Team USA hockey titan Hilary Knight is hanging up her international skates, with the record-10-time world champion announcing Tuesday that the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, will be her fifth and final Olympic run.
"It's time," Knight told USA Today. "I'm at peace. I just have this feeling that it’s time."
Going out on her own terms is top-of-mind for the USA hockey great, with Knight acknowledging "That is such a privilege that only a handful of competitors get."
Making her national team debut at 17, the now-35-year-old is one of the sport's most decorated athletes, winning Olympic gold in 2018 to complement three silver medals in 2010, 2014, and 2022.
Just last month, Knight led the US to victory at the IIHF Women's World Championship, and currently sits as the tournament's all-time leader in goals (67), points (120), and assists (50).
Despite her impending step off the international ice, Knight, who currently captains the PWHL's Boston Fleet, plans to continue playing for the second-year league — a pro venture she helped bring to life in 2023.
"I understood what the sport gave me and I wanted to give that to other people," Knight said. "Obviously, there's tons of work that always needs to be done, but I think we now have a career path."
The USA skated to victory on Sunday, taking down archrival Canada in a 4-3 overtime thriller to earn the team's 11th IIHF Women’s World Championship title.
The US is now closing in on Canada's record 13 World Championship wins, setting the tone in the run-up to next year’s Winter Olympics as North America’s PWHL showcased its growing influence on the international stage.
After Canada equalized the second-period goals from US defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy — the potential No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft — the game's third period saw Team USA lose starting goaltender Aerin Frankel to injury.
Backup goalie and IIHF World Championship debutant Gwyneth Philips stepped in, seeing the USA to a back-and-forth 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.
Philips's 17 saves — including 10 in overtime — allowed US forward and current Penn State junior Tessa Janecke to play hero, with the 20-year-old capitalizing on a turnover by tapping in a golden goal with three minutes left in the first overtime period.
"Just shows how strong we are as a group and how much we can persevere through anything," Janecke said afterwards. "I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group."
The tournament itself also proved to be a success, setting a new IIHF Women’s World Championship attendance record as 122,331 total fans took in the games in Czechia.
"I think this is a watershed moment for women's hockey, and it's really exciting to be a part of," said US captain Hilary Knight after earning her 10th Worlds gold medal.
In a shifting hockey landscape, the USA-Canada rivalry is only becoming more intense — and the looming 2026 Olympics will provide yet another chance to steal the sport's global spotlight.
After defeating Germany 3-0 in Thursday’s quarterfinal round, Team USA will take on host nation Czechia in Saturday's 2025 IIHF World Championship semifinals, as the squad seeks a record-extending 24th straight appearance in the tournament's title game on Sunday.
"They have the home crowd, so it's definitely going to be a gritty game," US forward Lacey Eden said of Saturday’s matchup. "It's going to be a battle, but we'll be ready for it. We can use the fan energy and kind of go off that."
This year's tournament mirrors Team USA's path in 2024, when the US downed fellow powerhouse Canada in the group stage to reach the title game undefeated — only to lose 6-5 to their North American rivals in an overtime thriller of a championship match.
"It's everything to us," USA defender Cayla Barnes said earlier this week. "We want to be in that final and obviously want to be back on top of the podium, seeing as we fell short last year."
Canada has their own semifinal ahead of them, as the 2024 champs take the ice against Finland in Saturday’s IIHF closer.
Finland is the only country other than the US and Canada to ever play in a Women’s World Championship final, earning silver after taking down Canada in the semis in 2019.
How to watch the 2025 IIHF World Championship this weekend
The 2025 IIHF World Championship semifinals begin Saturday, when the USA takes on Czechia at 9 AM ET, before Canada battles Finland at 1 PM ET.
Saturday's winners will square off in Sunday's final at 12 PM ET.
All US games will air live on the NHL Network.
After a dominant group-stage run to advance to the quarterfinals, Team USA will take the ice for the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship knockout rounds on Thursday.
Winning all four games so far — including a 2-1 victory over reigning champs Canada on Sunday — the Group A victors join Group B winners Sweden as the tournament's only remaining undefeated teams.
After taking silver in last year's edition, Team USA is well on their way to avenging their runners-up status — with the possibility of squaring off against their North American rivals once again in Sunday’s final starting to take shape.
First, however, the US must take down Germany in their Thursday quarterfinal to claim a spot in Saturday's semis.
Other quarterfinal matchups include Finland battling Sweden, Canada going up against Japan, and host nation Czechia taking on Switzerland.
Knight adds another World Championship record to her resume
Helping buoy Team USA's momentum is veteran star Hilary Knight, who made tournament history on Tuesday.
With three assists in the USA's 5-0 win over Switzerland, Knight claimed the all-time IIHF Women's World Championship assist record with 50 total tournament assists, surpassing Canadian forward Hayley Wickenheiser's previous mark of 49.
The 35-year-old forward adds the assist record to an already stellar IIHF World Championship resume.
