Western Collegiate Hockey Association
11th Annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Set for Duluth
Feb. 6, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, bestowed annually upon the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey, will descend upon Duluth, Minn., on Friday, March 21, for a dinner ceremony to announce the 2008 award recipient. Held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Frozen Four (March 20 & 22), the event will take place at the Radisson Hotel Duluth Harborview at 6 p.m. CST, with a reception scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Angela Ruggiero, who won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2004 and has represented Team USA at three Olympic Winter Games, will serve as the emcee for the 11th annual event.
In 1998, Ruggiero became the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic Team that won the first gold medal ever awarded in women's ice hockey at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. She subsequently was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that won the silver medal in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and, most recently, she and her teammates took home the bronze medal in Torino, Italy, in 2006.
Ruggiero graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in government. She was a four-time All-American and four-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. She won the award her senior year and was named one of the top 16 female athletes in the world by ESPN.com in 2004. She finished her collegiate career with 243 points (91 goals, 152 assists) in 127 games.
In addition to her extraordinary athletic accomplishments, Ruggiero is the founder and president of a girl's hockey school; the author of "Breaking the Ice," her inspirational autobiography; and previously served as the director of the New York Islanders' Project Hope - an organization that provides young Chinese athletes with access to educational opportunities. In addition, Ruggiero appeared on the sixth season of NBC's 'The Apprentice' with Donald Trump.
Tickets to the 2008 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award ceremony may be purchased at pattykaz.com or by calling 719-538-1184. Individual seats are $75, while tables of 10 are available for $700.
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As part of the weekend festivities, USA Hockey will join with the NCAA in hosting a free youth clinic at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center from 9-10 a.m. on Saturday, March 22. The clinic will be offered to local youth (boys 8-13, girls 8-16) and will feature instruction from past and present members of the U.S. Women's National Program. Registration for the clinic is being handled through the Duluth Amateur Hockey Association.
NOTES: The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is an award of The USA Hockey Foundation ... The top-10 finalists for the award will be announced on Feb. 26, while the top-three selections will be released on March 12 ... The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman for Princeton University from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28, following a long struggle with a rare blood disease ... To sign up for the Kaz Connection, a free monthly e-newsletter dedicated solely to the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, please visit pattykaz.com.
(release courtesy of USA Hockey, Inc.)