Just as the popularity of women's hockey keeps augmenting, so do the awards for Big Green forward Sarah Hood '98. Last week, Hood was named to both the first-ever American Women's College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) All-American squad along with the 1997-98 New England Hockey Writers All-Star team.
To add to those honors, Hood received the Sarah Devens Award as the most outstanding female athlete of the winter and was a finalist for the innaugural Patty Kazmeier award, given to the outstanding female hockey player in the country.
The most impressive of the laundry list of hardware is the Kazmeier award, given out by USA hockey. The equivalent of the men's Hobey Baker Award that is given to the outstanding male player, the Kazmeier award is the most prestigious in women's hockey at any level.
"I was really honored to be in the running for the Kazmeier award," Hood said. "USA Hockey did an excellent job in going all-out to promote the award and give it meaning in its first year."
The award was given to New Hampshire's Brandy Fisher, who joined Hood on both all-star teams. However, Hood was quick to point out that since the Northeast is still the hotbed of women's hockey, that the All-American award is primarily a regional awards team.
"There is still a gap in women's hockey outside of the Northeast and whenever people look to women's hockey, they focus on our region," she said.
The Devens award provided the most meaning to Hood, who will be the last recipient ever to have played with Devens.
"Winning the Devens award is special because I had the opportunity to play with Sarah," she said. "Furthermore, the award is voted on by all of the head coaches and it's nice to know that I am respected for my actions both on and off the ice."
Despite the numerous honors heaped upon Hood, she was quick to point out that the pool had been depleted by the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
"If Sarah [Teuting '98], Tara [Mounsey] or any of the others had been playing, their names would have dominated the post-season awards and you wouldn't have seen my name or some of the others," she said.
Hood also believes the awards put too much emphasis on statistics rather than on the entire player.
"Take somebody like Michelyne Pinard ['98]," Hood said. "What did I have, a few more points than she did? And just because of that I'm up for all of these awards. There's something wrong about that. That's why awards like the Kazmeier and Devens award mean more to me than the others."
Voting for awards is not all that irks Hood. Facing graduation in two months at the peak of her game, Hood is left as a standout in a sport with no future. Her final game against Brown in the ECAC semifinals will represent the highest level Hood will ever have the opportunity to play. Whereas a male finalist for collegiate player of the year would be entertaining tons of offers from NHL teams, Hood is left searching for a job, searching for a future in women's hockey.
"Sure, I'd love to continue playing in a pro league, even if financially it made no sense," she said. "It's very frustrating knowing that there is nowhere in this country where I can play professional hockey and knowing if you leave the country you leave the scope and the favor of USA Hockey and then, poof, there goes your shot at making the 2002 Olympics."
While Hood may have trouble securing her future in professional women's hockey, there is no doubt that she has secured her place in Dartmouth history.
