de Montreal. Alongside her professional playing career, Chu launched a coaching career as well. As an assistant coach in 2008, she helped lead Minnesota Duluth to an NCAA title and then joined the staff of Union from 2010 to 2013.
Currently, she is the head coach of the Concordia (Montreal) Stingers. Starting as an assistant in 2014, Chu became head coach in 2016 and this past year, led the Stingers to the league championship, going 25-0-0 in the regular season and 29-2-0 overall.
Finalists for this year’s Julie Chu Award will be announced on March 11 and the winner will be announced during the NCAA Frozen Four in Durham, N.H.
