January 13, 2009
By Dave McMahon Special top USAHockey.com
If University of Wisconsin sophomore forward Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) seems a little quicker on the ice this year, she can thank a summertime trip to Minnesota.
During her break from school, the leading scorer in the nation trained with three-Olympian Jenny Potter and Jenny’s husband, Rob, in the Twin Cities’ north suburbs.
“I think that’s the biggest difference in my game,” said Knight, a potential candidate for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the most outstanding player in women’s college hockey. “It’s made a huge difference. I was doing squats six days a week. I’d run with Jenny in the morning. My teammate Kayla Hagen would join us. We’d have an hour break, throw together some sandwiches, and head off to the rink to do overspeed training, then 1-on-1 and shooting pucks. Then it was rows and rows of Russian boxes and one-legged squats. Then we’d go to another gym for heavy lifting.”
 Along the way, Knight was able to teach the now-30-year-old Potter a few tricks that Knight has learned as a college-aged player.
“[Potter] is good at texting. She’s got the Iphone and everything,” Knight laughed.
Not to mention a husband and two children. So Knight took the offer when another teammate, Champlin native and Badger sophomore Malee Windmeier, offered a spot to Knight at her family’s home. Add it all up, and her various bunking spots have helped her to the national scoring lead with 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) in 22 games. As a freshman, she tallied 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists).
Skipping along to new locales is nothing new to Knight. She got her hockey start in Highland Park, Ill., as a 6-year-old. Her mom was an avid paddle tennis player, and a family friend from paddle tennis taught Knight and her three younger brothers –- James, Remington and William -- how to skate.
“We were all skiers before we learned how to skate, so we had to make the decision to ski or play hockey,” she said. “I wanted to be the first one to play hockey. Everyone knows how that whole sibling rivalry goes.”
Originally from San Francisco, the Knights moved to Lake Forest, Ill., when Hilary was 6. Knight played on boys’ teams through Peewees and Bantams. She also played for Johnny’s IceHouse out of Chicago, which included a heavy travel and tournament schedule.
By then though, it was time for another move.
“My parents asked me if I wanted to go to boarding school, so I said, ‘Sure, why not?’” Knight said. “I went out to Choate in Connecticut as a freshman and played there for four years. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I ended up liking it. It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done, leaving home and learning to be independent and stuff. The first couple of weeks were challenge, but then it was fine.”
Knight’s family moved to Hanover, N.H., prior to her junior year at Choate, which eliminated airports from any travel plans for family visits.
A schedule that included playing for Choate six days a week and for the Connecticut Polar Bears on Sundays, Knight was in full hockey mode for her four years of high school.
“Playing with the Polar Bears was a little overwhelming at first, because I was 13 or 14, and playing on a U-16 team,” Knight said.
As a sophomore at Choate, Knight realized that she could make a habit of playing hockey in college.
“I wasn’t familiar with any of the East Coast hockey teams, just because I had not been out there that long,” Knight said. “I had pretty much just gotten into women’s hockey, and then everyone started talking about playing in college.”
Badger senior Erika Lawler and junior Meghan Duggan, both from Massachusetts, played against Knight a few hours away at Cushing Academy. They also played alongside her on the U.S. Under-22 team. Knight went on to become the youngest member of the 2006-07 U.S. national team, where she made two appearances.
“Originally I wanted to stay on the East Coast to go to college, but I knew what [Lawler and Duggan] had done, and thought maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to check out Wisconsin,” Knight said. “I had known [UW coach Mark Johnson] from the national team. I came out here and fell in love with the place. Then it was up to me to convince my parents that I wanted to come here.”
It was also time to get a new wardrobe for her father.
“My dad never wore the color red before. Now he’s all about red,” Knight laughed. “I had no idea what I wanted in a school, but I had an amazing visit here, and that led me straight back to Wisconsin.”
Knight, who recently returned to the Twin Cities for the USA Hockey Women’s Holiday Camp with five of her Badger teammates, has found her experience with the Badgers to be everything the hoped it would be.
“The best part of playing here is the spirit when we’re playing at home,” she said. “The fan base was ultimately what led me out here. No other women’s hockey team draws as many fans as we do.”
Knight shares a duplex with teammates Kelly Nash and Anne Dronen. Four other teammates are in the other unit.
“The landlord got a kick out of it when he found out that we all play hockey, so he painted hockey sticks on the porch,” she said.
With the Olympics set for 2010, Knight’s talents will surely have her among the contenders for a roster spot.
“The thought definitely crosses my mind, but you still have two seasons ahead of you,” Knight said. “You can’t look too far into it.”
Playing against and training alongside the best players in the country at the Holiday Camp gave Knight another taste of what the future could bring.
“I definitely had some nerves going in, but we were all talking in the locker room about how much fun it was to play against that kind of competition,” she said. “When you’re not training with them, it’s a little harder playing against them.”
Knight has found time in her Sunday schedule in Madison to lend a hand with a local wheelchair hockey league.
“We have a blast, and so do the participants,” she said. “It really makes their week. It’ll be snowing heavily and there’s no way anyone would drive, but they never miss it for anything.”
Story courtesy ofRed Line Editorial, Inc. |