Hilary Artwood Knight (better known as Hilary Knight) is a female professional ice hockey player who currently represents the Canadian team Les Canadiennes de Montreal. She plays in the Canadian Women Hockey League (CWHL), but as a US national, she is also a member of the United States Women’s National Ice Hockey Team.
Before plying her trade in Canada, Knight had been playing both college and professional hockey in the United States. Her career has seen her win series of accolades, including having a whole day dedicated to her by the city of Sun Valley, Idaho, which declared May 19, 2011, as Hilary Knight Day.
Hilary Knight Grew Up in a Sporting Family
Knight was born on July 12, 1989, in the high-brow Palo Alto, California. But while she was still a baby, her family moved over to reside at Lake Forest, Illinois, where the athlete grew up. However, according to her official profile on the Team USA website, her hometown is Sun Valley, Idaho. Hilary was born to James Knight and his wife, Cynthia Knight. They raised her with three brothers William Knight, James Jr. Knight, and Remington Knight.
As a mere five-year-old, Hilary told her grandmother that she would be an Olympian. Back then, she was fond of playing in all-boys teams, which attracted a lot of bullying. However, it has turned out that those tough experiences were preparing her for excellence in her future career.
Her love for sport began as a child, having grown up in a skiing family. One of her family members is Chip Knight, a three-time Olympic alpine skier. But while skiing drew her to sports, Hilary Knight eventually ditched her skis for skates and began playing hockey.
She attended Choate Rosemary Hall High School and impressed college scouts with her performances. She was eventually recruited into the University of Wisconsin-Madison ice hockey program.
Her Impressive and Highly Rated College Career
Hilary Knight was still a freshman with the Wisconsin Badgers when her talents as an ice hockey player became evident. In her freshman year, in the 2007/08 season, she finished as the second-highest scorer in the team and recorded the fifth-highest assists. During her first season, she scored several game-winning goals and quickly established herself as an essential player for the Badgers.
She took things to the next level in the second season. In 39 games, she scored 45 goals and recorded 83 points. Her goal tally was the highest in the NCAA, setting a new record for the Badgers in the organisation. Her extraordinary performances for the college team peaked in her sophomore year when she helped them win the National Championship.
After four years of remarkable performances, Hilary Knight ended her college career. She finished this phase with 262 career points and became the all-time leading scorer for the Badgers with 143 goals. In addition to those, she also has 30 game-winning goals, 37 power-play goals, and eight short-handed goals.
While in college, Hilary received a combined total of 17 awards, including the 2010 WCHA Pre-Season Player of the Year.
Hilary Knight is Building a Trophy Laden Professional Career
After her college career came to an end, Hilary Knight entered the CWHL 2012 Draft. The Boston Blades selected her, making her the fourth overall pick. In her first pro season, she finished as the third-highest scorer and won the CWHL’s Most Valuable Player Award. She was the first American-born player to receive the award.
Her performance helped Boston Blades to a trophy-winning postseason. She helped them score the 2013 Clarkson Cup. Hilary spent three seasons with the Boston Blades before she moved on to the newly formed NWHL with Boston Pride.
She joined Boston Pride in the 2015/2016 and had 15 goals and 18 assists in 17 games. Her stats made her the first-ever scoring leader in the NWHL. Aside from individual achievements at Boston Pride, she also helped the team win the first Isobel Cup.
After two seasons in the NWHL, Hilary Knight returned to the CWHL, with Les Canadiennes de Montreal. She spent one full season with the team and played 23 games, recording nine goals and eight assists. She left the CWHL at the end of the 2018/2019 season and is a member of the newly formed ice hockey association, Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).
Overall, Hilary has played more than 92 professional games, scoring more than 61 goals and has over 66 assists. She has also played 23 playoff games, scoring 24 goals and recording 16 assists.
She Stands Out as an Olympic and World Championship Icon
Even more impressive than her college and franchise career is her international career. Hilary Knight has been representing the US as a teenager and has appeared in three Olympics and ten World Championships.
She won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2018 and silvers at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. In the 2018 Olympics, she scored the team’s first goal in the final game. Out of ten World Championships, Hilary and the US team has won eight. Her non-Gold tournaments were her first two in 2007 and 2012. She won silver on both occasions.
Outside of team accolades, she also has individual awards like the 2012 Jeff Sauer Award and the 2015 IIHF World Women’s Championship Tournament MVP Award.
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What We Know About Her Personal Life
Hilary Knight has no husband because she is not yet married. But that does not mean the US ice hockey player has nobody in her life. She has been dating Frederik Andersen, a fellow professional hockey player, since 2014. They made their first public appearance together at the ESPYS in July 2014.
A Danish by nationality, Frederick is three months younger than Hilary Knight as he was born on October 2, 1989. He began his professional career in Denmark, playing for the Frederikshavn White Hawks. He has since moved to the NHL, where he has played for Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs.
.@Hilary_Knight on the #ESPYS red carpet with Anaheim Ducks G Frederik Andersen: pic.twitter.com/jXRq62OmRh
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) July 17, 2014
Despite being two of the most famous names in hockey, Hilary Knight and Frederik Andersen have kept their relationship out of public view. Some, because of that, presume they are no longer together, there is no concrete evidence to the claim. At the moment, the belief is the couple is still together.
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