Patty Kazmaier 2026

[Timothy A]

I think it's a 2 horse race, Murphy vs Harvey. Harvey was 54 pts as a D, while the next closest D has 32, while Harvey missed 8 games. She's only 7 pts behind Murphy and Murphy is having a great season. The biggest thing is the eye test. The film doesn't lie, she is the most dynamic player I have ever seen play the game. You can't hardly be named MVP of the Olympics and not get this award.

 

[BuckyB]

I think it's a 2 horse race, Murphy vs Harvey. Harvey was 54 pts as a D, while the next closest D has 32, while Harvey missed 8 games. She's only 7 pts behind Murphy and Murphy is having a great season. The biggest thing is the eye test. The film doesn't lie, she is the most dynamic player I have ever seen play the game. You can't hardly be named MVP of the Olympics and not get this award.

Harvey wins the Patty Kaz in a landslide.
Say what you want, argue how you like but there is no chance she doesn’t win.
Her body of work this season is unbelievable.
She plays the game with class and integrity.
Murphy is a tremendous player but plays without the above mentioned far too often.
Her reckless endangering play,her constant flopping and embellishment of the game while a bit better this year will keep her from the award

 

[robertearle]

I think it's a 2 horse race, Murphy vs Harvey. Harvey was 54 pts as a D, while the next closest D has 32, while Harvey missed 8 games. She's only 7 pts behind Murphy and Murphy is having a great season. The biggest thing is the eye test. The film doesn't lie, she is the most dynamic player I have ever seen play the game. You can't hardly be named MVP of the Olympics and not get this award.

Every game at least once, Harvey will do something to make my jaw drop, to smile or giggle in delight, to make my shake my head in wonder "how did she do that?" I have said forever that Hilary Knight was the best player I'd ever seen in person playing at the Kohl Center or LaBahn. Different positions, of course, making a comparison more difficult, but I find myself wondering if KK might not be better.

KK gets my vote, no question.

 

[BuckyB]

Every game at least once, Harvey will do something to make my jaw drop, to smile or giggle in delight, to make my shake my head in wonder "how did she do that?" I have said forever that Hilary Knight was the best player I'd ever seen in person playing at the Kohl Center or LaBahn. Different positions, of course, making a comparison more difficult, but I find myself wondering if KK might not be better.

KK gets my vote, no question.

KK is better. The game overall is soooo much better with soooo many more talented players than when Hilary played college hockey.
The game when Hilary played in college was evolving, she was head and shoulders ahead of that group but the group now is far better overall and to be atop now is much much more challenging.

 

[ARM]

Three reasons why it is very difficult to compare Knight and Harvey at the NCAA level: they play different positions; the latter played her whole career with Olympic experience, while only the second half of Knight's career was as an Olympian; and the game has changed a lot in terms of training/teaching over the 15 years that separated the start of their college years. I'll just say that as frosh, both ended the NCAAs for UM with OT goals, so I have them filed away under unhappy memories.

I agree that Harvey is likely to win the Kaz. My guess is that the voters look at the numbers like Badger fans do, if they bother to look at them at all. They won't figure out how much the Gopher offense fell off a cliff when Murphy left (they went from averaging over 5.5 goals per game to fewer than 2; yes, they lost other players, but not of the caliber that UW lost), while UW was still able to find the net more often than not. Similarly, you can look at the boatload of penalties called on Murphy, but if you don't factor in all of the penalties she draws, you're missing much of the picture.

Coaches want their teams to be difficult to play against. Murphy makes that true single-handedly. She also takes a beating and keeps coming back for more. Yes, there are some hooks and holds that may be imaginary to an extent. However, there are also opponents who just line her up and drill her all weekend. During her career, there have been more ill-advised plays on her part than I care to remember, but this year, much more of it has been in the tit-for-tat side of the ledger. We might want her to be a child of Lady Byng, but when she looks in the mirror, she sees a missing Tkachuk sister.

Harvey will win, but it's not because other players aren't deserving of recognition. (Although, it is fun to imagine Timothy A spontaneously combusting if Ève Gascon won .)

A good offseason topic: best player(s) from your program to NOT win the Kazmaier.

 

[robertearle]

A good offseason topic: best player(s) from your program to NOT win the Kazmaier.

For Wisconsin, that's the easiest 'debate' there could be.

 

[ARM]

For Wisconsin, that's the easiest 'debate' there could be.

That's why it has to be after the season ends and Ava McNaughton has won the Kaz in 2026.