USA Hockey captain Hilary Knight opened up this week, telling CBS Mornings on Monday that she played with a torn MCL at the 2026 Winter Olympics — and skated through the injury to a gold medal.
"To be able to play through injury was definitely a mental sort of gymnastic challenge for myself — and also physical," said Knight on the morning show. "We've got some amazing support staff that did their best to get me out there and perform at my best, as best as I could."
Knight's best translates to the USA's best, as the 36-year-old became the all-time top US scorer during last month's Olympics when she slotted in the game-tying goal that sent the team's 2-1 gold medal win over Canada into its decisive overtime.
"I'm not walking around the best," Knight said about her injury. "I'm missing a few games for the Seattle Torrent now."
Her club team placed the PWHL pioneer on their long-term injured reserve, with Hilary Knight joining her USA teammate and Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield on the third-year pro league's injured list for the foreseeable future.
The Torrent currently sit last in the 2025/26 PWHL standings, while the two-time reigning champion Frost are currently in third place — just five points below the league-leading Montréal Victoire — with just under two months left in regular-season play.
Just like their PWHL counterparts, college hockey's Olympic stars will return to the ice on Friday night, when seven members of Team USA will rejoin their NCAA teams to battle through conference tournaments ahead of the national bracket's Selection Sunday on March 8th.
Hoping to kick off their 2025 NCAA title defense with a conference trophy is No. 1 Wisconsin and their four Team USA gold medalists: goaltender Ava McNaughton, forward Kirsten Simms, and defensemen Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey — the 2026 Olympic tournament MVP.
"It's just more so getting the whole group back on the same page," Harvey said of Wisconsin's post-Olympic mindset. "There's a lot of excitement around playoffs now, so this is a time especially when we all naturally come together and we're united for a common goal, and we know that's winning a couple championships."
The Badgers, however, have other Olympic teammates standing in their way, with USA forwards Joy Dunne's No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and Abbey Murphy's No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers also vying for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) crown.
Meanwhile, the seventh collegiate reigning Olympic gold medalist will be skating toward the 2026 Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) trophy, as forward Tessa Janecke helps her No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions hunt a fourth straight conference tournament title.
College hockey's five Division I conference tournaments — which also include the New England Hockey Alliance, Hockey East Association, and ECAC Hockey — run through next week, with the puck dropping on all five championship games on Friday, March 7th, before the NCAA tournament kicks off on March 12th.
How to watch US Olympic stars on this weekend's NCAA hockey ice
WCHA's best-of-three quarterfinals take center stage this weekend, with No. 2 Ohio State taking on St. Thomas starting at 6 PM ET on Friday before No. 1 Wisconsin faces Bemidji State and No. 4 Minnesota plays St. Cloud State at 7 PM ET.
Elsewhere, after earning a bye through to the best-of-three AHA semifinals, top-seeded No. 3 Penn State will take on Syracuse for this weekend's series, which also begins at 6 PM ET on Friday.
All games featuring the Top 4 teams will air live on B1G+.
Fans can now call a special hotline to congratulate the US women's hockey team on their Olympic gold medal victory, with the toll-free number 1-833-SHE-WON1 already receiving hundreds of messages since its Tuesday launch.
Jennifer Bett Communications and Cosmopolitan created the hotline, intending to refocus attention to the squad's Olympic achievement after a different phone call overshadowed the win. On Sunday, President Trump made derisive remarks about the women's team while on a congratulatory phone call with the gold medal-winning men's team. The women's team subsequently declined a White House invitation due to scheduling conflicts.
"This hotline is essentially a giant collective thank-you from fans everywhere," Jennifer Bett Communications founder Jennifer Meyer told Fast Company, as her firm coordinates with USA Hockey's communications department to deliver messages directly to the players.
Many callers are young girls who play hockey, with one caller disclosing that boys in her class make fun of her for playing the sport. "But you guys just rebuilt my confidence on and off the ice," she told the Olympians.
Other callers include boy's hockey players, parents, and sports fans, with Meyer describing the response as "overwhelming, in the best possible way."
Following the aftermath of the White House invitation controversy, the new hotline aims to close the recognition gap for women's sports athletes.
"We refused to let a single moment pass where these women felt their gold was anything less than the biggest story in the country," Meyer said.
The women's hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime at the Milano-Cortina Olympics, with Megan Keller scoring the overtime winner after captain Hilary Knight tied the game late in regulation. It marks the third Olympic gold medal for the US and the first since 2018.
The PWHL is back in action on Thursday night, as the Winter Olympics' brightest stars rejoin their club teams just one week after the gold-medal game — with the third-year pro hockey league racing toward the 2026 playoffs.
