University of Minnesota Athletics
WHK: Krissy Wendell Named Patty Kazmaier Award Winner
3/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Wendell was chosen from a group of three finalists that included junior forward Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.), her University of Minnesota linemate, and senior forward Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que.) from the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s top goal-scorer (42), Wendell was named WCHA Player of the Year for the second consecutive season on March 2. Entering tomorrow’s NCAA championship game, Wendell is second in the nation in both points (102) and points per game (2.62). She also has a nation’s best seven shorthanded goals and is tied for second in the country with nine game-winning goals. With her 102 points, Wendell is one of just two women in school history to reach the 100-point plateau.
A two-time All-America selection, Wendell helped Minnesota to a 35-2- 2 mark as her team spent a record 23 weeks atop the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine women’s college hockey poll. She has six hat tricks to her credit, including 13 multiple-goal performances. The two-time All-WCHA First Team selection has recorded four or more points 10 times during the 2004-05 season and has 28 multiple-point games to her credit. A member of the power-play and penalty kill units, she has helped the Gophers to a nation’s best 30.9 power-play percentage and the country’s fifth-best penalty kill at 89.7 percent.
In last night’s NCAA semifinal game against Dartmouth, Wendell notched two goals, including the game-winner, and added two assists to send her team to the national championship game for the second time in as many years.
At the WCHA Championship, where she was named to the all-tournament team, Wendell contributed eight points (3-5) including the game- winning power-play goal in overtime as the Gophers claimed their second consecutive title.
A 2002 Olympic silver medalist, Wendell has competed in four International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team. She will again represent her country at the 2005 Women’s World Championship in Linkoping and Norrkoping, Sweden, April 2-9.
Wendell and the other top three finalists for the 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award were chosen by a 13-member selection committee comprised of NCAA Division I ice hockey 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.
Selection criteria for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award includes 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. The award is supported in part by a grant of The National Hockey League Foundation.
Presented annually since 1998, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, a four-year varsity hockey letter-winner and three-time Ivy League champion with the Princeton University Tigers. Patty Kazmaier-Sandt passed away in 1990 at the age of 28.
NOTES: Wendell is the first WCHA player ever to win the award . . . All three finalists for the 2005 award were 2002 Olympians . . . A sellout crowd of more than 300 witnessed the presentation of the 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award . . . Olympic gold medalist Donna de Varona was the guest speaker for the event, while Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Mike Emrick was the emcee . . . Dick Kazmaier, father of Patty Kazmaier and 1951 Heisman Trophy winner, presented the award to Wendell . . . For the first time, The USA Hockey Foundation presented a replica of the Patty Kazmaier Award to the school of the winner for permanent display. The USA Hockey Foundation announced that schools of previous winners will also be receiving a replica award . . . The four competing teams from the 2005 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four attended, including Minnesota, Harvard University, St. Lawrence University and Dartmouth College ...Previous winners of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award include Angela Ruggiero (Harvard University, 2004), Jennifer Botterill (Harvard University, 2003 and 2001), Brooke Whitney (Northeastern University, 2002), Ali Brewer (Brown University, 2000), A.J. Mleczko (Harvard University, 1999) and Brandy Fisher (University of New Hampshire, 1998).
Press Release written by USA Hockey.
