Award to be presented at annual Ms. Hockey Banquet Feb. 22 in St. Paul

Let’s Play Hockey and the Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association (MGHCA) announced there will be a season award added to the annual Ms. Hockey and Jori Jones Awards.

Let’s Play Hockey and the MGHCA will present the Senior Defenseman of the Year award at the annual Ms. Hockey Banquet, held in February following the girls state high school hockey tournament.

“The MGHCA supports and is looking forward to recognizing players for their contributions to their teams that may not show up every day on the scoresheet,” said MGCHA Executive Director Tim Morris. “As veteran hockey coaches know, having players who can control their defensive zone while providing an offensive stimulus every now and then are invaluable to the overall success of the team. We expect competition for this new award to extremely competitive with many skilled senior athletes to be nominated by their coaches.”

The Ms. Hockey Award is given to the state’s most outstanding senior all-around player. Last season the award went to Grand Rapids/Greenway forward Mercury Bischoff. The Jori Jones Award is given to the state’s top senior goaltender. It is named in honor of Jori Jones, a former semifinalist for the award (2022) who died in a car accident in 2023. Last season’s recipient was Minnetonka’s Layla Hemp.

The Ms. Hockey Award is typically given to a forward although defensemen have been eligible and often amongst the finalists and semifinalists. With the new Senior Defenseman of the Year Award, those players will still be eligible for the Ms. Hockey Award.

“We certainly don’t want to prohibit a player from being a candidate for Ms. Hockey just because they play defense,” said Let’s Play Hockey owner Bryan Zollman. “So yes, there is a chance a defensemen could win both awards, which has happened in boys’ hockey.”

The Ms. Hockey Banquet is slated for Feb. 22 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. The Ms. Hockey Award was created in 1996 with Winny Brodt winning the first award. The Jori Jones Award was initially the Senior Goalie of the Year Award and was awarded to Blaine’s Katie Beauduy in 1999.

Coaches nominate players for the award and then the award is voted on by a panel of high school and college coaches. Let’s Play Hockey will announce the semifinalists in early February and the finalists before the girls state tournament.

“Quite frankly this award is long overdue,” said Zollman of the Senior Defenseman of the Year Award. “We have so many great hockey players who stand tall on the blue line for their team and we need to recognize them for their skill and effort.”

The Annual Minnesota Wild Leadership Summit is free of charge and is open to boys and girls high school hockey captains/team leaders and coaches.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from industry leaders, coaches and former captains from the State of Hockey and beyond.

Please note that lunch will also be served this year!