With two months remaining in the 2025/26 regular-season, the Boston Fleet currently tops the PWHL standings with 30 points, trailed by the No. 2 Minnesota Frost (28 points), No. 3 Montréal Victoire (27 points), and No. 4 New York Sirens (24 points).
While no team's been officially eliminated, the No. 5 Ottawa Charge, No. 6 Vancouver Goldeneyes, No. 7 Toronto Sceptres, and No. 8 Seattle Torrent all have post-Olympics ground to make up if they want to keep their postseason dreams alive.
Thursday night's matchup will see two Olympic foes team up, as Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin joins US star forward Hayley Scamurra on Montréal's line for the Victoire's clash with New York.
Then on Friday, US captain Hilary Knight and Team USA's 2026 Olympic leading scorer Hannah Bilka again join forces for Seattle as the Torrent host Toronto, before US veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield takes the ice for back-to-back champion Minnesota’s Sunday showdown in Montréal.
With 61 players — 30% of the entire league — returning from Milan, the PWHL is anticipating a further boost in interest after the Olympic tournament garnered record viewership this month.
"It's just the reality that women's hockey isn't going to go silent. It's not going to go dark," Coyne Schofield said ahead of last Thursday's gold medal final. "You'll be able to see every one of these players in tomorrow night's game a week from now, which is pretty awesome and hasn't been the case for the existence of women's hockey."
How to watch the PWHL on Thursday
The 2025/26 PWHL season returns to the ice on Thursday, when No. 3 Montréal visits No. 4 New York.
The puck drops at at 7 PM ET, live on YouTube.
Acclaimed actor Stanley Tucci hosted the US women's hockey team for lunch in Milan earlier this month, shortly before footage of the men's team eating McDonald's at the White House sparked widespread fan reaction.
USA Hockey posted photos on Instagram showing Tucci dining with the women's Olympic team on February 10th, captioning the image "Lunch with @stanleytucci…an absolute dream for members." The post subsequently earned more than 90,000 likes and 574 comments.
The 65-year-old actor is known for his roles in The Devil Wears Prada as well as hosting the food series Searching for Italy. He is also an Olympic sports enthusiast, rubbing elbows with gold medal-winning women's hockey stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield during the Milan lunch.
Meanwhile, a video showing the US men's hockey team eating McDonald's at President Trump's White House recently circulated on Reddit and social media. In the clip, players in navy "USA" shirts sat around a long table stacked with burgers and fries.
Fans were quick to point out the difference between the two victory meals. One user tweeted that the women's lunch was "infinitely cooler than a White House visit," while another fan said they would "give anything to share a meal with stanley tucci."
While both US teams won Olympic gold medals, the conflicting meals have followed the conversation off the ice.
US captain Hilary Knight criticized comments Trump made about the women's hockey team on Wednesday, as the Olympic gold medalist called the President's words a "distasteful joke" during a SportsCenter appearance.
Trump made the comment during a congratulatory call to the men's hockey team, as the players celebrated their Olympic gold medal win. He invited the men's team to the State of the Union address at the White House, then joked he would have to invite the women's hockey team too or face impeachment. Several men's players laughed at Trump's remarks, drawing public criticism after the video went viral.
Knight later said Trump's comment overshadowed the women's team's Olympic achievements. "I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success," she told the ESPN broadcast, emphasizing celebrating accomplishments rather than focusing on lapses in support.
Knight led Team USA to its third Olympic gold this year, scoring the tying goal against Canada in the final game's last two minutes. Megan Keller then netted the overtime winner to secure the 2-1 victory — and the Knight's second gold medal.
The 36-year-old also became the most decorated player in US women's hockey history, capping her Olympic career ranked first among US skaters in goals (15) and points (33) over five Winter Games.
With the PWHL and NCAA hockey returning to the ice this week, the women's team opted to decline their White House invitation.
"Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate," the team stated Monday.
Canada hockey captain Marie-Philip Poulin left it all on the ice in Thursday's gold medal match.
Despite battling through a lower-body injury that forced her to miss two preliminary games, the 34-year-old veteran's heroic effort fell short. After US captain Hilary Knight scored the equalizer near the end of regulation time, Team USA topped their northern rival 2-1 in overtime to claim the Olympic gold medal — forcing Canada to settle for silver.
With injury limiting her mobility, Poulin broke the Olympic women's goal-scoring record just days earlier, registering two goals against Switzerland in the semifinal. She reached 20 career Olympic goals in the win, surpassing former teammate Hayley Wickenheiser's previous record.
Canada led for nearly 40 minutes Thursday, after Kristin O'Neill scored a short-handed goal in the second period. O'Neill's tally marked Team USA's first goal allowed in over 352 minutes of play — a new Olympic hockey record. Goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens then kept the US scoreless through regulation, until Hilary Knight's deflection found the back of the net in the final two minutes.
