Botterill Wins Top College Hockey Honor

MINNEAPOLIS--Coaches, teammates and opposing players have long asserted the Harvard junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill is the best player in women's college hockey. Now she has the trophy to prove it.

Botterill was named the recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award at an honorary dinner at the Radisson Hotel Metrodome on Mar. 24. The award, given to the season's most outstanding player in women's college hockey, is named after Kazmaier, a former All-Ivy Princeton defenseman who passed away on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a struggle with a rare blood disease.

Botterill, a Winnipeg native, became the first underclassman and the first Canadian ever to win the Kazmaier award. The previous three winners--New Hampshire forward Brandy Fisher, Harvard forward A.J. Mleczko '99 and Brown goaltender Ali Brewer--have all played for the U.S. National Team.

It was a bittersweet evening for Botterill, whose Crimson team fell 6-3 to Minn.-Duluth in the national semifinals the night before the awards dinner. Botterill became the first Kazmaier winner whose team failed to reach the national championship game in the same season.

"The Kazmaier is a huge honor," said Botterill following the awards dinner. "But I'd trade it away any day for a team championship. That was our goal coming into Minnesota."

Upon receiving the award, Botterill praised her fellow finalists--senior linemate Tammy Shewchuk and Minnesota defenseman Courtney Kennedy--her family, her coaches, and her teammates.

"Every year at Harvard it has gotten better," Botterill said. "I could not ask for a better group of friends. Thanks so much for making every day of my life a treat."

Botterill comes from a family with deep hockey roots. Her mother is a former Olympic speedskater and her father is a noted sports psychologist. Her brother Jason won the 1996 national title with Michigan and is currently playing for the Saint John Flames of the AHL.

"I'm thankful that sometimes he let me come out of the net and take a couple of shots on him," Botterill said in reference to her older brother.

The entire contingent of players from Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, and Harvard attended the awards dinner. The majority of Minn.-Duluth players were absent.

By skipping the Patty Kazmaier dinner, the Bulldog players passed up on a chance to honor the late Robert B. Ridder '41, a USA Hockey Hall of Famer who co-founded Minnesota Hockey and co-owned the Minnesota North Stars. Without Ridder's dedication, Minn.-Duluth women's hockey might never have been created in 1999.

"I happen to believe that [sophomore winger] Maria Rooth is the best player in women's college hockey, bar none," declared Bulldog Coach Shannon Miller following Minn.-Duluth's victory over Harvard the previous evening.

Prior to the Frozen Four, both Botterill and Shewchuk were significantly outscoring Rooth despite playing the toughest schedule in the nation, according to standard measures. Botterill and Shewchuk were averaging 2.8 and 2.4 points-per-game respectively, while Rooth was averaging just 2.2, and no Patty Kazmaier finalist trio has ever had room for a third forward.

"Jen and I being nominated together is so fitting because we've done everything together the past three years," said Shewchuk after the ceremony.

The award decision was made by an 11-member selection committee of coaches, media, and USA Hockey officials, who applied a selection criteria which included skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness, and a love of hockey.

Botterill won the award not just because of the quantity of her goals--which led the nation--but also the timing of those goals. For the third consecutive year this season, she scored an overtime game-winner to defeat Northeastern in the Beanpot--an unparalleled achievement.

She netted hat tricks in three consecutive games this January against Northeastern, Providence and New Hampshire--the historical powers of women's college hockey. She has 11 hat tricks on her career.

Botterill's career-long consistency--scoring points in all 80 of her collegiate games prior to this season's NCAA consolation against Dartmouth--is unprecedented in the history of college hockey.

Shewchuk led the nation in assists this season and finished her career in style. She was far and away Harvard's leading scorer in the playoffs, figuring in on every Harvard goal in the ECAC quarterfinal win over Providence and the NCAA semifinal loss to Minn.-Duluth. She was the only Crimson representative on the ECAC and NCAA All-Tournament teams. She closes out her career as Harvard's all-time leading scorer, with 152 goals, 155 assists and 307 points.