Olympic Gold Captain Hilary Knight Celebrates Hockey's Rise

The greatest thing that happened to Hilary Knight this year might be the 12-gram protein Uncrustable. At least, that's what her teammates joke about the Olympic gold medalist and her surprisingly simple taste in sandwiches.

The 36-year-old hockey legend recently spoke at U.S. Soccer's SheBelieves Summit in Seattle, fresh off playing a league match the night before in Vancouver. Just two months earlier, she captained Team USA to an epic overtime victory against Canada at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, earning her fifth Olympic medal.

Knight described the post-Olympics experience as "the wildest ride imaginable." She delivered the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, appeared on the Tonight Show, and traded her skates for high heels at the Academy Awards.

But one experience stands above the rest for Knight. For the first time in women's hockey history, she gets to return to a professional league after Olympic glory instead of facing a gap with nowhere to play.

The Professional Women's Hockey League launched just three years ago in 2023. Now it's setting records that prove women's hockey has arrived as a major sport.

On April 4, Madison Square Garden sold out its first-ever women's hockey game. The matchup between the New York Sirens and Knight's Seattle Torrent drew over 18,000 fans, setting a new U.S. attendance record for the sport.

The Ripple Effect

The impact reaches far beyond packed arenas. Youth registration for women's hockey has continuously increased since the PWHL's formation, with a huge bump in participation following February's Olympic Games.

Young players now see a clear career path ahead of them. They watch Knight and her teammates compete professionally, knowing they can dream of doing the same someday.

That's a fresh feeling for women athletes. Soccer legend Julie Foudy, who moderated Knight's keynote, remembers when winning international tournaments meant returning home to semi-professional leagues or heading overseas just to keep playing.

Today's landscape looks completely different. Women's sports enjoy unprecedented support, visibility, and funding. The National Women's Soccer League recently saw Denver's home debut draw 63,004 fans, shattering previous attendance records.

Knight and her generation fought for this infrastructure. Now they get to enjoy it while inspiring the next wave of athletes who won't have to wonder if their sport has a future.

"When you have that kind of love and deep, deep trust in one another, anything can happen in the best way possible," Knight said about her Olympic team. The same could be said for the growing community rallying around women's hockey.