Canadians Giguere, Roque among 3 finalists for top NCAA women's hockey award

Elizabeth Giguere of Quebec City and Abby Roque of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., were among the three finalists announced Tuesday for the top individual award in NCAA Division I women's hockey.

Giguere, a Clarkson forward, and Wisconsin forward Roque join Northeastern forward Alina Mueller in the running for this year's Patty Kazmaier Award.

The winner will be named March 21 during the women's Frozen Four championship in Cambridge, Mass.

The award is named in honour of the late Patty Kazmaier, who played for Princeton from 1981 to 1986. She died at age 28 of a blood disease.

Canadians have earned the honour nine times in its 22-year history including each of the last three years.

3 straight years of Canadian winners

Wisconsin goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens of La Malbaie, Que., Toronto's Daryl Watts out of Boston College and Clarkson's Loren Gabel of Kitchener, Ont., were winners from 2017 to 2019, respectively.

Giguere, a junior, led the NCAA in goals scored with 36 and was second in points with 65 for an average of 1.81 points per game.

Roque's 25 goals and 32 assists ranked the senior fourth in goals and seventh in assists.

Switzerland's Mueller tied with Roque in goals scored and averaged 1.67 points per game.

The three finalists were chosen by a 13-person selection committee that included coaches, media and representatives from USA Hockey.

Previous Canadian winners of the Kazmaier include:

• Clarkson's Jamie Lee Rattray of Kanata, Ont. (2014)
• Mercyhurst's Vicki Bendus of Wasaga Beach, Ont., (2010)
• Harvard's Sarah Vaillancourt of Sherbrooke, Que., (2008)
• Wisconsin's Sara Bauer of St. Catharines, Ont., (2006)
• Harvard's Jennifer Botterill of Winnipeg (2001, 2003)

The award is named after the late Patty Kazmaier, an All-Ivy League defenceman at Princeton University from 1981 to 1986. Patti Kazmaier-Sandt died Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.