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It’s inevitable, really, when younger hockey players join the U.S. Women’s National Team. Eventually, those players pull up a picture, and there they are posing and smiling with teammate Hilary Knight back when they were kids and she was the face of a generation of women’s hockey players.
Suffice it to say that a whole lot of Michigan kids will have those snapshots too, because PWHL Detroit acquired Knight by trade Tuesday, making the star the face of the first-year franchise in the process.
“It’s funny, it’s come full circle,” said defenseman Megan Keller, who grew up in Farmington Hills and earned the PWHL’s Defender of the Year Award on Tuesday. “These are the players that inspired you to chase after your dreams, and now you get the opportunity to be teammates with them. It’s pretty cool.”
PWHL Detroit and GM Manon Rheaume acquired Knight from fellow expansion team PWHL Las Vegas in a sign-and-trade by dealing the third overall pick in Wednesday’s PWHL Draft. That leaves the Detroit team without a first-round pick, though it still picks 15th overall in the 12-team league. While the trade was completed Tuesday when a trade freeze lifted, reports of the deal leaked last week.
Knight, 36, has been a Team USA regular since cracking the roster as a high school senior in 2007. Then through a four-year career at Wisconsin that included two national championships while playing for the national team, she emerged as a star. Knight has played in five Olympics, winning gold twice — including this past Olympics in Milano Cortina, a team she captained — and silver three times.
In Milano Cortina, a goal in the gold medal game made Knight the Olympic recordholder in career goals (15) and points (33). At the World Championships, Knight and Team USA have won 10 gold medals and five silver. Four times she led those tournaments in scoring, and twice she was named the best forward in them.
More: Kirsten Simms' hockey journey comes full circle at PWHL Draft
An integral part of Knight’s story, however, is her attention to the sport’s next generation — those photos with young hockey players who will play long after her are just one element of that.
Since joining the senior and professional ranks in 2012, Knight has been an outspoken advocate for players’ rights and sustainable growth in women’s hockey, including the establishment of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in 2019, which boycotted fractured professional leagues to form one unified PWHL.
The PWHL — and its Detroit expansion team — would not exist without Knight and the efforts of her peers.
“Her impact off the ice is huge,” Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel said, clutching trophies as the league’s Goaltender of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP. “I mean, she’s a huge reason why this league is here, and she’s been a trailblazer for women’s hockey forever, for my entire career. I’ve always looked up to her. She’s an incredible goal scorer and such a smart player, but most importantly, a great captain and a great leader.”
In Detroit, Knight will play for her second expansion team after a one-year stint with the Seattle Torrent (technically third, if one counts a paper transaction to Las Vegas). Those early reports of Knight's trade caused a bit of a stir.
“As these teams went through the process, they’ve had lots of conversations about lots of players and some trades and that sort of thing,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations, on Tuesday. “And so obviously that was something that we heard early on, but nothing was approved by the league until today when the trade lift happened at 9 a.m.”
For Knight, the past couple of years may have been turbulent, but a star of her caliber can do a lot to aid the league in breaking into new markets.
“I think the beauty of the PWHL is we’re a single-entity league,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s senior vice president of business operations. “And we get to do things that is in the best interest of all 12 teams. We want parity in our league. We want every game to be competitive, every shift to be competitive, and so we don’t have to conduct our business the way every other league does.”
Former teammates say that Knight’s leadership will be a big help for PWHL Detroit.
“Someone like Hilary is someone that can bring teams together,” Frankel said. “She’s an incredible leader, she’s led on the highest levels and the biggest stages of the Olympics, world championships. She’s just a legend in every category. I think to have someone like that in the locker room that you can look up to and that you can lean on is, I mean, there’s no one like (her), so it’s really a treat for Detroit.”
“She’s an incredible player, incredible teammate,” added Keller. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be her teammate for over 10 years now. It feels like an eternity, but a great leader, great ambassador for our sport and in the community. So Detroit got a good one. I know my hometown will like her a lot.”
