Botterill Wins Kazmaier on Eve of NCAA Championship

Harvard captain Jennifer Botterill was honored as the most outstanding player in women’s college hockey last night, receiving her second career Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. The most recent ceremony was far sweeter for Botterill than the first simply because she will be competing for an NCAA championship tonight at 5 p.m.

“[The NCAA championship] is the main focus,” Botterill said shortly after receiving the award. “Being a part of the team all year, that has been a goal. We’re going to make the most of it and I’m sure it’s going to be a great game [tonight] against a great team.”

Botterill, in winning the award, beat out two other finalists—teammate Angela Ruggiero and Minnesota-Duluth forward Jenny Potter. She stood out as the nation’s leading scorer and the all-time leading scorer in men’s and women’s college ice hockey.

With Botterill’s victory, Harvard players have won the award three times in its six-year history.

“We’ve been playing together to make each other better,” Ruggiero said. “I’m happy for Jen today.”

All three finalists will be playing in the national championship game, which will be televised live on NESN.

Two years ago, Botterill received the Kazmaier a day after her team had been eliminated by Minnesota-Duluth in the national semifinals. Upon receiving the award, she said she would trade it away any day for a team championship.

Botterill also became the first player to give two Kazmaier acceptance speeches.

Like in 2001, Botterill’s speech focused on thanking her competitors, family and teammates, but this speech had a more reflective tone with this being her last weekend as a college athlete. She noted that this year was her parents’ last of eight as college hockey parents. Botterill's brother Jason played at Michigan from 1993-97.

“They’ve seen how valuable the college hockey experience has been for their kids and how much it has meant for me,” Botterill said.

Botterill colored her speech with anecdotes about her teammates. She listed freshman Abra Kinkopf’s professional dance moves and sophomore Kat Sweet’s habit of donning her oversized hockey jersey every day as little moments that were special.

“I hope I can articulate how much you have meant to me,” Botterill said to her teammates.

The award is named after Patty Kazmaier, an All-ECAC and All-Ivy hockey player from the 1980s who passed away from a rare blood disease. Botterill said her speech was inspired by the reflections of the evening’s previous speakers, including Women’s Sports Foundation Executive Director Donna Lopiano and Patty’s father Dick Kazmaier.

“It’s those things that trigger in your mind the things throughout the season that have been meaningful and have gotten you to this point,” Botterill said.

Best Ever?

All season long, the Harvard women’s hockey team has been preparing for one game. That game is finally here, as the No. 2 Crimson faces Frozen Four host and No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth for the national championship.

In the two-time defending champions, Harvard faces its toughest opponent. While the Crimson's lineup features three Olympic medalists, the Bulldogs rely on five Olympians: Maria Rooth and Erika Holst from Sweden, Hanne Sikio from Finland, Caroline Ouellette from Canada and Jenny Potter from the United States.

“This is the best group of players skating on one sheet of ice for a national championship,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said at Saturday’s press conference.

The teams’ contrasting styles make for an interesting matchup.

“They handle the puck a little more individually than we do,” Stone said. “We like to move it as quickly as we can. They hold on to the puck a little longer than we choose to. They play that torpedo system, where they bring four people down in to the zone, but they don’t have to play a lot of defense, and they haven’t had to play a lot defense all season. Our goal is to try to put them in a position where they have to play a lot of defense.”

At the same time, the Crimson must be wary of Duluth’s scorers and apply the same kind of pressure it did to the Gophers on Friday.

“They have a lot of big guns up front,” Ruggiero said yesterday. “They like to thread the pass, and they like to take it up themselves. We’re a solid team when we play defense and that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow. We want to play solid defense and the goals will come. We have the offensive firepower.”

Duluth also has the advantage of being the tournament host. Just under 5,000 fans attended the semifinal match, and a sellout is expected for the championship. The Crimson is unfazed.

“There’s nothing better than quieting the crowd,” Ruggiero said.

Harvard was the last eastern team to win the national championship, taking the crown in 1999. Stone said that the favorite was more a function of geography than anything else.

“I think it depends on what state you’re in,” Stone said yesterday. “If you’re out here, clearly we’re the underdog. If we were having this conversation in Cambridge, we’d be the favorite. We match up really well. Everyone [here] expects the Bulldogs to win tomorrow, and we’re going to change that.”

Bark Worse Than Bulldogs Bite

In the Frozen Four semifinals on Friday, Harvard defeated Minnesota 6-1 while Duluth downed Dartmouth 5-2. The UMD skaters, however, seemed to think they had already won the national championship—after they scored their first goal against Dartmouth.

The Bulldogs threw their sticks to the ice and piled against the boards in a celebration worthy of a triple-overtime victory over the Canadian Olympic team. They celebrated in similar fashion after subsequent goals.

“Our team doesn’t throw our stick down or jump against the boards,” Ruggiero said. “It’s not about being flamboyant after scoring a goal. It’s about getting the job done. Maybe I’ll say something to the refs like ‘keep the celebrations down’ but hopefully they won’t have any celebrations.”

Harvard junior goaltender Jessica Ruddock, who has enjoyed some success against Duluth in the past but has recently taken criticism from around the league, was even more adamant in voicing her displeasure.

“They should get penalties for that,” Ruddock said. “It’s unsportsmanlike. We’re not that kind of team—we have integrity and class. I care about hockey. I care about the way [the game] comes across. When they throw their sticks down or pile up after the first goal of the game, I think that it’s arrogant and that’s not the kind of team we are. So we’re going to play a totally different way and beat them on the [score]board.”

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer David Weinfeld can be reached at weinfeld@fas.harvard.edu.