Her 14 medals — nine of them gold — make Knight the tournament's most decorated athlete of all time. Stepping onto Tuesday's ice, her 67 goals and 117 points across her now-15 World Championship editions already made Knight the tournament's all-time leading goalscorer and points-leader.
The USA icon's six points throughout the 2025 competition have her trailing just Canadian star Marie-Philip Poulin's eight points.
"A lot has been said [about Knight’s career], but she is just phenomenal, not only as a player but a human being," said defender Caroline Harvey after Knight's record-breaking performance on Tuesday.
"She leads this team, and she's leaving a lasting impact for years and years to come."
How to watch Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championship
Team USA will take the ice for their quarterfinal against Germany at 7:30 AM ET on Thursday, with live coverage on the NHL Network.
The puck dropped on the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Czechia early Wednesday morning, when the world’s most competitive hockey stars hit the ice for the annual international tournament.
Canada enters as the reigning champion after defeating the US 6-5 in overtime last year to earn their third IIHF title in four years.
Through the tournament's 23 previous editions, the USA and Canada remain the only winners, with the bitter rivals facing off in all but one gold-medal game — the 2019 finale in which Finland took silver behind the US, and Canada snagged bronze.
Both teams feature experienced squads this year, with 13-time tournament contender Marie-Philip Poulin captaining Canada while Team USA relies on the veteran leadership of Hilary Knight, now skating her 15th Worlds — a new IIHF record.
PWHL athletes take center stage at 2025 Worlds
Strengthening North America’s grip on the contest even more is the PWHL, with the second-year league sending 57 players — over 40% of its total athletes — to this year’s World Championship.
In the USA's 7-1 opening win against Finland on Wednesday morning, PWHL players produced every US goal, with the Minnesota Frost’s Kelly Pannek and Ottawa Charge’s Hayley Scamurra recording two each.
The PWHL kicked off the final international break of its 2024/25 season on April 3rd, with plans to resume after the Championship’s conclusion on April 26th.
How to watch the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship
The 2025 IIHF World Championship begins Wednesday, April 9th, and runs through the tournament's 12 PM ET championship game on Sunday, April 20th.
All US games will air live on the NHL Network.
USA Hockey tapped 25 players to represent the US at April’s 2025 IIHF World Championships in Czechia on Wednesday, as the team looks to avenge their overtime loss to Canada in the 2024 IIHF Final.
A total of 21 players from that silver medal-winning squad will return to this year's roster, which will be led by superstar forward Hilary Knight.
Knight already boasts 14 World Championship medals, more than any other athlete in IIHF history, and is poised to help the US make a record-extending 24th appearance in the IIHF championship game.
PWHL and NCAA stars comprise Team USA
Boston Fleet captain Knight is one of 16 PWHL athletes to make Team USA's lineup, showcasing the impact of an in-season domestic league while teams around the world compete for international honors.
While all six PWHL teams are represented on the roster, the inaugural Walter Cup-winning Minnesota Frost will send a league-leading six US athletes to Czechia.
Trailing just behind Minnesota with three IIHF-bound skaters apiece are 2023/24 runners-up Boston and the Toronto Sceptres, who currently sit in second- and third-place on the 2024/25 PWHL table.
Completing the lineup and, more generally, gaining the experience to keep Team USA atop the sport are an impressive nine NCAA players, led by five skaters from No. 1 ranked Wisconsin.
One of those Badgers, sophomore goaltender Ava McNaughton, will join 2024 Wisconsin grad and Montréal Victoire defender Anna Wilgren as the team's two IIHF World Championship debutants.
Additionally, Frost defender Lee Stecklein and Sceptres forward Jesse Compher will round out the four athletes who did not feature on the 2024 roster. Both players will make their first return to the IIHF stage following silver medal-winning performances at the 2022 edition in Denmark.
"The 25 players selected to represent the US bring skill, talent, and passion on the ice," said US Women’s Hockey GM Katie Million. "The depth of our player pool never makes these decisions easy, but we’re excited to shift our focus on bringing a gold home from Czechia."
Team USA's 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship roster
- Forwards: Alex Carpenter (New York Sirens), Jesse Compher (Toronto Sceptres), Kendall Coyne-Schofield (Minnesota Frost), Britta Curl-Salemme (Minnesota Frost), Joy Dunne (Ohio State University), Lacey Eden (University of Wisconsin), Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost), Tessa Janecke (Penn State University), Hilary Knight (Boston Fleet), Abbey Murphy (University of Minnesota), Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost), Hayley Scamurra (Toronto Sceptres), Kirsten Simms (University of Wisconsin), Grace Zumwinkle (Minnesota Frost)
- Defenders: Cayla Barnes (Montréal Victoire), Laila Edwards (University of Wisconsin), Savannah Harmon (Toronto Sceptres), Caroline Harvey (University of Wisconsin), Megan Keller (Boston Fleet), Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost), Anna Wilgren (Montréal Victoire), Haley Winn (Clarkson University)
- Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet), Ava McNaughton (University of Wisconsin), Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge)
How to watch the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship
The puck will drop on the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship on Wednesday, April 9th, and run through the tournament's 12 PM ET championship game on Sunday, April 20th.
