Roseville's Curtin named AP player of year in girls' hockey

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Renee Curtin has one more thing in common with her sister, Ronda.

Renee joins Ronda as a winner of The Associated Press' Minnesota girls' hockey player of the year. Ronda became AP's first player of the year as a sophomore in 1997.

The Curtin sisters also were winners of Minnesota's Ms. Hockey award -- which went to Ronda in 1999 and to Renee last Sunday -- and they will play together next season at the University of Minnesota.

"It's the end of a legacy, so to speak," Roseville coach Owen Zeumer said. "It's too bad they don't have any more to send us."

Renee Curtin, a three-time All-Stater, passed both her sister and Natalie Darwitz, who skipped her junior season at Eagan to train with the U.S. National Team, to become Minnesota's leading career scorer with 544 points. She recovered from a concussion and cracked vertebra that limited her to 17 games last season and was cleared to play just a few weeks before the season began.

"We were thrilled just to have her be a normal teen-ager again," said Zeumer, noting that her concussion had led to memory loss, "let alone to have the kind of season she had."

Curtin's 65 goals and 22 assists led the Raiders to a No. 1 ranking and 23-2-1 record, though they lost in the sectionals for the second straight season. She won state titles as a seventh-grader and sophomore.

Curtin received six player-of-the-year votes, giving her the edge over Blaine goaltender Jody Horak, who had three votes. Andrea Nichols of Hibbing and Lindsay Macy of Owatonna also received votes.

Horak, who shared metro player-of-the-year honors with Curtin, was one of the most dominant goalies in state history. She led the Bengals to a 25-1-3 record, with 17 shutouts and a .68 goals-against average.

Others named to the All-State first team were Nichols, who led the state in scoring with 92 points; Joccie Cookson, a forward for state champion Bloomington Jefferson; Becky Stewart, a defender from Rosemount; and Ashley Albrecht, a defender from South St. Paul.

Nichols, a sophomore who was named second-team All-State last season, had 59 goals and 33 assists to lead the Bluejackets to a 22-5-1 record. Cookson, who finished with 45 points, scored the winning goal in Jefferson's 2-1 victory over Blaine for the state title.

Stewart had 27 goals and 32 assists while splitting time between forward and defense for the Irish, who were 0-4 without her early in the season but went 19-3-1 the rest of the way. Albrecht, who had 56 points, came up big during the sectionals, scoring goals in section victories over Rosemount and top-ranked Roseville.

Joining Macy on the second team were Blaine forward Tiffany Hagge, Jefferson forward/goalie Larissa Luther, Rochester Mayo defender Alex Zagaria, Moorhead defender Crystal Sorenson and Hibbing goalie Natalie Lamme.

The Associated Press' 2000-2001 Minnesota girls' hockey Team. x-denotes repeat selection.

FIRST TEAM

F--x-Renee Curtin, Sr., Roseville

F--Andrea Nichols, So., Hibbing

F--Joccie Cookson, Sr., Bloomington Jefferson

D--Ashley Albrecht, Jr., South St. Paul

D--Becky Stewart, Sr., Rosemount

G--Jody Horak, Sr., Blaine

SECOND TEAM

F--Lindsay Macy, So., Owatonna

F--Tiffany Hagge, Jr., Blaine

F--Larissa Luther, Sr., Bloomington Jefferson

D--Crystal Sorenson, Sr., Moorhead

D--Alex Zagaria, Sr., Rochester Mayo

G--Natalie Lamme, Sr., Hibbing

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Renee Curtin, Roseville

HONORABLE MENTION

Forwards: Katie Ward, Sr., Chaska; Jessica Horn, Jr., Park Center; Giselle Marvin, 8th, Warroad; Tanaya Reitz, Jr., Moorhead; Sharon Cole, Jr., Bloomington Jefferson; Kristina Bunker, Fr., Blaine; Caroline Smith, Jr., Edina; Martie Selvoq, 8th, Warroad; Crystal Sather, Sr., Burnsville; Ashley Dietz, So., New Ulm; April Brown, Sr., Burnsville; Jessi Lotton, Sr., Mankato East/West; Erica McKenzie, Fr., Hastings; Devon Nichols, Jr., Benilde; Noelle Sutton, Sr., Maple Grove.

Defense: Chelsey Brodt, Jr., Roseville; Heidi Westrum, Sr., Apple Valley; Nicole Magnuson, Sr., Chisago Lakes; Meghan Stotts, Sr., Hibbing; Allison O'Hara, Sr., Duluth Denfeld-Central.

Goaltenders: Robin Doepke, So., Shakopee; Amber Lindner, So., Moorhead; Amy Jones, Sr., Park Center; Johanna Ellison, 8th, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton; Ali Boe, Jr., Edina; Laura Brennan, Jr., White Bear Lake; Jenny Neveln, So., New Ulm.

Finalists for Mr. Hockey announced

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Five finalists were announced Monday for Minnesota's 17th annual Mr. Hockey award.

The Minnesota Minutemen named Jake Brenk of Breck, Mike Erickson of Eden Prairie, Tim Hambly of White Bear Lake, Aaron Johnson of Robbinsdale Armstrong and Marty Sertich of Roseville.

The Mr. Hockey award goes to the outstanding senior high school hockey player in the state, as selected by a panel of NHL scouts, Division I coaches and selected media members. Paul Martin of Elk River won the award in 2000.

The awards banquet is Sunday, March 11, at RiverCentre. The John Mariucci Award for the Class A and Class AA high school coaches of the year will also be announced then.

Tom Oseicki of Burnsville will get the Cliff Thompson Award in recognition of the state's "Old Timer Coach" of the year.