The Rise of Hilary Knight
We all know her as part of the women’s USA hockey team. She has been a vital part of the team in the last few years.
Hilary was born in Palo Alto, California, but did not grow up there. She grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois and Hanover, New Hampshire. When she moved to Illinois, her mother enrolled Hilary and her 3 brothers into hockey. Her family isnt a hockey family, more of a skiing family. Hilary’s cousin is 3 time olympic alpine skier Chip Knight.
In 2007-2008, during her freshman year, she was playing for the Wisconsin Badgers. Knight was 2nd in goals (20), and 5th in assists (18). She was ranked 7th in the nation for points per game by a rookie. In that season. Hilary had 12 multi-point games. She was ranked 3rd. She led the team in game winning goals (6). In February of that season, she recorded a hat trick against the teams rival, North Dakota. During her sophomore year, Hilary recorded a career and school night of 5 goals in one game and her first natural hat trick. Later in the season, she recorded her 2nd hat trick. Playing in the Frozen Four that year, she led the team in scoring, with 3 goals and 3 assists. In the span of a month, she had a 9 game point scoring streak.
In 2012, Hilary was selected 4th overall by the Boston Blades of the CWHL. She ended the season with being 3rd overall in the CWHL scoring. She also became the 1st American Born player to win the CWHL MVP Award. She was the leading scorer in the 2013 postseason and helped the Blades win the Clarkson Cup. She would then go on to the NWHL for 3 seasons and return to the CWHL for one season.
Hilary took a year off from the University of Wisconsin to become a member of Team USA. She was the youngest member of either team, men’s and women’s. Knight took a year (2009–2010) off from school at the While competing that year, she tallied 7 assists and 1 goal. That one goal came in against Team Finland, and she earned a silver medal that year. In 2014, she was tied for lead in points with 6 and was named to the Media All-Star team at the end of the games. In 2018, Hilary scored Team USA’s first goal in the last game and she earned the gold medal. In January 2022, she was named to Team USA roster to head to the 2022 Winter Olympics. Hilary has played in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She also played in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, 2018 Winter Olympics that were hosted in Pyeongchang, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Samantha Wismer - American Beauties Podcast/ Olde City Sports Network
Photo Credit - John E Sokolowski - USA TODAY SPORTS & KEVIN JAIRAG