Team USA will first take the ice against Finland at 9 AM ET on April 9th.
All US games will be air live on the NHL Network.
Members of the U.S. women’s hockey team make less money than their Canadian rivals.
Canadian players not only have access to a larger pool of funds, but Hockey Canada is providing funding for five developmental players in addition to funding its 23-player roster, the Associated Press reported Thursday. In comparison, USA Hockey limits its funding to 23 players.
The report comes after a long battle between American players and USA Hockey over the benefits and provisions in their new contract.
A source familiar with the negotiation process told Just Women’s Sports that U.S. players tried to get similar developmental funding, but USA Hockey refused to cover the expense. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a confidentiality clause in the U.S. contract.
In addition, Canadian players receive a percentage of ticket revenue from the annual Rivalry Series games played in Canada. There’s no comparable revenue sharing agreement in the U.S. contract.
The NHL is providing some funding to U.S. players as part of the new deal, something the league initially began doing following the 2017 boycott, per the AP report. For reference, the NHL has given USA Hockey money for the boys-only national team developmental program (NTDP) for decades.
Canada’s contract, which lasts just one year, went into effect on Oct. 1, 2022, and was announced in December. The U.S. contract, which lasts for three years, was never announced but was signed in January. The old U.S. contract was initially set to expire in August 2022 — right in the middle of the 2022 World Championship — but the two sides agreed to an extension ahead of the competition.
U.S. players have long been critical of USA Hockey’s treatment and promotion of the women’s team, in addition to the resources and funding provided to the country’s female athletes. In 2017, U.S. players threatened to boycott that year’s World Championship unless USA Hockey came to the table and provided the women’s team with more equitable funding and support. According to the AP, while the pool of money allocated to U.S. players has increased since 2017, it has not kept up with the pace of inflation.
Both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey consider players independent contractors, not employees. As a result, players are unable to collectively bargain or unionize. That’s a major difference from the soccer world, where both the U.S. and Canadian teams are unionized. Canada’s national soccer team is currently embroiled in a dispute with Canada Soccer over its own collective bargaining agreement.
U.S. hockey player Abbey Murphy entered the IIHF history books on Friday.
Murphy, 20, scored just seven seconds into the United States’ group play win over Switzerland at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Brampton, Ontario.
After Abby Roque won the opening faceoff for the U.S., Murphy skated by two Swiss defenders and managed to get a wide angle shot past Swiss goalie Saskia Maurer.
The previous record for fastest goal in an IIHF Women’s World Championship game was 13 seconds, set by Germany’s Maren Valenti in a consolation round game against Switzerland on April 17, 1994.
A game of records! @usahockey 's Abbey Murphy set a new record for fastest goal scored in a #WomensWorlds game, plus @swissIceHockey scored their first goal against USA in 13 years!
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 8, 2023
Big moments, worth the re-watch. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/6fraoCZBCq
Murphy, a member of the 2022 silver-medal winning U.S. Olympic team, just concluded her sophomore season at the University of Minnesota. She made her senior world championship debut in 2021, but was cut from the U.S. roster ahead of last summer’s world championship tournament in Denmark.
All told, eight different American players scored in the 9-1 victory over Switzerland: Caroline Harvey (2), Murphy, Hannah Bilka, Becca Gilmore, Abby Roque, Amanda Kessel, Cayla Barnes, and Gabrielle Hughes. For both Hughes and Gilmore, it marked their first goals as members of the U.S. senior national team.
Rahel Enzler, a junior at the University of Maine, scored Switzerland’s lone goal. It was the first time Switzerland scored against the U.S. women’s hockey team in world championship competition since April 6, 2008.
Also on Friday at Women’s Hockey Worlds, Canadian living legend Marie Philip-Poulin scored her 100th and 101st career goals during her team’s 5-1 win over Czechia.
The U.S. and Canada are both 2-0-0 in group play and are likely to meet twice during the world championship tournament (in the final game of group play and then again in the knockout round). Canada is aiming to win its third straight world championship title in Brampton.
Veteran defender Kacey Bellamy is retiring from the United States women’s national team, USA Hockey announced Tuesday.
The 34-year-old has had an illustrious career as a three-time Olympian and seven-time world champion, the latter of which ranks second all-time in U.S. history.
Most notably, Bellamy was part of the historic 2018 team that defeated Canada in a shootout to win gold at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games. The U.S. team’s gold-medal run ended a 20-year drought in the event.
In a statement released through USA Hockey, Bellamy reflected on her long and storied career.
“Being able to represent my country for the past 15 years has been such a privilege,” she said. “Before every game, I would look at the USA crest before putting the jersey on.”
Bellamy added that, although retiring was a difficult decision, she is ready to step away from the sport and start her next chapter.
USA Hockey will also have to move into a new chapter without Bellamy as the national team prepares for the world championships in August and the Olympics next year.