Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread: Congrats to Meghan Duggan!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread: Congrats to Meghan Duggan!

    Hi everyone. Thought I'd get the Kazmaier thread going. We always have a lot of good discussion here, and I hope that continues this year. Should be an interesting race this year at all levels of nominations. I think every post-Olympic year sets a new standard for the best Kazmaier runner-up ever, the best player not to make the top 3, and the best player not to make the top 10.

    A few storylines of interest, besides who will win and make the top 3:
    -- Will any defenseman make the top 10 this year? What might the position breakdown look like?
    -- Which conference is most stacked with Kazmaier nominees? What might the conference breakdown look like?
    -- Will any unheralded player (non-Olympian, non All-American) come out of nowhere this year and earn a top 10 spot or better? It's always been a criticism that past performance and reputation plays too large a role in this award process, but this is a good place to make a case for unheralded candidates.

    That said, here are the heralded players this year -- just to give some idea of how much talent there is this season.

    Returning Winner
    Vicki Bendus, Mercyhurst, 2010

    Returning Top 3 Finalists
    Meghan Agosta, Mercyhurst, 2007, 2008, 2009
    Kim Martin, UMD, 2008
    Noora Raty, Minnesota 2010
    Jesse Scanzano, Mercyhurst 2010

    Returning Top 10 Finalists
    Rebecca Johnston, Cornell 2009
    Hilary Knight, Wisconsin 2009
    Monique Lamoureux UND (then Minnesota) 2009
    Molly Schaus, Boston College 2009
    Jenn Wakefield, BU (then UNH) 2009
    Baily Bram, Mercyhurst 2010
    Florence Schelling, Northeastern 2010

    Past All-Americans (without prior Kaz nominations)
    Kelli Stack, BC 2009
    Jocelyne Larocque, UMD 2009
    Sasha Sherry, Princeton 2009
    Courtney Birchard, UNH 2010
    Laura Fortino, Cornell 2010
    Lauriane Rougeau, Cornell 2010
    Catherine White, Cornell 2010
    Anne Schleper, Minnesota 2010

    Notable Olympians centralized last year
    Marie Philip Poulin, BU
    Catherine Ward, BU
    Haley Irwin, UMD
    Elin Holmlov, UMD
    Pernilla Winberg, UMD
    Jocelyne Lamoureux, UND
    Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin

    So there will be at least 17 past Olympians/All-Americans/Kaz Top 10 Nominees who will not make the top 10 this year. Wow.

  • #2
    Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

    Judging by a quick look at national scoring stats...there is a ton of big guns in D-I this season. A bit of a bold prediction...or maybe only semi bold, Hilary Knight distinguishes herself as a worthy final 3 nominee this season. A couple Buckeyes possibly top 10. Almost looks as though we need a top 15-20 list this season.
    Minnesota Hockey

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

      Originally posted by brookyone View Post
      Judging by a quick look at national scoring stats...there is a ton of big guns in D-I this season. A bit of a bold prediction...or maybe only semi bold, Hilary Knight distinguishes herself as a worthy final 3 nominee this season. A couple Buckeyes possibly top 10. Almost looks as though we need a top 15-20 list this season.
      Agree that Knight will be one of the final three. IMHO Agosta will be one of the other two. Not sure who is most likely to join those two. Irwin, Poulin and one of the Lams are others that would come to my mind.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

        Look at her go! Did I allude to a couple Buckeyes in an earlier post? I can't remember and won't bother looking...but if she hasn't been mentioned as a top 10 candidate, she should be. I refer to Natalie Spooner of OSU.
        Minnesota Hockey

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

          If Vicki Bendus finishes near the top in scoring (she is currently third in points per games), is there anyway the returning winner doesn't make the final three? Let's also assume she maintains her 3.937 GPA as a pre-med major and the Laker's are ranked in the top 4 at the end of the season.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

            Originally posted by LakersFan View Post
            If Vicki Bendus finishes near the top in scoring (she is currently third in points per games), is there anyway the returning winner doesn't make the final three? Let's also assume she maintains her 3.937 GPA as a pre-med major and the Laker's are ranked in the top 4 at the end of the season.
            I'll ask a slightly different question -- under what circumstances would the Lakers be able to get 2 players in the top 3 again? I think they'd have to do much better than simply "top 4" to achieve that distinction again. I also think Bendus and Agosta would need to distinguish themselves in the three Cornell and Wisconsin games, since these are far and away the toughest games they play, and since both of these teams have top candidates themselves.

            Looking back at 2007, Bauer still came close to repeating despite the return of Olympians, and she and Bendus were similar in having high GPAs and no Olympic pedigree. The big difference between them is Bauer didn't have a three-time top 3 finalist rejoining her team.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

