February 3, 2009

By Dave McMahon
Special to USAHockey.com

Kiira Dosdall’s family ties run deep at Colgate University. So deep, in fact, that she’s able see her father, Mike, a former Colgate player himself, any time she chooses.

“They have pictures lined up in the hallway where we warm up in the rink, so my dad’s team pictures are there,” said Dosdall, a native of Fairfield, Conn. “One time we were warming up and one of my teammates was stopped in her tracks. She pointed at this one guy in the picture and said ‘Oh no! Look at this guy’s hair.’ It was my dad. There were 200 photos to choose from, and she had to pick out my dad’s bad hair.”

But that’s was no sweat off Dosdall’s back. Her father has been important part of her career ever since she began playing the sport as a 5-year-old. Mike coached his daughter from age 5 to 16, first on boys’ teams in the Darien (Conn.) Youth Hockey Association, and later with the Connecticut Polar Bears girls’ teams. Mike grew up in White Bear Lake, Minn., and played at St. Paul Academy.

“He and my mom [Carol] have definitely been great supporters of mine,” Dosdall said. “They were always the ones getting me up at 5 a.m. to go to practice. I don’t think my mom has missed a game since I’ve been here.”

As a youngster, though, all Dosdall wanted to do was be like her older brother, Tom. Like their mom and dad, he also graduated from Colgate.

“When I was 5, I would sit there and put on all of my brother’s equipment,” Dosdall said. “One time I took it on and off about 10 times in a row, and he didn’t really like that.”

Dosdall eventually secured her own equipment, and is now among the potential candidates for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the most outstanding player in women’s college hockey. Her 23 points (4 goals, 19 assists) in 27 games ranks third in the nation among defensemen in points per game (0.85).

Dosdall quarterbacks a power play that ranks third in the nation, scoring at rate of nearly 25 percent.

“Our power play has been unbelievable this year,” she said. “I just stand at the blue blue line and pass it to Sam Hunt and she fires a one-timer. She’s got a scary shot that I would not want to be in front of.”

Dosdall played on boys’ teams in Darien through her Squirt years, then moved to the Polar Bears. The well-established Polar Bears allowed Dosdall to thrive in an ideal situation.

“I was about average on that team when I first started,” she said. “It was a nice change from playing with the boys. I was just talking to one of my teammates the other day about how much nicer it was to start playing on girls’ teams because you fit in so much better socially.”

Thanks to a Polar Bears team that was loaded with Division I players, Dosdall secured the USA Hockey 19-Under national title as a junior in high school.

“That was really cool because we only had eight skaters at the national tournament,” Dosdall said. “Some of the players couldn’t make it. Sarah Vaillancourt was on the team, but she couldn’t make it to nationals. We played defense with three players. I loved it that way. We consistently only had three or four defensemen at my high school [Loomis Chaffee], so I was used to it.”

Vaillancourt, now a senior at Harvard, claimed the Patty Kazmaier Awad last year, so Dosdall knows the pedigree that comes with the honor.

“It’s a huge honor, and one that I never thought I would have been considered for,” Dosdall said. “I can’t imagine what other people are being considered—the Vaillancourts of the world. I follow it every year because the players who are up for it make it the most honorable award in college hockey.”

Dosdall didn’t need much of a push to land at Colgate.

“There was definitely a huge family attraction to the decision to come here,” she said. “It’s become sort of a tradition in our family. Plus I thought it would be cool to play where my dad played. I didn’t even consider that part of the decision at first, but it ended up making my decision. I love the team and I love the team. It’s one of the best schools in the country, and they offer scholarships.”

Colgate also provided Dosdall with a chance to show steady improvement of her tenure there.

“The coaches here are so dedicated to improving every player,” she said. “When I look at myself from freshman year to now, I’m a completely different hockey player. I owe that to the coaches. They force you to dedicate yourself. I get a lot of motivation from them.”

Dosdall readily admits her favorite part of playing the game is the competition.

“Being part of my team is the most fun,” Dosdall said. “My team keeps me going. I like to think I have the best team in the world. From a hockey-playing standpoint, playing teams like Harvard or Dartmouth or any of those ranked teams is always the best part.”

She also will bring some fun-filled memories with her when she departs the campus in Hamilton, N.Y.

“One of the best moments was in my sophomore year when we beat Princeton for the first time ever. We were playing in the ECAC Tournament for the first time, and we beat them,” Dosdall said. “That, and when our goalie, Brook Wheeler, got up to speak at the banquet before the ECAC Tournament. She brought an inhaler up and had the funniest speech I’ve ever heard.”

Off the ice, Dosdall, a sociology major, participates in the team’s annual Walk for Cancer. A “Pink at the Rink” event raised money for cancer research by auctioning player-worn jerseys. Dosdall also reads to second grade classes at elementary schools in Hamilton. Dosdall holds a 3.4 grade-point average while achieving elite status on the ice.

“Hockey and school are my two focuses,” she said. “I can’t imagine abandoning hockey. I’ll definitely be connected somehow. I’d like to work at a prep school and coach.”

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.