3 Badgers named first-team All-Americans, not top honoree
DURHAM, N.H. – A Wisconsin Badger didn’t win the most prestigious award in women’s hockey Saturday, but the program still made history.
Senior Casey O’Brien and sophomores Kirsten Simms and Caroline Harvey were selected as first-team AllAmericans on the CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association team. It marks the first time since 2007 that three Badgers collected first-team distinction from the group.
That year, Sara Bauer, Meaghan Mikkelson and Jesse Vetter were honored. They led the Badgers to a national championship that season, something O’Brien, Harvey and Simms will try to do Sunday against Ohio State.
The puck drops at 3 p.m. at Whittemore Center Arena on the campus of the University of New Hampshire.
The announcement came about an hour after Cornell’s Izzy Daniel won the Patty Kazmaier Award, a distinction given by USA Hockey to the nation’s best Division I hockey player.
The news may have been a surprise bit for those who thought Simms, who leads the nation with an average of 1.97 points per game, or O’Brien, who ranks No. 2 in points (1.82) and first in assists, would claim the award.
Daniel ranks third in the country with an average of 1.74 points per game.
The AHCA teams, however, offered no surprises.
Harvey, who was a second-team selection last season, was the only defender among the 10 finalists for the Kazmaier Award. She has 35 points and her 30 assists and a +55 plus/minus rating that ranks second on the team.
Simms’ 75 points are the seventhhighest total in school history, and her 33 goals are tied for No. 1 in the nation. She has had multi-point games in 24 of her 38 games.
O’Brien’s two assists in a 3-1 victory over Colgate on Friday set a new singleseason record with 50 assists.