Wisconsin women's hockey: Ann-Renée Desbiens named Patty Kazmaier Award finalist

Wisconsin junior goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens was named a Patty Kazmaier Award top-three finalist by USA Hockey on Thursday. The Patty Kazmaier is the top award in women's college hockey and goes to the top player in the country as voted by a 13-member committee.

Desbiens is the fifth Badger to have been named a top-three finalist for the award. Brianna Decker, Sara Bauer, Meghan Duggan and Jessie Vetter were all named finalists and eventually won the award.

Northeastern's Kendall Coyne and last year's winner, Boston College's Alex Carpenter, are the other two finalists this year.

In addition, Desbiens was named WCHA Player of the Year on Tuesday.

It's been a record-breaking season for Desbiens, whose career numbers show that the 2015-16 season is no fluke. She leads the country with a 0.77 goals against average and a .958 save percentage, both of which would set new NCAA records if the season ended today.

In the fall, she amassed a scoreless streak of 543:33, shattering the previous record set by Vetter. Desbiens has shutouts in 53 percent of her 34 starts, while holding opponents to one goal or fewer in 29 of her 34 games. Her 18 shutouts are also a NCAA record for a single season.

Over the course of her career, Desbiens has a 67-11-5 record and 35 shutouts, which ranks third in NCAA history. She also sports a 0.98 goals-against average and .950 save percentage for her career.

The Patty Kazmaier Award will be presented at a brunch March 19 during the Frozen Four weekend hosted by the University of New Hampshire.

From the award's website: "The selection process commenced in early February when NCAA Division I women's ice hockey coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. Players who were nominated by two or more coaches were then placed on an official ballot, which was sent back to the coaches to vote for the top-10 finalists."

The three finalists -- and the eventual winner of the 2016 award -- were chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women’s hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, an at-large member and a representative of USA Hockey. It is not known precisely who makes up this committee.