I saw the older kids entering the rink carrying hockey sticks and bags, and I was fascinated by the equipment. Once I started skating faster, I was attracted to the speed and dynamics of hockey. I never looked back!
— Hilary Knight
Women in general, we tend to shrink ourselves and not have as much confidence as we should in presenting ourselves and our body types. It's OK to be fit and healthy and comfortable within your body, whatever frame you have.
Growing up on an all-boys' team wasn't the easiest thing. I'd have guys come after me on the ice and just hit me because I'm a girl. I'd have parents heckling me from the stands, other parents not wanting me on the team, not making certain teams just because I was a girl.
The Olympics are a completely different beast. It's the most magical moment of your career.
I golf for my own entertainment and my teammates' entertainment.
I remember coming out of college thinking, 'OK, I'm gonna get an agent, and I'm gonna make money. I'm gonna make millions of dollars.' And that never happened.
I'm a 'blue sky thinker' and dream big.
Whenever you get Brianna Decker on the ice, and Emily Field and Amanda Pelkey, people are just going to go fast and push the pace.
Now I can give back and be a role model and an advocate for women in sport.
Everything I do is for a gold medal for this country.
My dad was traveling a lot, but when he would come home and cook, he'd cook pizza.
Whatever I do, I want to impact people's lives in a positive way.
I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play hockey, especially when there weren't equal opportunities as there are now. But at times, it was challenging.
I absolutely have loved my career path and everything that I've done personally, but it was tough.
I love my fans.
Obviously, different people identify me as the face of women's hockey and whatnot, but like my teammates, I'm just there to perform and compete.
I think my role on a team is I love to put the puck in the back of the net. If that opportunity presents itself, and it happens for me, I get really excited.
It's a great culture to be a part of: there are hockey players all over the world. It has taken me to an education, getting an education at Wisconsin. I've been able to travel the world.
When I was 5, I'm like,' I'm doing this,' whether there's women's ice hockey, men's ice hockey, whatever it was in my future.
I'm trying to change up the pace in which I approach life so I'm not always go, go, go.
I would like to go back to school, potentially.
People don't know how fantastic women's ice hockey is. People don't know how fantastic hockey is in general.
It was tough to get to where I am, to get the following that I do have on social media and all the fans out there, which I greatly appreciate, but I would love to have a template so the next girl who grows up doesn't have to go through a lot of the hardships that we faced in our generation.
The cool thing about a start-up - this is sort of the entrepreneur side of me - is that you can make it grow as much as you can. Or you can squander the talent as much as you want. But it's up to you.
I think having a strong female figure in my mom as an in-house role model was huge and really motivated me to continue to pursue my passion and my dreams.
Whenever you go into a game, you want to win, and you want to come out victorious in any way.
Going into a locker room that's not even yours to begin with is certainly like you're entering the lion's den.
