Women's Hockey | 2/22/2018 12:05:00 AM
PITTSBURGH -- Before Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was honored as the 2017 Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year,
Brittany Howard of the
Robert Morris women's hockey team got to make another dream a reality after cementing her reputation as the sport's intercollegiate equivalent.
In a special VIP event downtown at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Wednesday night, Howard got to meet her hero prior to formally accepting the 2017 Sportswoman of the Year Award and becoming the first student-athlete in Robert Morris University history to be lauded by Dapper Dan Charities at the 82nd annual Dapper Dan Dinner & Sports Auction.
"Who would have thought a small-town girl from St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada would get to share the stage with her favorite hockey player, Sidney Crosby?" Howard asked rhetorically in her acceptance speech.
The reigning College Hockey America (CHA) scoring champion and Player of the Year enjoyed socializing with the three-time Stanley Cup champion, who cordially invited her to an upcoming game and locker room tour.
This marked the first time, in fact, that two hockey players concurrently won Sportsperson of the Year Awards since Dapper Dan Charities introduced its Sportswoman of the Year Award for the 1999 calendar year.
"We actually got to mingle right before we walked in and get a few photos, so it was definitely a very cool event," Howard said.
In addition to her and Crosby's coronation, RMU alumnus/trustee and Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert received the Dr. Freddie Fu Sports Leadership Award, and Steelers Hall-of-Fame receiver John Stallworth the Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award.
It made for an overwhelmingly positive experience for the redshirt senior forward, already in the midst of a historic final NCAA season, with emphasis on "overwhelming."
"I'm speechless. It was, honestly, insane. Those guys there, they've been amazing athletes, and a great general manager in Kevin Colbert," she marveled.
When Howard did speak, she told of another, earlier dream that came true the first time she put on a Colonials uniform.
"Like many female hockey players, my goal was to play college hockey. Coach
Paul Colontino made that dream a reality," Howard said.
She singled out Colontino's staff, including associate head coach
Logan Bittle, assistant coach
Chelsea Walkland, hockey operations director
Liam Cavanagh and strength coach
Jeremy Hoy, all of whom were in attendance, as well as volunteer coach and former Robert Morris standout Brianne McLaughlin for aiding her development.
Furthermore, she went on to thank RMU athletic director Dr. Craig Coleman and university president Dr. Chris Howard, who featured in
Brittany Howard's introductory highlight video at the ceremony, for their support throughout her career.
"At RMU, we are family. Our mantra is, 'Rise as one.' We support one another and all we can do," the younger Howard said. "Whether on the playing field or in the classroom, Robert Morris University is about supporting dreams and reaching goals."
Howard reached plenty of those, and collected plenty of them, for that matter, during the 2017 calendar year. Over that span, she scored 24 goals and registered 43 points.
Her 2016-17 campaign, the most prolific in program history, ended with her setting the Robert Morris single-season assist record (30) and becoming the first RMU player to win both the College Hockey America (CHA) scoring title, with 50 points, and its Player of the Year award, while setting a new Colonials record by averaging 1.58 points per game as a redshirt junior.
A Howard goal in the middle of the CHA Tournament Final versus Syracuse at HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York Mar. 4, 2017 insured the first tournament title for the Colonials since 2012 after she had already helped power RMU to its first regular-season conference title in history. The win also gave Robert Morris its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
"I'm sure John Stallworth and Sidney Crosby would agree, when you play a team sport, individual accolades are awesome," Howard said. "But it is those things you achieve with your teammates and coaches that are priceless."
The start of the 2017-18 season saw Howard named assistant captain by Colontino Sept. 18. She promptly overtook former teammate Rebecca Vint as the Colonials' career points leader in a win at Mankato Oct. 8 and joined Vint as the only other RMU player to score 70 all-time goals while clinching an upset of then-No. 5 Ohio State Nov. 25 in sudden-death overtime.
Howard ended 2017 just three goals away from breaking Vint's career record (73) and was named CHA Player of the Month for October and November, having also earned that distinction last February. Meanwhile, she was drafted tenth overall by Vint's current team, the Isobel Cup champion Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), back on Aug. 17.
Through Sunday, her 75 career goals, 100 career assists and 175 career points were, across the board, the second-most among active Division I players.
After waxing poetic about her Robert Morris family, Howard concluded, appropriately, by acknowledging her biological family--most notably, grandparents Pat and Harold Martin, who have traveled regularly to the Colonials' games.
"No matter the outcome of the game, Harold's comment has always been, 'Did you have fun? 'Cause it isn't worth doing if you're not having fun.'
"Guess what, Grandpa? I'm still having fun."
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