Top 10 Finalists For NCAA's Patty Kazmaier Award Announced
The USA Hockey Foundation has announced the top 10 finalists for the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. The award has been given annually since 1998 to the top NCAA Division I women's hockey player.
This year the top 10 finalists include Joy Dunne (Ohio State), Laila Edwards (Wisconsin), Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin), Tessa Janecke (Penn State), Kristyna Kaltounkova (Colgate), Abbey Murphy (Minnesota), Casey O'Brien (Wisconsin), Kirsten Simms (Wisconsin), Haley Winn (Clarkson), and Issy Wunder (Princeton).
Last year's Patty Kazmaier winner was Izzy Daniel, who currently plays for the PWHL's Toronto Sceptres.
Among the top ten nominees are eight forwards and two defenders. Wisconsin has four members nominated. It's the first time a program has had ten players nominated since Minnesota in 2013.
Kaltounkova is the first ever top 10 nominee for the Patty Kazmaier from Czechia.
The top-three finalists will be announced March 12, with the winner being revealed on March 22. This will take place at the NCAA Frozen Four.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
7 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Denny Hamlin wins Michigan, taunts crowd while awaiting third child
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin could feel nerves during the race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. His fiancée, Jordan Fish, was six days past due with their third child and Hamlin and his team had decided if they got past Lap 50 of the 200-lap race, he wouldn't be told if she went into labor. Things worked out for Hamlin. He won at Michigan and 90 minutes after the race, was still at the track doing media. He talked about why he needs to be at the birth, baby names … and fierce taunts of the crowd in Michigan. That's Hamlin, living amid chaos and then creating even more for himself. "I don't want to be so ho-hum with winning that it's boring because then I lose my drive," Hamlin said. Hamlin, who has a group of friends who are Ohio State fans, gave the "O" sign to the Michigan crowd and resurrected his line that he told his father he wouldn't use anymore as he crowed to the crowd: "I beat your favorite driver." The boos reigned and Hamlin chuckled. "I do thrive on it just simply because you feel like you've got 60,000 people that are rooting against you," Hamlin said. "When you have that, it just feels really, really good and gratifying to prove them wrong. "I love that feeling." Hamlin had spent Saturday night in Michigan as Fish had not had any labor symptoms. Fish posted an Instagram story late in the race that she was at home. "I felt decent enough about it," Hamlin said. "We had to set some sort of cutoff of whether I was going to finish or not. "So I was very nervous last night and then this morning to getting the call because I knew I had a race-winning car after yesterday." Hamlin is known to run well, even with outside distractions. And he has the additional drama of the race team he owns (but doesn't drive for) 23XI Racing embroiled in a lawsuit against NASCAR. Earlier in the week, the team was dealt a blow in the U.S Court of Appeals and faces the prospect of the 23XI Racing cars not being chartered in a few weeks. It seems that he has been able to focus when he's at the track since that lawsuit was filed last October. The worries about missing the birth of his child, though, seemed to weigh on him more. With JGR simulator driver Ryan Truex at the track, in case he needed to leave, Hamlin knew the team was prepared for him to leave if Fish went into labor. He knew he had a strong car and had a good feeling about the race. Granted, Hamlin didn't have the fastest car. Chris Buescher probably did, but his car wiggled as he tried to run down the leaders late in the race. This cost him valuable momentum and he ended up coming across the line a second after Hamlin. \ William Byron had a strong car, but like many others, he had to save gas near the end, relinquishing the lead with less than four laps to go and then running out with a little over a lap remaining. Hamlin's team made sure he had enough fuel on the final stop to be on the attack at the end. And he executed flawlessly to the finish. And his wife was still at home, posting on Instagram near the end of the race. "I was a little nervous just because we put the Lap 50 cutoff," Hamlin said. "If it happens before Lap 50, I just go ahead and get out, just because of the time. "If it was after, I thought that by the time she gets her s--- together and gets to the hospital, all that stuff? You just never how it all turns out. But I think I can make it, as long as I had a three-hour window." It marked the third win of the year for Hamlin and his 57th career victory in his 701st start. Now it's on to Mexico City, and Hamlin indicated he would be willing to stay home if Fish has not given birth by the weekend. Obviously, it is a much longer flight from there than it would have been from Michigan to his North Carolina home. NASCAR would grant Hamlin a waiver to miss a race and consider it for medical reasons, meaning he would still make the playoffs and get to keep playoff points earned during the season. "It's the bigger picture. You never know when you'll ever have another one," Hamlin said about wanting to be home for the birth of the child. "You may not. I've been really supportive of her, the way that she wants to have this play out, which is as natural as possible. "Everyone asks, 'Why don't you just schedule, schedule, schedule?' I don't know. You've just got to let her decide in these situations. If it causes me to miss a race, it's one of 701 races that I missed and it's just not that big of a deal." His team owner, Heather Gibbs, when asked earlier about whether she was nervous for Hamlin, quipped: "It's funny, because I have four [children]. They [husbands] don't really do anything. When he gets home, he'll be home. It was good." Hamlin's response: "Well, that is true. I've been in the room before, and she needs something really hard to grab onto, and my hand is perfect for it. I'm definitely going to be there this week — hopefully — to hold her hand." The same could have been said for the way Hamlin grabbed the lead just when he needed to and held on for the victory. "He kind of thrives in chaos, right?" Heather Gibbs said. "It was true, we wanted to get him in the car. ... He's as cool as they come, that's for sure." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
NBC Sports
7 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Denny Hamlin is back to being the villain, provoking Michigan crowd after win