              Originally posted by dave1381 View Post
              I also think Bendus and Agosta would need to distinguish themselves in the three Cornell and Wisconsin games, since these are far and away the toughest games they play, and since both of these teams have top candidates themselves.
              I agree. The next best team (accorging to some guy's computer rankings) Mercyhurst plays is Wayne State, who are currently 15th. The three games against Cornell and Wisconsin are imporant not only for Bendus and Agosta, but also for Mercyhurst in terms of tournament seeding. Tuesday's game is huge.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                I think it'll be tough for Bendus to make the final three if her stats are below those of Agosta, particularly if they are closer to Bram's totals than they are to Agosta's numbers as they are now. One would expect that between Cornell, BU, and BC, somebody will emerge as a strong Kaz contender. Irwin and Spooner have comparable numbers to Bendus with tougher schedules. With all the Olympic-caliber talent in the WCHA this year, I don't see the league getting shut out. Agosta might be able to sneak into the top 3 with weaker numbers than a teammate, but I don't think winning last year will do that for Bendus. If anything, last year hurts her in a way because she won, Blais didn't make the top 3, but I don't think anyone left the Frozen Four thinking Bendus was a superior player to Blais based on having a higher PPG average. The GPA is nice, but I think a weak GPA is more likely to hurt a candidate than having a strong GPA lift her over better hockey players.
                "... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
                And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                  Originally posted by ARM View Post
                  Irwin and Spooner have comparable numbers to Bendus with tougher schedules. With all the Olympic-caliber talent in the WCHA this year, I don't see the league getting shut out.
                  Maybe it's not the case but I think sometimes the tougher competition in the WCHA does keep scoring numbers down and as a result "hurts" the impression one gets if you only look at the numbers. Individual players don't seem to stick out as much in the WCHA . . . it's only when you see them in person that you get the sense of how "dominating" or complete a player might be.

                  Any Kazmaier discussion that does not include Irwin and possibly Holmlov from UMD is not a complete discussion.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                    Originally posted by binnyrus View Post
                    Any Kazmaier discussion that does not include Irwin and possibly Holmlov from UMD is not a complete discussion.
                    Irwin for sure if she continues the pace she's on and she stays out of the coach's doghouse, no pun intended (well okay, a little bit intended.) And Holmlov a possibility for the top 10 anyway. You're right that the top players might not "shine" as much in the WCHA, especially if the team they're on has a number of top-notch players. It is a team sport after all and top players make their teammates better, too. Those doing the voting for the Kaz are handicapped a bit by not seeing all the candidates play consistently over the course of the season and have to rely on stats more than they'd like to, but no candidate can have too much of an advantage if they're all judged that way. Haley's not a given yet, but dang...that year off playing with the Canadian national team sure looks like it paid off.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                      Been a month since we updated this thread, thought it was time to add my take on the race.

                      If I had predict top three at this point, I'd say
                      Martin, UMD
                      Agosta, Mercyhurst
                      Knight, Wisconsin

                      And the rest of the top 10
                      Bendus, Mercyhurst
                      Johnston, Cornell
                      Poulin, BU
                      Irwin, UMD
                      Stack, BC
                      Schaus, BC
                      Spooner, OSU

                      Breakdown: 4 WCHA, 3 HE, 2 CHA, 1 ECAC; 8 F, 2 G

                      The following players I sense are having top 10 caliber years, though they may suffer in coaches' top 10 voting from lack of prior recognition or being overshadowed by strong teammates or conference competitors

                      Wakefield, BU
                      Jenner, Cornell
                      Babstock, Quinnipiac
                      Holmlov, UMD
                      Larocque, UMD
                      Bram, Mercyhurst
                      McIntosh, OSU
                      Bram, Mercyhurst
                      Duggan, Wisconsin
                      Decker, Wisconsin
                      The Lams, UND

                      Mazotta, Cornell
                      Ney, North Daktoa

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                        Also, I'd add that based purely on merits of clutch play this season, Bendus, Bram, Decker, Jenner, Stack, and Wakefield should all be higher than I have them. But it's still early this season, but these are probably the players in the best position to rise relative to my current projections.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                          Originally posted by dave1381 View Post
                          Been a month since we updated this thread, thought it was time to add my take on the race.

                          If I had predict top three at this point, I'd say
                          Martin, UMD
                          Agosta, Mercyhurst
                          Knight, Wisconsin
                          I think that Martin and Knight have some heavy lifting to do to make the top three; I'd put Irwin ahead of both at this point in time. Martin is only tenth in win %, which is secondary if you play for a middling team. On the defending champs, I think you have to do better. Knight has yet to separate from Duggan in points, which IMO she has to do to go top 3 while Duggan is shut out, because Duggan is the more versatile, the team's leader, and if I remember right, a good student as well.

                          Also, Larocque should have the "street cred" needed to make the top ten unless voters don't think D are a necessary component in today's game. Her numbers are near the top for defenseman, she has a favorable reputation around the WCHA similar to Spooner, and her addition last year helped fuel UMD's turnaround. I'd say either Larocque or Fortino are possible top ten on D. (And I'd vote Mazzotta over Johnston as of now.)
                          "... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
                          And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                            Typically, it works this way: A UMD player makes the top 3, but will not "win". However, that person goes on to lead her team to a national championship and this results in the Most Outstanding Player award. I'd take Irwin, Martin, Holmlov or Larocque to fit that bill.

                            If I were giving advice to other fans, put your money on a UMD player to win the Kaz and give some other team a chance to win the National Title.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 2010-2011 Patty Kazmaier Thread

                              I agree that there's a history of UMD players being shortchanged -- Blais last year certainly should've been top 3, but I think Martin's different.

                              I agree UMD needs to win more than 70% of its games for her to have a shot, though her GAA and save pct are solid. It's still Dec. 1st, so I'm still weighting predicted performance based on prior results rather heavily relative to current season results.

                              I'd like to see Larocque in the 10, but D have been left out before, and she has the disadvantage of being on a team with other strong candidates, and a team that has typically been shortchanged in the process.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X