SportsAsToldByAGirl Spotlight: Hilary Knight

Photo Credit: Harry How/ Getty Images

Hockey season has officially kicked off and many teams have already shown who has their eyes on the Stanley Cup, but once again, the male version of the sport overshadows the female version. However, one female player who is known for being as good or even better than some of her male counterparts is forward, Hillary Knight.

While Knight had a big career before she was even in college, her presence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison really helped to get her name out there. During her time with the Badgers, Knight appeared in 161 games, accumulated 143 goals, 119 assists, and 262 points. Her college career also got her many accolades such as multiple WCHA Offensive Player of the Week awards and was able to take the Badgers to the NCAA championships two years in a row; coming in second in 2008 and then winning it all in 2009.

Her professional career really took off when she was drafted into the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2012 and Knight continued her career with the Boston Blades. During her time with the Blades, Knight appeared in 41 games with 29 goals and 33 assists, but Knight wasn’t done there. In 2015, she moved to the National Women’s Hockey League in 2015 where she plays for the Boston Pride.

However, one of her biggest accomplishments has to be competing in the 2010 and 2014 Team USA Olympics where she became the youngest person to compete in the games at age 20. During her time at the Olympics, Knight played in a total of ten games, finishing with four goals and ten assists along with two silver medals. Knight’s presence brings up an interesting question about women and hockey like why isn’t there a professional women’s league like the NHL or at least one woman in the NHL right now? Since Knight was obviously good enough to get the women’s USA hockey team two silver medals, why wouldn’t she be good enough to at least make an NHL roster at this point in her career?

Even if Knight didn’t make the team as a player, players could certainly benefit from her as a coach. Women like Jen Welter and Justine Siegal can both vouch for that. The closest that Knight has gotten to achieving anything like Welter and Siegal is practicing with the Anaheim Ducks which is assumed to be the first time that a female has practiced with an NHL team which is a pretty big milestone.

While coaching seems to be enough for Welter and Siegal for now at least, Knight seems more focused on actually making a roster and at the age of 26, she is in the right age group to make a team and has the talent to justify it.  Knight has shown that she can talk the talk and walk the walk which is why she would be the perfect first female NHL player. Until those words are actually uttered, it looks like Knight will still continue working her butt off which she bared in ESPN’s Body Issue last year. Knight is truly what the NHL needs right now and would be a welcomed presence by many.