Casey O’Brien’s decision to head west to play her college hockey at Wisconsin sure has paid off.
O’Brien, a fifth-year senior who’s originally from Milton, Mass., not only won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s best female hockey player, but she also helped Wisconsin capture the national title — the third championship she’s won at the school.
"It's a surreal feeling," O'Brien said of winning the Kazmaier Award. "It's one of those things you dream of as a little kid but you're not sure it's ever going to happen but this year with the amazing team that we had it could've been any of us."
O’Brien broke the Wisconsin record for most points in a season this year (88) and also set a school record for most career points (274).
Wisconsin had three players nominated as Kazmaier Award finalists this year, with Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.) and Laila Edwards joining O’Brien.
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“This is probably the most fun season that I’ve had here at Wisconsin,” she said. “The team this year is kind of built different. Anyone can go out there and produce, so it’s just been so much fun to play on the ice, and I think with our team success comes the individual success.”
Wisconsin won the national championship on March 23 with a 4-3 overtime decision over Ohio State. Kirsten Simms scored the game-tying goal on a penalty shot with 18.9 seconds left before delivering the winner in the extra frame.
Simms became a trusted partner for O’Brien.
“We could kind of like feel like there was some easy chemistry where it's almost like I know where she's going to be without necessarily looking, and she kind of feels the same way,” O’Brien said of Simms. “I might not even look and put a pass into space, and then, I look up, and she's there. It's just kind of almost like a telepathic connection.”
O’Brien led the nation with 62 assists this season, and she believes there are two components to being a great passer in ice hockey.
“It's just this ability to know where each other is going to be,” she said. “Then, [it’s] the vision to maybe see lanes for passes that other people might not see that the defenders did not pick up on.”
O’Brien surpassed Olympic champion Hilary Knight for the most career points in Wisconsin history this season.
To be mentioned in the same conversation as her, O’Brien said, was “unbelievable” and “an honor.”
“When I was growing up, I was watching her in the Olympics. She was one of my favorite players,” O’Brien said. “I was watching her and thinking, ‘I want to be in her shoes one day. I want to be accomplishing the things that she's doing, whether it's the Olympics or her success with the Badgers. It's crazy now having played with her on Team USA or, like, she texted me today. That's like still crazy to me.”
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Simms heaped praise on her teammate.
“I'm so proud of her,” Simms said. “I mean, she's obviously such an incredible player. She's shown that since she came in here her freshman year. She's someone that I've honestly looked up to when I was in youth hockey and before I got here and I was super excited to get the opportunity to play on a team with her. Now I've gotten an opportunity to play aside her for the last two years and it's just been unbelievable. She's so talented and so fun to play with.”
O’Brien ends her college career in the top 10 in the NCAA record books in points and assists.
