The Patty Kazmaier Memorial award is regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in women’s college hockey, recognizing the top player in NCAA NC women’s ice hockey each year. Selection criteria for the award includes individual and team skills, sportsmanship and a love for hockey, among others. Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien won the award in 2025.
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Here’s a deep dive into the history and selection process for women’s college hockey’s most prestigious award.
The Patty Kazmaier Trophy
The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award trophy was designed for the USA Hockey Foundation by Tiffany & Co. It features a bronze-colored statue of a player with her arms raised and the names of past winners engraved on its base.
Each year, the winner is presented the trophy at an award ceremony during the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four in March.
Patty Kazmaier Award history
You can read the full story of the creation of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award on the official site. Here are some of the key bits about the award:
- Patty Kazmaier-Sandt was a four-year varsity letter winner for Princeton University from 1981-1986, leading the team to three-consecutive Ivy League Championships.
- For over a year, she battled a rare blood disease and died in 1990 at 28, leaving behind her husband, Mark J. Sandt, and their daughter, Serena.
- The award memorializes her spirit and love for the game, as well as her achievements in life and in hockey.
- The USA Hockey Foundation created the award to recognize the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in women’s college hockey each season.
- The inaugural Patty Kazmaier Award was presented to New Hampshire’s Brandy Fisher on March 20, 1998.
Who was Patty Kazmaier?
Patty Kazmaier’s spirit, character and on-and-off-ice excellence inspired the criteria on which the award is based. Kazmaier came from a family of outstanding athletes. Her sister, Kathy, played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire, and her father, Dick Kazmaier, won the Heisman Trophy at Princeton in 1951, beating out Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford.
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Kazmaier anchored Princeton’s defense from 1981-1986. As a freshman, she earned All-Ivy League Honorable Mention honors and was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team as both a sophomore and a junior. Following a leave of absence in 1984-85, she earned Ivy League MVP honors and was named to the All-Ivy League First Team and the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference First Team in 1985-86 as a senior.
Off the ice, Kazmaier was involved in theatre and the literary magazine at Princeton. She graduated in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in religion. After college, she worked as a daycare attendant and substitute teacher, and she started a family with her husband, Mark and their daughter, Serena.
How is the Patty Kazmaier Award winner selected?
According to the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award website, there are six main criteria used to consider award nominees:
- Outstanding individual and team skills
- Sportsmanship
- Performance in the clutch
- Personal character
- Competitiveness
- Love of hockey
The committee also considers nominees’ academic achievement and civic involvement.
The selection process begins each year in February, when NCAA NC women’s ice hockey coaches are asked to nominate players for the award. Any players nominated by multiple coaches are then placed on an official ballot, which is returned for the coaches to narrow down to 10 finalists.
The three finalists and the winner are then chosen by a 13-member selection committee that includes NCAA NC women’s ice hockey coaches, representatives of the print and broadcast media and at-large members and representatives of USA Hockey.
The award is announced in a nationally televised ceremony as part of the Women’s Frozen Four.
Patty Kazmaier Award recipients
To date, there have been 28 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recipients. Twenty-two forwards, two defensemen and four goaltenders have won the award since 1998.
Harvard’s Jennifer Botterill is the only player to ever win the Patty Kazmaier award twice, first in 2001 and again in 2003. Harvard and Wisconsin are tied for the most awards by an NCAA institution, each boasting six recipients.
See below for a full history of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award:
| YEar | Winner | position | school |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Casey O’Brien* | Forward | Wisconsin |
| 2024 | Izzy Daniel | Forward | Cornell |
| 2023 | Sophie Jaques | Defense | Ohio State |
| 2022 | Taylor Heise | Forward | Minnesota |
| 2021 | Aerin Frankel* | Goaltender | Northeastern |
| 2020 | Élizabeth Giguére | Forward | Clarkson |
| 2019 | Loren Gabel | Forward | Clarkson |
| 2018 | Daryl Watts | Forward | Boston College |
| 2017 | Ann-Renée Desbiens | Goaltender | Wisconsin |
| 2016 | Kendall Coyne | Forward | Northeastern |
| 2015 | Alex Carpenter | Forward | Boston College |
| 2014 | Jamie Lee Rattray* | Forward | Clarkson |
| 2013 | Amanda Kessel* | Forward | Minnesota |
| 2012 | Brianna Decker | Forward | Wisconsin |
| 2011 | Meghan Duggan* | Forward | Wisconsin |
| 2010 | Vicki Bendus | Foward | Mercyhurst |
| 2009 | Jessie Vetter* | Goaltender | Wisconsin |
| 2008 | Sarah Vaillancourt | Forward | Harvard |
| 2007 | Julie Chu | Forward | Harvard |
| 2006 | Sara Bauer* | Forward | Wisconsin |
| 2005 | Krissy Wendell* | Forward | Minnesota |
| 2004 | Angela Ruggiero | Defense | Harvard |
| 2003 | Jennifer Botterill | Forward | Harvard |
| 2002 | Brooke Whitney | Forward | Northeastern |
| 2001 | Jennifer Botterill | Forward | Harvard |
| 2000 | Ali Brewer | Goaltender | Brown |
| 1999 | A.J. Mleczko | Forward | Harvard |
| 1998 | Brandy Fisher | Forward | New Hampshire |
*won National Championship that year
Colleges with the most Hobey Baker Award winners
| School | winners |
|---|---|
| Harvard | 6 |
| Wisconsin | 6 |
| Northeastern | 3 |
| Clarkson | 3 |
| Minnesota | 3 |
| Boston College | 2 |
Information sourced from PattyKaz.com.
