The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey senior captain Caroline Ouellette was named a top-10 finalist for the 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for the second consecutive season. The USA Hockey Foundation announced the top-10 finalists for the eighth annual award.

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recognizes the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in women's college hockey. Criteria for the award including outstanding team and individual skills, performance in the clutch, sportsmanship, personal character, competitiveness, a love of hockey, and may including academic achievement and civic involvement.

Ouellette is the third member of the Bulldogs to earn a spot on the top-10 list for the award for the second straight season. Former UMD players Jenny Potter (2000, 2002, 2003) and Maria Rooth (2000-2002) have also been members of the top-10 list at least twice in their careers. While UMD has never had a winner of the award, last season Jenny Potter was the runner-up.

The Montreal, Que. native, is one of five named to the list from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin had each of its nominees named to the top-10 as Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz from the Gophers and Carla McLeod and Molly Engstrom from the Badgers made the list.

Rounding out the final five spots are Julie Chu and Nicole Corriero from Harvard, Desi Clark from Mercyhurst, Cherie Piper from Dartmouth, and Rebecca Russell from St. Lawrence.

The list will be narrowed down to three on March 14, 2005, with the award being given out on March 26, 2005 in New Hampshire during the 2005 Women's Frozen Four.