Patty Kazmaier Award

[girlshockey]

The top ten finalists are in for the Patty Kazmaier Award for the top female college ice hockey player and nine of the ten are from Canada. The tenth is Julie Chu from Fairfield, Connecticut. Let's hope our Minnesota players get recognized in the next few years.

I am just playing devil's advocate to get this thread going, but are we missing the boat in some way here in Minnesota? Or will our players once again be listed in that top ten in the near future?

View the full article at
http://www.usahockey.com/patty_kazmaier ... en_021907/[/url][/code]

[brookyone]

It hasn't been that long since Wendell / Darwitz played of course, but since then, no one from Minnesota, or playing for Minnesota (not sure which you are referring to specifically) has had a PK winning type season, or impact in D-I. My vote is for UW's Sara Bauer who is a great player. I don't know anything about the off ice considerations for the players admittedly...or much about a few of the other nominees since I've seen them play so little. Just clarifying my vote is based purely on on ice performance and noting there are other factors considered by those with a vote. As for the immediate future, the competition will be very tough. Megan Agosta is a sure bet to win it at least once in the next 3-4 years IMO. Same could possibly be said for Vaillancourt. Alot of great players in the game right now and more every new season. Maybe Thunder can continue to increase her numbers over her impressive start in coming seasons and be a future contender...wouldn't surprise me too much.

I think Natalie Darwitz would have been a sure winner had she returned for her senior season. I thought she might return for her shot at the award. I believe when asked, she stated it "stung" a little when she didn't win it as one of three finalists. Wendell did, and choosing between them had to be nearly impossible at the time.

[MNHockeyFan]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that's surprised that there is just one of ten finalists from the U.S. You would think there would be more, but I suppose unlike men's hockey, where many of the top Canadians still choose to play Junior A with the goal of quickly moving up to the NHL, the top Canadian women go for scholarships at U.S. colleges, because there is no lucrative pro hockey careers to look forward to after they graduate. Would this help explain the fact that a higher percentage of Hobey Baker Award finalists are from the U.S., compared to the Patty Kazmaier Award?

I also noticed that until Krissy Wendell won two years ago, all of the previous winners played for Eastern schools - could it be that most of the voters don't get a chance to see very much hockey in the "West" where more of the players might be from the U.S.? Just wondering...

It is also pretty surprising that no Minnesotans made the list, considering all of the great players the state is producing, but apparently we've hit what you would hope is just a temporary lull. I don't follow the college woman's game closely enough to identify any Minnesotans who might be deserving this year, but you would think there would have been at least one who would have made the top 10. Hopefully this will change in the near future!

[ghshockeyfan]

I didn't look at the list, but did any of these finalists from Canada go right into College at 18 or did some of them play elsewhere before going to College?

It seems that most of our MN gals go straight from HS to college, but I'm just curious as to if that is common for most Canadians? Especially those that come to US colleges and compete for this award, etc.

[brookyone]

It seems that most of our MN gals go straight from HS to college, but I'm just curious as to if that is common for most Canadians? Especially those that come to US colleges and compete for this award, etc.

Both Agosta & Vaillancourt's immediately prior teams were Canadian Olympic / National teams but both were quite young at that time. I believe Vaillancourt put entrance to Harvard off for a year to play with TC. Not sure about Agosta but I believe she was 17 yrs. old at most at the time. In other words I think they were both 18-19 when they began their college careers. Agosta may very well be a "true" freshman. Not sure about the others. There generally isn't the kind of "delay" for starting your college career for the women like you see on the men's side. With two exceptions (programs). Both UMD & Maine like to recruit 20-23 year old "freshmen" from Canada & Europe. UMD in particular likes those older Euro's with National team experience.

[ghshockeyfan]

It seems that most of our MN gals go straight from HS to college, but I'm just curious as to if that is common for most Canadians? Especially those that come to US colleges and compete for this award, etc.

Both Agosta & Vaillancourt's immediately prior teams were Canadian Olympic / National teams but both were quite young at that time. I believe Vaillancourt put entrance to Harvard off for a year to play with TC. Not sure about Agosta but I believe she was 17 yrs. old at most at the time. In other words I think they were both 18-19 when they began their college careers. Agosta may very well be a "true" freshman. Not sure about the others. There generally isn't the kind of "delay" for starting your college career for the women like you see on the men's side. With two exceptions (programs). Both UMD & Maine like to recruit 20-23 year old "freshmen" from Canada & Europe. UMD in particular likes those older Euro's with National team experience.

brooky - this is what I was getting at and looking for info on. As you know, I don't know the college game as well, so this is good info. to have clairified...

Maybe, what I should say, is that with this in mind, are more of these gals seeking out elite level opportunities as HS sr's and maybe for 1 "prep" year after "HS?" This would seemingly elevate their game quicker and put them on a better pace to be considered for this award I assume.

Of course, it could just be that the canadians are better hockey players in general... but I had better not say that!

[ghshockeyfan]

This reminds me...

What % of D1 players are Canadian, American, Other, etc.???

[brookyone]

Here's a breakdown of the '07-'08 D-I recruit class as of 2/5/07 in numbers, not percentages but interesting nonetheless. No idea how this compares to ALL currently rostered D-I players.

US: 76; with 22 from Minnesota, 11 Massachusetts, 8 California, 6 Illinois, 4 Pennsylvania, 3 each from Connecticut, and Michigan, 2 each Alaska, Colorado, Wisconsin, and 1 each from Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming. And 1 from "somewhere in the south".(I'm thinking Georgia, though maybe northern Florida)

Canada: 45; with 27 from Ontario, 3 each from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, 2 each from New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, and Manitoba

Sweden: 2

[ghshockeyfan]

So, if we assume that this is a good representation of the overall composition of D1, the:

66% of it is US (of that 17% is MN)
33% from Canada.

90% of finalists from Canada
10% from US (of that 0% is from MN)

Hmm.. Seems Canada may be more about quality and less about quantity in D1...

Could it also be that the financials need to be better to get Canadians here so that screens out the mediocre and leaves us with only getting the very best Canadians with many US/other players left to be supporting cast?

[girlshockey]

I have heard that all Canadians are given the opportunity to attend college and that Canada pays for it, whether in the US or Canada. If someone can verify that for me, that would be helpful. What that appears to mean is that players who come to the US colleges get paid by Canada. I am surprised that more Canadians aren't playing in the US college system. If they get a scholarship, then maybe the Canadian money goes for living expenses. Makes it easy on the Canadians here in the US if this is accurate.

[ghshockeyfan]

Another thought is that Canada subsidized the education to an extent whether you go to the US or Canada. It may be that additional $$$ is needed to go to the US, so, maybe only the best hockey players have enough of an incentive to take this risk vs. guaranteed full-ride/subsidy in CA??? Maybe that's the same thing you said just in different words!