For a rivalry to burn bright, both sides must have a chance to win.
The razor-thin margin between the U.S. and Canadian women’s national hockey teams is what makes every game between the two sides so special.
And after Hilary Knight’s hat trick fuelled the Americans’ gold-medal victory in 2023, the Canadians flipped the script last Sunday, with a 6-5 win in Utica, N.Y.
Even with a silver medal to add to her trophy case, Knight couldn’t help but marvel at the quality and excitement of what just went down.
“What a great game to be a part of,” said the U.S. captain, who added to her all-time record on Sunday with her 65th goal in world championship play. “Obviously, you want to win more, but when you finally have that moment to reflect, it was so back and forth — and a lot of fun.”
Having participated in every world championship since 2007, winning nine golds and five silvers along the way, the 34-year-old also set a new record on Sunday for the most medals of all time from women’s worlds, surpassing Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser (seven gold and six silver).
Viewing the tournament through her veteran’s eyes, Knight is excited about the young blood that’s infusing Team USA and other programs. In her first appearance with the U.S. senior national team, 20-year-old Laila Edwards tied for the tournament lead with six goals and was named most valuable player.
“Just an unbelievable breakout performance,” Knight said. “It was outstanding to see someone step up that big. And — you know the gap, right? It’s pretty significant, and sometimes it takes years to really feel comfortable on that stage. But sure enough, Laila’s number gets called and she’s out there just ripping pucks and finding the back of the net, effortlessly. That was huge for our squad.”
Already with one gold and three silvers on the Olympic stage, Knight can match Wickenheiser’s five appearances in Italy in 2026. And after witnessing the strides that nations other than Canada and the U.S. have taken with their games in Utica, she believes these Games will be about more than just that storied rivalry.
“It was really cool to see Germany step up and take take their pool by storm,” she said. “There’s just so many great things that are happening, and obviously with the new league and developing players from all over, it’s definitely going to be spicy.”
In the new PWHL, Knight serves as captain for Boston — a squad that includes two impressive forwards who hail from European nations. Switzerland’s Alina Muller leads the team with 13 points while Finland’s Susanna Tapani, who was acquired by trade in February, has eight points in total this season.
“I think whenever you have the best players in the world playing in the same spot, it’s going to do wonders for the game and also help our development as well,” she said. “We’ve been stuck in our silos of our stylistic approach to hockey, so to be able to learn from other players is just as important. And it truly is a dream come true to be able to elevate the game in this way.”
With the international break complete, the PWHL schedule resumes on Thursday. Each of the six teams has five regular-season games remaining before the top four advance to the playoffs in May.
And while Knight’s Boston squad currently sits fifth in the standings with 22 points, the league’s 3-2-1-0 point system means that 15 points are still potentially up for grabs — and fourth-place Ottawa is only five points ahead.
“We’re hungry,” Knight said. “We understand the Boston climate of sports and the winning culture here, and we want to be a part of that. Obviously, championships take time, but I think there’s so many points in the air right now, we want to get our foot in that door to put ourselves in a playoff position.”
In the midst of her team’s playoff push, Knight has also teamed up with Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and William Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights to help select the next six inductees to Great Clips’ ‘Hockey Hair Hall of Fame’ as part of their ‘Show Your Flow’ campaign, which kicked off Wednesday.
“Hockey hair is just so much so part of the sport,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s awesome because it’s a way to show individuality and your own flair and creativity, while still being a part of a team. When this opportunity came about, I was like, ‘Absolutely, let’s go!’ This is so much fun because it is a fun part of the game.”
On the women’s side, we’re used to seeing the players’ long ponytails dangling below the back of their helmets.
“You know, Kendall Coyne with her braid, right? It’s sort of that iconic thing,” Knight said. “But when you take your helmet off, everyone’s got different flow.”
Another innovation this year in the PWHL was the decision to move the players’ name bars down to the bottom of the jerseys, away from the ponytails and fully visible to the fans.
The last time the women’s world championship was held on U.S. soil, in 2017, Knight was part of the group of American players who staged a boycott ahead of the tournament, successfully demanding better pay and support. It was a watershed moment, and ultimately helped pave the path to the launch of the PWHL this year.
“I always think we deserve more, right?” she said. “So I think that’s what keeps us super hungry all the time, is sort of that insatiable feeling that there’s so much more to be accomplished and more to achieve for the sport. But without 2017, I don’t think we have the strength to be able to break barriers as we’ve done in recent years. That was our first taste of what a unified collective voice and group could do.”
And while women’s hockey isn’t on par with the meteoric recent rise of women’s basketball and its superstar, Caitlin Clark, every success story resonates across all of women’s sports.
“It feels like we’re hitting this thing at the absolute right time, taking it in stride and continuing to move the needle forward,” Knight said. “Obviously, it’s a shared effort, whether we’re directly co-operating or not.
“The success the WNBA has — we’re going to be able to build on that with the PWHL and the NWSL, and so on. It’s just really cool to see the national and global coverage that Caitlin Clark and a handful of other draftees are getting. It’s awesome that people are talking shop and talking basketball and talking about women athletes.”
