Over the Team USA women’s hockey team’s run to Olympic gold, there was no player more valuable than Caroline “KK” Harvey.
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Harvey, a defenseman who grew up in both Salem and Pelham, was named the tournament’s most valuable player after the U.S. went undefeated over seven games at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
When she returned stateside, the 23-year-old helped the University of Wisconsin win two Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) tournament games.
For her efforts on both the world and college stage last month, Harvey was chosen as the February New Hampshire Union Leader Apple Therapy Services/Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center/Express MED Athlete of the Month by the Union Leader Board of Judges.
This was Harvey’s second trip to the Winter Games. She helped Team USA take silver in 2022 at the Beijing games, which had heavy COVID-19-related restrictions.
“It was great, especially with family and friends there,” Harvey told the Union Leader earlier this month of her most recent Olympic experience. “I enjoyed it all. It went by really quick but our end goal was to go there and capture gold and I was excited to do that and proud of our group.”
Harvey recorded eight points on two goals and six assists for Team USA, which outscored its opponents 33-2. Team USA defeated rival Canada 2-1 in overtime in the final on Feb. 19.
The gold medal marked Team USA’s third overall and first since 2018. This was its first unbeaten run in a Winter Games since the 1998 team that featured Concord’s Tara Mounsey, Salem’s Katie King and Derry’s Tricia Dunn.
Harvey had consecutive three-point games in preliminary-round wins over Switzerland and Canada, prompting Team USA men’s hockey player Matthew Tkachuk to compare her to a Boston Bruins legend.
“Caroline Harvey’s like Bobby Orr,” he told reporters after watching the U.S. women beat Canada 5-0 in the preliminary round. “She was the best player on the ice, it felt like, by a lot. She was incredible.”
Harvey has been asked about that comment a lot since then.
“That was really nice of him,” she said. “Bobby Orr, he was a legend and no one compares to him but it meant a lot, obviously, coming from him (Tkachuk).”
When Harvey rejoined Wisconsin, the Badgers were about to play Bemidji State in the opening round of the WCHA tournament.
Wisconsin swept the Beavers by a combined 10-2 score, the WCHA Player of the Year, Harvey logged four assists in the series.
The Badgers won the NCAA Division I national championship for the second consecutive season and Harvey won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award earlier this month. The Patty Kazmaier is given annually to the top women’s college hockey player.
Harvey leaves nine-time NCAA champion Wisconsin with the most points by a defender (201) and second-most assists (147) in program history. She helped the Badgers win three national titles over four trips to the final during her tenure.
“We’ve all seen what she’s done on the ice and we all noticed her Game 1 as a freshman when she came in after (her) Olympic year,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said after the Badgers beat Ohio State University 3-2 in the national title game on March 22. “She’s going to be a world-class player.”
Other athletes considered for the February award were Stanford University men’s basketball player Ebuka Okorie, Exeter High School indoor track athlete Lexi Paterna, Pinkerton Academy gymnast Rebecca King, Bedford High School swimmer Tyler Chun, Derryfield School senior swimmer/skier Jake Oliviero and Lin-Wood Public School skier Carver Krill.
A freshman guard from Nashua, Okorie averaged 28 points, four assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals as the NCAA Division I Cardinal went 3-2 in February.
Paterna, a junior, set two state records and won three events as Exeter won the NHIAA Division I Indoor Championships with a meet-record 126 points on Feb. 8.
King, a senior from Derry, won both the all-around (37.85 score) and vault (9.55) as she helped Pinkerton win the NHIAA Gymnastics State Championship with a state-record score of 149.025 on Feb. 14.
A junior, Chun won four events, including the 100-yard butterfly in a state-record time (50.03 seconds), as Bedford won its sixth straight NHIAA Division I title on Feb. 13-14.
Oliviero, a senior from Bedford, posted two top-three finishes at both the NHIAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships and the Division IV Alpine Skiing Championships and two top-10 finishes at the NHIAA Alpine Skiing Meet of Champions last month.
Krill, a freshman, won both the giant slalom and slalom races as he led Lin-Wood to the NHIAA Division IV Alpine Skiing Championship on Feb. 10, then won the giant slalom and took second in the slalom at the NHIAA Meet of Champions on Feb. 18.
Previous 2026 winner: January, Nolan Walsh, Concord (hockey).
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