"This one hurts," Poulin admitted after the loss. "We wanted to bring it back to Canada. We showed up and played hard until the end, but we came up short."
The defeat represents Canada's eighth consecutive loss to the US, a streak that dates back to the 2025 World Championships. Head coach Troy Ryan subsequently assembled a veteran-heavy Olympic roster that averaged three years older than youthful Team USA.
As for Poulin, her future remains uncertain. While the decorated captain may have played her final Olympic game, Canada hockey must now look ahead to 2030.
"We wanted to play relentless, in-their-face hockey, and that's what we did," an emotional Poulin said. "We came up short, but I'm truly, truly proud of this group."
Team USA got it done on Thursday, becoming the 2026 Olympic women's hockey champions with a comeback 2-1 overtime win over rival Canada.
Canada's Kristen O'Neill opened the scoring early in the second period, with her 1-0 lead holding until just outside the final two minutes of regulation time.
USA captain Hilary Knight then registered the equalizer — becoming the nation's top scorer in Olympic history — before Megan Keller slotted in the game-winner four minutes in to sudden-death overtime.
Though either Canada or the US has earned every one of the sport's eight Olympic titles, Thursday's gold is the third for Team USA, who topped the inaugural podium at the 1998 Nagano Games before snapping a 20-year drought with a second gold in PyeongChang.
USA Hockey's 2026 campaign will go down as one of the most dominant Olympic runs on record, with the US tallying a 33-2 goal differential — including five shutouts — through their seven matches in Milan.
"I've been on some great teams, with a lot of great teammates, great players, Hall-of-Famers," US veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield said. "But this one is special."
The USA's stacked roster ultimately claimed four of the Top-5 spots on the Olympic stat sheet, where Keller and University of Wisconsin star Caroline Harvey each posted a tournament-leading nine points — a run that saw Harvey also honored as the 2026 Games' MVP.
As for 36-year-old Knight, the USA hockey legend wraps her final Olympics with a Hollywood ending, capping an historic international career with an engagement and a gold medal.
"It's been an incredible ride," she said on Thursday. "I have to soak this all in because this room is just so special, this team is so special. This is the best US hockey team I've ever been a part of. That is just so tremendous."
The US is one win away from gold, as the undefeated USA women's hockey team aims to top the Winter Olympics' podium for the third time when they take on rival Canada on Thursday afternoon.
The US enters Thursday's final on an historic tear, outscoring opponents 31-1 while pitching an Olympic-record shutout streak — including a dominant 5-0 win over Canada in pool play.
"I think we're all just playing together as a group, and that's our strength," said Team USA goaltender Aerin Frankel. "That makes us a pretty hard team to score on."
While the US hasn't won Olympic gold in the sport since 2018, tides have recently shifted, with Team USA besting its northern neighbor in a winning streak dating back to April's 2025 IIHF World Championship.
As for Canada, the defending Olympic champions overcame their group-stage loss to the US and battled through the 2026 knockouts by relying on captain and all-time leading scorer Marie-Philip Poulin, whose second-period brace secured their 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland on Monday.
Despite dealing with a lower-body injury, Poulin is on track to lace up against USA captain Hilary Knight for the last time on Olympic ice, with the newly engaged Knight announcing that this year's Games will be her last.
How to watch USA Hockey vs Canada in the Olympic gold medal match
The puck drops on the gold medal match at 1:10 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on USA Network.
Canada hockey captain Marie-Philip Poulin made Olympic history Monday, breaking the all-time women's goal-scoring record in Canada's 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.
The 34-year-old scored twice in the second period to push her career total to 20 goals, passing fellow Canadian and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser, who previously held the record with 18 goals.
Poulin netted the record-breaking goal 1:49 minutes into the second period. Sophie Jaques set her up with a pass from the blue line, with Poulin nearly whiffing on her one-timer before sending the puck skipping past Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli to open the scoring.
A little over six minutes later, Poulin struck again. She drove to the front of the net and roofed the puck over Braendli after the goalie stopped Daryl Watts's initial shot, with Watts assisting on both goals.
The victory sent Canada hockey to its seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal game. The defending champions face arch-rival United States on Thursday, February 19 at 3:10 PM ET.
Poulin recently returned from a lower-body injury that forced her to miss two preliminary round games. She came back to tie Wickenheiser's record on Saturday with a goal in Canada's 5-1 quarterfinal win over Germany.
Playing in her fifth Winter Olympics, Poulin is known as "Captain Clutch" for her ability to deliver in crucial moments.
What's Next for Canada hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The defending champions next face arch-rival Team USA, as Canada hockey seeks its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The puck drops on the gold medal match this Thursday at 3:10 PM ET, live on Peacock.