Taylor Heise Named 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winner

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Minnesota forward Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn.) was named the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recipient, the USA Hockey Foundation announced today. The senior was the 25th all-time recipient of the honor, which is awarded annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.

"We are absolutely thrilled for Taylor, her family, teammates and our program," said University of Minnesota head coach Brad Frost. "She had a year that we will all remember and is very deserving of the Patty Kazmaier award. Taylor embodies what Patty was all about and we are so happy for her. To add her name to the likes of Krissy Wendell and Amanda Kessel, as past winners from the University of Minnesota, speaks volumes to the season that Taylor had."

An alternate captain who helped the Gophers to a 29-9-1 record in 2021-22, Heise’s play helped spark Minnesota’s high-powered offense all season. The senior wrapped the year leading the NCAA in both total points (66) and points per game (1.69), while ranking second in goals (29) and sixth in assists (37).

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Heise was tabbed an AHCA First Team All-American, while also earning WCHA Player of the Year and WCHA Offensive Player of the Year honors in helping her team to the WCHA regular-season title. She was named HCA National Player of the Month in November and WCHA Forward of the Month on three occasions (Nov., Jan., Feb.).

Off the ice, the Lake City, Minnesota, native is a WCHA All-Academic Team honoree and spends her time giving back to the community. Heise coached and ran drills during the Minnesota Wild’s Girls in Hockey Weekend, while also volunteering at the Blaine Fire Department Food Donation Drive and at Bluff View Elementary School reading books to children.

Heise was selected as the recipient of the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award from a group of three finalists that included senior forward Gabbie Hughes of the University of Minnesota Duluth and Sophie Jaques a senior defender from Ohio State.

NOTES: Heise is the 25th recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award… Heise is the third Gopher to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, joining Amanda Kessel (2013) and Krissy Wendell (2005) … The recipient of the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, was chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women's ice hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, and an at-large member and representative of USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States.

THE PATTY KAZMAIER MEMORIAL AWARD

An award of The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually presented to the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. Selection criteria 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. For a full list of previous honorees, click HERE.

ABOUT PATTY KAZMAIER

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman at 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 Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.

Recipients

Year	Name	School	Position	Hometown
2024	Izzy Daniel	Cornell University	Forward	Minneapolis, Minn.
2023	Sophie Jaques	Ohio State University	Defender	Toronto, Ont.
2022	Taylor Heise	University of Minnesota	Forward	Lake City, Minn.
2021	Aerin Frankel	Northeastern University	Goalie	Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
2020	Elizabeth Giguere	Clarkson University	Forward	Quebec City, Que.
2019	Loren Gabel	Clarkson University	Forward	Kitchener, Ont.
2018	Daryl Watts	Boston College	Forward	Toronto, Ont.
2017	Ann-Renée Desbiens	University of Wisconsin	Goalie	La Malbaie, Que.
2016	Kendall Coyne	Northeastern University	Forward	Palos Heights, Ill.
2015	Alex Carpenter	Boston College	Forward	North Reading, Mass.
2014	Jamie Lee Rattray	Clarkson University	Forward	Kanata, Ont.
2013	Amanda Kessel	University of Minnesota	Forward	Madison, Wis.
2012	Brianna Decker	University of Wisconsin	Forward	Dousman, Wis.
2011	Meghan Duggan	University of Wisconsin	Forward	Danvers, Mass.
2010	Vicki Bendus	Mercyhurst College	Forward	Wasaga Beach, Ont.
2009	Jessie Vetter	University of Wisconsin	Goalie	Cottage Grove, Wis.
2008	Sarah Vaillancourt	Harvard University	Forward	Sherbrooke, Que.
2007	Julie Chu	Harvard University	Forward	Fairfield, Conn.
2006	Sara Bauer	University of Wisconsin	Forward	St. Catharines, Ont.
2005	Krissy Wendell	University of Minnesota	Forward	Brooklyn Park, Minn.
2004	Angela Ruggiero	Harvard University	Defender	Harper Woods, Mich.
2003	Jennifer Botterill	Harvard University	Forward	Winnipeg, Man.
2002	Brooke Whitney	Northeastern University	Forward	Snohomish, Wash.
2001	Jennifer Botterill	Harvard University	Forward	Winnipeg, Man.
2000	Ali Brewer	Brown University	Goalie	Racine, Wis.
1999	A.J. Mleczko	Harvard University	Forward	Nantucket, Mass.
1998	Brandy Fisher	University of New Hampshire	Forward	Potsdam, N.Y.