Hilary Knight embarks on final Olympics

Published 10:39 am Thursday, February 5, 2026

After losing twice to Canada in the last Olympics, including in the gold medal game, it became obvious to those within USA Hockey that its women’s national team needed to be infused with some youth.

The Americans looked slow and a step behind the Canadians in Beijing, so when John Wrobleski took over as the new head coach in June of 2022, he made it a priority to find a mix of players for the next Olympic cycle that included a significant number of college players.

The Americans go into this year’s Milan Cortina Winter Games as the No. 1-ranked team in the world with a roster comprised of 11 players from their 2022 silver medalist team and 12 first-time Olympians, including seven who are still in college.

“We are very, very good,” said assistant coach Brent Hill. “A big part of that is the continuity piece. We have a group that has played together for a few years now. We made an investment in younger players with more collegiate players going into the 2023 Worlds, and those players for the most part now have three world championships under their belts.

“They are prepared for an Olympics. Truly having them feeling ready at a young age to step into that next level is a huge thing.”

Hill said the youth movement wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if it wasn’t for the outstanding way the veteran leadership has helped pull the team together by bringing along the young players.

That leadership group includes four-time Olympians Kendall Coyne, the team captain, at forward and Dee Stecklein on defense.

But the most important piece to the American puzzle has been another person with Connecticut ties, 36-year-old forward Hilary Knight, who will be playing in an American men’s and women’s hockey record fifth Olympics.

She’s already announced these will be her last Olympics, even though she still plans to keep playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) where she is a star for the Seattle Torrent.

Knight told ESPN that she is in a good place knowing this will be here last Olympic games.

“Everyone has an expiration date, and you don’t know what that date is,” she said. “To have an opportunity to control that? I can kind of just appreciate things. People don’t have to keep asking, ‘Is this your last one?’ I’ve already thought through the conversations, I’ve already sat with it. I’m really at peace.”

Knight has had a storybook international hockey career. When she was in second grade, she wrote and illustrated a book she entitled “The Magical Hockey Stick,” about a little girl’s quest to go to the Olympics, and she’s spent the last three decades making it come true.

She’s played an incredible 247 games in the U.S. uniform and has averaged more than a point per game with 166 goals, 127 assists and 293 total points.

“I’ve been really cognizant of that, especially when you’re growing a game specifically in the U.S. where hockey’s more of a niche sport, you want it to be forefront,” Knight told ESPN. “You want it to be front and center.

“You’ve experienced this amazing game, and you want to share it with everybody. But as much as I’m going to put myself out there, I want my play to show up equally. And so that’s been a personal goal. Hopefully that level of compete and that competitor continues to get emphasized whenever that legacy talk does happen.”

Knight’s legacy is impressive. Her fifth Olympic appearance will tie her for the most worldwide in women’s hockey with Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford.

In leading the Americans to the 2025 IIHF World Championship title, she also broke Wickenheiser’s World Championship career record for assists by recording her 53rd, four more than the Canadian had.

Knight, who was named the USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year in 2025, led the Americans with nine points at the most recent World Championship, her record 10th title in that tournament in which she now has the career records not only for assists but for goals (67) and total points (120).

She already has the U.S. record for Olympic games played with 22, and in those games, she has 27 points with 12 goals and 15 assists. She’s managed to remain relevant for two decades.

“One of the big things with Hilary over the years is that she has never stopped her development,” Hill said. “When we get to summer festival in Lake Placid in August, she is always on the ice after doing extra skills. When we get to the rivalry series, she is always one of players working on a different shot or something in practice.

“It is a routine that she has been in her whole career. I really feel like it has gotten more and more concentrated as she has gotten older. She is the player she is on the ice, because she has found that right balance.”

Hill also believes that the Americans have found the right balance within their roster. Since the last Olympics, they have beaten Canada in two of the three world championships. After beating the Canadians, 4-3, in overtime in the most recent title game, the U.S. also dominated the Rivalry Series by winning all four games by a combined score of 24-7.

“I think we have incredible leadership led by Hilary Knight,” Hill said. “We have a really strong core of veteran players who really know the landscape and can be great leaders. It is a team that really knows its identity, and we have been really lucky to have John Wrobleski as our coach.

“He came in 2022 with a vision and style of play, and everyone is dialed into now. It is a fast style, dynamic, highly skilled with a strong emphasis on offense but always taking care of business on the defensive end, too. It’s a really nice balance to be able to play this dynamic but at the same time have a roster of players who know how to play a shutdown style.”

Hill said the Americans are well-prepared for the Milan Cortina Games, and he’s excited to see how well Knight plays in her final Olympics.

“Hilary is a true professional,” he said. “She is an incredible player. She has learned the game at such a high level, and she is a master at what she does. That is why when people watch our team play, there is no surprise that Hilary Knight always shines in the big moments.

“She is an incredible mentor to our younger players. She also has the right balance of being able to manage the game and being able to be in the right position to play strong defensively while being a major, major contributor to the offense. She has been nothing short of incredible.”