Photo by: John Quackenbos
Keller Tabbed Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist
February 23, 2017 | Women's Hockey
Eagles’ All-America defenseman is the only representative from Hockey East
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College junior All-America defenseman Megan Keller is one of the Top 10 Finalists for the 2017 Patty Kazmaier Award, which were announced Thursday afternoon. The Patty Kazmaier Award is presented annually by the USA Hockey Foundation to the top Division I women's college hockey player the country.
Keller is a repeat finalist, also earning Top-10 honors in 2016. The Top-10 list includes seven forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender. The WCHA leads the way with five finalists, followed by the ECAC with four. Keller is the only Hockey East representative among the finalists. The full Top 10 is available at pattykaz.com.
The winner of the 2017 Patty Kazmaier Award will be announced on Saturday, March 18, in conjunction with the Women's Frozen Four.
Keller is one of the nation's most dynamic players, impacting play at both ends of the ice. Offensively, she leads all defensemen nationally with 34 points in 30 games. Her 1.13 points per game and 0.87 assists per game marks are the best among the nation's blue liners. Those marks also rank 20th and ninth, respectively, among all skaters in the country.
In Hockey East play, Keller's 1.35 points per game mark was the conference's second highest among all skaters, and was an increase from her 1.21 points per game mark in 2015-16 despite the Eagles scoring almost two fewer goals per contest this year. She finished sixth in conference scoring with 27 points and was the only defenseman in the top 20. Keller's 21 assists in league play led all players, and she was the only player in the conference to average 1.00 or more assists per game this year.
She also paced the conference in plus/minus with a +25 mark in league games, six points higher than the next closest non-BC player and 10 points better than the next closest defensemen.
This year, Boston College's defense ranks fourth nationally in all games, allowing 1.62 goals per game. The Eagles also surrender only 22.71 shots per game, sixth fewest in the country.
Keller also anchors the Eagles' special teams units, where both the team's power play (26.4 percent) and penalty kill (92.6 percent) lead the nation. The Eagles also led Hockey East in both categories, posting a 23.4 mark on the power play and a 95.7 mark on the penalty kill.
Despite being a junior, Keller already set the Boston College and Hockey East career points and assist records for defensemen. She currently has 110 career points and 86 career assists to top the Eagles' charts, while her 74 career points and 59 career assists in 63 Hockey East games are the new conference benchmarks for defensemen.
Just 20 years old, Keller is already a three-year member of the U.S. National Team, and missed four games earlier this year while helping Team USA win the Four Nations Cup. She has won back-to-back gold medals at the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Championships.
The sixth-ranked and top-seeded Boston College women's hockey team (24-5-5) began its 2017 Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series earlier today against eighth-seeded Merrimack at Kelley Rink, defeating the Warriors 4-0 behind Keller's three-point day. The teams return to the ice tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m., in the best-of-three series. If needed, the squads will wrap up the series with Game 3 on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m.
Keller is a repeat finalist, also earning Top-10 honors in 2016. The Top-10 list includes seven forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender. The WCHA leads the way with five finalists, followed by the ECAC with four. Keller is the only Hockey East representative among the finalists. The full Top 10 is available at pattykaz.com.
The winner of the 2017 Patty Kazmaier Award will be announced on Saturday, March 18, in conjunction with the Women's Frozen Four.
Keller is one of the nation's most dynamic players, impacting play at both ends of the ice. Offensively, she leads all defensemen nationally with 34 points in 30 games. Her 1.13 points per game and 0.87 assists per game marks are the best among the nation's blue liners. Those marks also rank 20th and ninth, respectively, among all skaters in the country.
In Hockey East play, Keller's 1.35 points per game mark was the conference's second highest among all skaters, and was an increase from her 1.21 points per game mark in 2015-16 despite the Eagles scoring almost two fewer goals per contest this year. She finished sixth in conference scoring with 27 points and was the only defenseman in the top 20. Keller's 21 assists in league play led all players, and she was the only player in the conference to average 1.00 or more assists per game this year.
She also paced the conference in plus/minus with a +25 mark in league games, six points higher than the next closest non-BC player and 10 points better than the next closest defensemen.
This year, Boston College's defense ranks fourth nationally in all games, allowing 1.62 goals per game. The Eagles also surrender only 22.71 shots per game, sixth fewest in the country.
Keller also anchors the Eagles' special teams units, where both the team's power play (26.4 percent) and penalty kill (92.6 percent) lead the nation. The Eagles also led Hockey East in both categories, posting a 23.4 mark on the power play and a 95.7 mark on the penalty kill.
Despite being a junior, Keller already set the Boston College and Hockey East career points and assist records for defensemen. She currently has 110 career points and 86 career assists to top the Eagles' charts, while her 74 career points and 59 career assists in 63 Hockey East games are the new conference benchmarks for defensemen.
Just 20 years old, Keller is already a three-year member of the U.S. National Team, and missed four games earlier this year while helping Team USA win the Four Nations Cup. She has won back-to-back gold medals at the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Championships.
The sixth-ranked and top-seeded Boston College women's hockey team (24-5-5) began its 2017 Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal series earlier today against eighth-seeded Merrimack at Kelley Rink, defeating the Warriors 4-0 behind Keller's three-point day. The teams return to the ice tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m., in the best-of-three series. If needed, the squads will wrap up the series with Game 3 on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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