Hilary Knight

Hilary Knight
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Name	Hilary Knight
Caption	Knight with the United States women's national ice hockey team in 2018
Birth date	12 July 1989
Birth place	Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Height in	11
Weight lb	172
Position	Forward
Shoots	Right
League	PHF
Former teams	Minnesota Whitecaps, Boston Blades, Boston Pride, Montreal Stars, ZSC Lions
National team	United States
Ntl team	USA
Draft	Undrafted
Career start	2009

Hilary Knight is an American professional ice hockey forward and a central figure in the United States women's national ice hockey team. Renowned for her scoring prowess and physical play, she has been a dominant force in international women's hockey for over a decade. Knight has won multiple IIHF Women's World Championship gold medals and Olympic medals, including gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. She currently plays for the Boston Pride in the Premier Hockey Federation and is widely considered one of the greatest players in the sport's history.

Early life and education

Born in Palo Alto, California, Knight grew up in Chicago before her family moved to Sun Valley, Idaho. She began skating at age five and was heavily influenced by watching the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where the United States women's national ice hockey team won the inaugural gold medal. Knight attended the prestigious Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, where she excelled in both ice hockey and field hockey. She then played collegiate hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers, under coach Mark Johnson, winning two NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship titles in 2009 and 2011. During her tenure with the Badgers, she was a three-time Patty Kazmaier Award finalist and set numerous program scoring records.

Ice hockey career

Following her collegiate career, Knight joined the Boston Blades of the then-Canadian Women's Hockey League, winning the Clarkson Cup in 2013 and 2015. She has also played for the Montreal Stars, the Minnesota Whitecaps, and had a stint with the ZSC Lions in the Swiss SWHL A. A foundational player in the PHF, Knight was a member of the Boston Pride team that won the Isobel Cup in the league's inaugural 2015–16 season. Her professional career has been marked by advocacy for better pay and conditions for women's hockey players, notably participating in the 2019 boycott that led to the formation of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. She is known for her powerful shot, strong board play, and consistent point production across every league she has competed in.

International play

Knight made her senior debut for the United States women's national ice hockey team at the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship. She has since become one of the most decorated American players, participating in multiple IIHF Women's World Championship tournaments, winning gold medals in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2023. A four-time Olympian, she won silver medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, before capturing the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she added another silver medal to her collection. Knight has been named to numerous World Championship All-Star Teams and holds several tournament scoring records, including being the all-time leading scorer for Team USA at the World Championships.

Personal life

Knight is an active advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and women's sports. She has been featured in campaigns for the You Can Play Project and Athlete Ally. In 2022, she became engaged to former FC Bayern Munich and USWNT soccer player Michele Vasconcelos. Knight is also a published author, having co-written the children's book The Big Book of Who in Hockey. She maintains a strong social media presence, using her platform to promote gender equality in sports and to support initiatives like the Women's Sports Foundation. Outside of hockey, she enjoys golf, skiing, and spending time in Idaho.

Awards and honors

Knight's extensive accolades include two NCAA national championships with the Wisconsin Badgers. She is a nine-time IIHF Women's World Championship gold medalist and a four-time Olympic medalist. Individually, she has been named the IIHF World Championship Most Valuable Player and has made multiple World Championship All-Star Teams. In the PHF, she was named the Isobel Cup Playoffs MVP in 2016. Knight was also selected for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame's "Greatest U.S. Women's Hockey Players" list and has been a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award on three occasions. Her jersey number was retired by the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program in 2022. Category:American women's ice hockey players Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Category:Players of the United States women's national ice hockey team Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni