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Casey O’Brien Named 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winner

03/22/2025, 10:45am MDT
By USA Hockey

Milton, Mass., Native is Sixth Badger to Win Prestigious Award Honoring the Top Division I Women’s Hockey Player

MINNEAPOLIS – Wisconsin forward Casey O’Brien (Milton, Mass.) was named the winner of the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award today before a capacity crowd at the McNamara Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. 

The ceremony, which was broadcast live on NHL Network, highlighted Saturday at the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four festivities, which included an opportunity for youth hockey players to skate on the ice at Ridder Arena and an autograph session with former Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners. 

O’Brien is the sixth player from the University of Wisconsin to win the honor, which is presented annually by The USA Hockey Foundation to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.

The dominant season of the fifth-year forward has helped lead the Badgers to a 37-1-2 record, a WCHA regular-season championship, a WCHA Final Faceoff Championship, and an appearance in the NCAA National Championship Game tomorrow (March 23).

An American Hockey Coaches Association All-America First Team selection, O’Brien enters the final game of the season with 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists), leading the nation with an impressive 2.20 points per game. The WCHA Player of the Year and Forward of the Year, who is attempting to earn her third NCAA title with the Badgers, also tops the county with 62 assists. 

Off the ice, O’Brien volunteers at the American Family Children’s Hospital and with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Madison. She also assists with the Augie’s Lunches of Love initiative that provides lunches to parents with children staying at American Family Children’s Hospital. 

O’Brien was selected as the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recipient from a group of three finalists that included junior forward Laila Edwards (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/University of Wisconsin) and junior defender Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H./University of Wisconsin). 

NOTES: O’Brien is the 28th recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award … The recipient of the 2025 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 the 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
2025 Casey O'Brien University of Wisconsin Forward Milton, Mass.
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.
Abbey Murphy

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