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin the antagonist is back. He brought his famous line out of retirement to goad the crowd after winning Sunday's Cup race at Michigan International Speedway and delivered an Ohio State cheer to incite fans of the University of Michigan in the stands. 'I do thrive on it,' Hamlin said of being viewed as the villain, 'just simply because you feel like you've got 60,000 people that are rooting against you. When you have that, it just feels really, really good and gratifying to prove them wrong.' A week before Father's Day, Hamlin eschewed his dad's wishes and told the crowd after winning for the third time this season and the 57th time in his Cup career: 'Daddy, I'm sorry, but I beat your favorite driver folks.' Many in the crowd booed. Nate Ryan, It was a repeat of the line he first uttered after winning the Bristol night race in September 2023. He said the line again after winning the Clash at the Coliseum in February 2024 and then stopped doing it. Hamlin said on his podcast 'Actions Detrimental' afterward that his father sent him a text to stop saying the line. His father said he didn't like it and thought it was too cocky. Hamlin said on his podcast that 'I'm going to listen to dad on this one.' Oops. 'I thought about saying it a few other times,' Hamlin said Sunday night. ' … In this one, son knows best.' Just to add another layer of antagonism, Hamlin did part of the O-H-I-O cheer for Michigan rival Ohio State in front of the crowd, earning further furor from some. Hamlin attended the college football national championship game in January that Ohio State won over Notre Dame. While he had no previous allegiance, his friends were Ohio State fans and he supported the Buckeyes. Buckeyes fans, look here. 😂 Wolverines fans, look away. 🫣 Hamlin thrives on chaos. His fiancee is due to deliver the couple's third child any day, an appellant panel ruled against his team and Front Row Motorsports this past week and both face the prospect of losing their charters and being open teams as soon as the end of the month. So, of course Hamlin won Sunday. And of course he stirred it up with the crowd unlike in his wins earlier this year at Darlington and Martinsville. Dustin Long, While he often is greeted with some of the largest chorus of boos during driver introductions, his actions Sunday are likely to amp that up. He's fine with that. 'Until the crowd shifts to mostly cheers over boos, I'm always going to antagonize the booers,' Hamlin said. 'Like, until you really get the switch, which I don't think I'm ever going to in my career, what else is there? '... I got to find ways to have fun doing this. It's such a grind and it's so hard to win. I found myself winning races a few years ago and I just moved on to Monday and it was on to the next track. I never really got to spend it celebrating. I took it for granted I'm just going to win next week, I'm going to win the week after that. I just thought another one was going to always come. 'You have another birthday (turning 45 last November). You keep wondering like how long are you going to be able to keep doing this at this level? Listen, 57 (Cup wins) might be it. None of us in this room know. I'm at least going to enjoy it as if it's my last, then I'll go to work on Monday, just like I always have. 'I don't want to be so ho-hum with winning that it's boring because then I lose my drive.' Or the boos.
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR race at Michigan, taunts crowd with OSU chant
Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR race at Michigan, taunts crowd with OSU chant BRISTOL, Mich. — Denny Hamlin's life hasn't been easy recently. He's waiting on the birth of his baby and his team is dealing with a lawsuit that could have profound impacts on how they race. But on Sunday afternoon, none of that seemed to affect him at Michigan International Speedway in the FireKeepers Casino 400 as he claimed his 57th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, ranking him 11th on the all-time list. Hamlin passed William Byron with three laps remaining in the race and held on as Byron ran out of fuel. Hamlin, himself, had just enough gas left for a burnout. It was Hamlin's third career win at Michigan and his first since Aug. 21, 2011. During his celebration after the race, Hamlin taunted a crowd – which was offering a mixture of boos and cheers – by breaking out Ohio State's "O-S-U" chant, leaning into his role as a provocateur. Chase Briscoe led on pole at the start of the race, but it wasn't long before William Byron took the lead. Stage 1 was a clean affair with no cautions – a statement that would not be true for the remainder of the race. Chris Buescher, who started in sixth, pursued Byron for much of the stage, eventually overtaking him at Lap 35. Buescher won Stage 1. In Stage 2, anarchy broke out on the track. Lead changes abounded as yellow flag after yellow flag waved from the finish line. The starting order was mixed at the start as teams pitted, and one notable jump was from Carson Hocevar, a native of Portage, Michigan, who moved from 10th at the end of Stage 1 to third at the beginning of Stage 2. Ultimately, though, that wouldn't matter. A yellow flag followed by a red flag on a crash on Turn 2 at Lap 67 that took out Alex Bowman and Cole Custer, along with the pit changes drivers opted for, scrambled the order again and again. Byron proved steady again, winning Stage 2 as well despite all the cautions. At one point, Michigan native Brad Keselowski was in the top four, but lost it after Ryan Blaney spun into the fence for the final caution of the second stage. Exiting that caution, Hocevar executed one of the best passes of the day, slingshotting himself into third place around both Tyler Reddick and Ross Chastain to claim third at the end of the stage. The Portage native wasn't done, either. More cautions came in Stage 3, but Hocevar took the lead after a rear-tire blowout from Todd Gilliland gave the field the seventh caution of the day. As fuel concerns became more prescient, Byron seemed content to sit behind Hocevar until late in the race. He wouldn't need to, though. On Lap 182, Hocevar suddenly began slowing, dropping place after place at Turn 3 as his tire blew out. Byron retook the lead as Denny Hamlin loomed behind him, pushing the No. 24 car to use more and more fuel. As the laps ticked down, Hamlin kept pushing Byron, and at Lap 196, the two of them battled for the lead for an entire lap. Hamlin eventually made the pass and took the lead with three laps remaining in the race. And with just enough gas, Hamlin crossed the finish line to win the day.