[email protected]
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: PWHL stars wowed by Detroit trade for 'legend' Hilary Knight
Continue reading...
Suffice it to say that a whole lot of Michigan kids will have those snapshots too, because PWHL Detroit acquired Knight by trade Tuesday, making the star the face of the first-year franchise in the process.
“It’s funny, it’s come full circle,” said defenseman Megan Keller, who grew up in Farmington Hills and earned the PWHL’s Defender of the Year Award on Tuesday. “These are the players that inspired you to chase after your dreams, and now you get the opportunity to be teammates with them. It’s pretty cool.”
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PWHL Detroit and GM Manon Rheaume acquired Knight from fellow expansion team PWHL Las Vegas in a sign-and-trade by dealing the third overall pick in Wednesday’s PWHL Draft. That leaves the Detroit team without a first-round pick, though it still picks 15th overall in the 12-team league. While the trade was completed Tuesday when a trade freeze lifted, reports of the deal leaked last week.
Knight, 36, has been a Team USA regular since cracking the roster as a high school senior in 2007. Then through a four-year career at Wisconsin that included two national championships while playing for the national team, she emerged as a star. Knight has played in five Olympics, winning gold twice — including this past Olympics in Milano Cortina, a team she captained — and silver three times.
In Milano Cortina, a goal in the gold medal game made Knight the Olympic recordholder in career goals (15) and points (33). At the World Championships, Knight and Team USA have won 10 gold medals and five silver. Four times she led those tournaments in scoring, and twice she was named the best forward in them.
More: Kirsten Simms' hockey journey comes full circle at PWHL Draft
An integral part of Knight’s story, however, is her attention to the sport’s next generation — those photos with young hockey players who will play long after her are just one element of that.
Since joining the senior and professional ranks in 2012, Knight has been an outspoken advocate for players’ rights and sustainable growth in women’s hockey, including the establishment of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in 2019, which boycotted fractured professional leagues to form one unified PWHL.
The PWHL — and its Detroit expansion team — would not exist without Knight and the efforts of her peers.
“Her impact off the ice is huge,” Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel said, clutching trophies as the league’s Goaltender of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP. “I mean, she’s a huge reason why this league is here, and she’s been a trailblazer for women’s hockey forever, for my entire career. I’ve always looked up to her. She’s an incredible goal scorer and such a smart player, but most importantly, a great captain and a great leader.”
In Detroit, Knight will play for her second expansion team after a one-year stint with the Seattle Torrent (technically third, if one counts a paper transaction to Las Vegas). Those early reports of Knight's trade caused a bit of a stir.
“As these teams went through the process, they’ve had lots of conversations about lots of players and some trades and that sort of thing,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations, on Tuesday. “And so obviously that was something that we heard early on, but nothing was approved by the league until today when the trade lift happened at 9 a.m.”
For Knight, the past couple of years may have been turbulent, but a star of her caliber can do a lot to aid the league in breaking into new markets.
“I think the beauty of the PWHL is we’re a single-entity league,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s senior vice president of business operations. “And we get to do things that is in the best interest of all 12 teams. We want parity in our league. We want every game to be competitive, every shift to be competitive, and so we don’t have to conduct our business the way every other league does.”
Former teammates say that Knight’s leadership will be a big help for PWHL Detroit.
“Someone like Hilary is someone that can bring teams together,” Frankel said. “She’s an incredible leader, she’s led on the highest levels and the biggest stages of the Olympics, world championships. She’s just a legend in every category. I think to have someone like that in the locker room that you can look up to and that you can lean on is, I mean, there’s no one like (her), so it’s really a treat for Detroit.”
“She’s an incredible player, incredible teammate,” added Keller. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be her teammate for over 10 years now. It feels like an eternity, but a great leader, great ambassador for our sport and in the community. So Detroit got a good one. I know my hometown will like her a lot.”
[email protected]
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: PWHL stars wowed by Detroit trade for 'legend' Hilary Knight
Continue reading...
