Latest news with #HilaryKnight
Hamilton Spectator
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Seattle fills out forward group, while Vancouver emphasizes defense following PWHL expansion draft
PWHL Seattle GM Meghan Turner can already envision having her top two lines in place with a group of forwards led by Hilary Knight. In Vancouver, general manager Cara Gardner Morey's emphasis was defense first. The league's two newest teams took distinct approaches in continuing to build their respective identities during the league's seven-round expansion draft on Monday night. The draft followed the PWHL's five-day exclusive signing period in which both teams signed their allowed maximum of five players. Though Vancouver used five of its seven selections on forwards, Gardner Morey opened the draft by choosing Ottawa defenseman Ashton Bell with the No. 1 pick. Bell and Boston's Sydney Bard, selected 13th on Monday, join a talented blueline that already includes the former Minnesota tandem of Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, who signed with Vancouver last week. 'I was a defender and I really think it's such a valuable position, and finding the right D and having a great core, one through eight even, is what makes championship teams,' said Gardner Morey, who is also set in net with the signing of Ottawa goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. In Seattle, Turner used the No. 2 pick on selecting Ottawa defenseman Aneta Tejralová. She then chose forwards with Seattle's next three selections in picking Boston's Hannah Bilka, New York's Jessie Eldridge and Toronto's Julia Gosling. The trio join a forward group that already features Knight, Alex Carpenter and Danielle Serdachny, who were signed last week. Seattle's initial 12-player roster features a mix of leadership in veterans Knight and Carpenter and emerging youth with four of six players selected in the first round of last year's draft in Serdachny (selected second), Bilka (fourth), defenseman Cayla Barnes (fifth) and Gosling (sixth). 'I'm really excited for these younger players to be able to learn from truly some of the best in the game in terms of Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight,' Turner said of the two long-time U.S. national team stars. 'I don't know if I was specifically forward-minded, but it's hard to pass up the three that I did sign.' Both expansion franchises are working under the same salary-cap restrictions as the league's other six teams, though the PWHL does not reveal player salaries. And both enjoy an advantageous head start with the league limiting existing teams to initially protecting only three players, before allowed to add a fourth player to the list after a team loses two from its roster. Each of the existing teams lost four players apiece, with the rules favoring the expansion teams by allowing them to be competitive from the start of the PWHL's third season, expected to open in November. Seattle's lineup features plenty of offense. Knight, a four-time Olympian, is an PWHL MVP finalist this year after finishing tied for the league lead with 29 points. Carpenter was an MVP finalist in 2024, when she finished tied for second with 23 points. And Eldridge, this season, finished tied for fifth in the league with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). Vancouver earned the first pick after winning a ball drawing. Both teams then alternated in having two picks each before Seattle closed the draft by selecting Boston defenseman Emily Brown 14th. Turner split her picks in selecting three forwards and four defensemen, rounded out by Montreal's Anna Wilgren and Toronto's Megan Carter. Vancouver chose two defenseman and five forwards, including Toronto's Izzy Daniel, who closed her senior season at Cornell in being selected the 2024 Patty Kazmaier award winner as women's hockey MVP. Daniel joins former Toronto teammate Sarah Nurse, who signed with Vancouver last week. Joining Thompson and Jaques in Vancouver are two more members of the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost in forwards Brooke McQuigge and Denisa Krizova. Vancouver also drafted Montreal forward Abby Boreen and New York forward Gabby Rosenthal. Next up for the expansion teams is joining the rest of the league in the free-agent signing period that opens on Monday followed by the six-round PWHL draft on June 24 in Ottawa. ___ AP women's hockey:
Associated Press
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Seattle reunites Bilka with Knight in PWHL expansion draft; Vancouver opens by adding Ottawa D Bell
Forward Hannah Bilka was reunited in Seattle with former Boston Fleet captain Hilary Knight in the PWHL's expansion draft Monday night. Seattle and fellow league newcomer Vancouver took distinct approaches in continuing to build their respective identities during the seven-round draft. Seattle general manager Meghan Turner split her picks in selecting three forwards and four defensemen. Meanwhile, Vancouver GM Cara Gardner Morey chose five forwards and two defensemen, starting with the opening selection of Ottawa blueliner Ashton Bell. The expansion draft followed the PWHL's five-day exclusive signing period in which both teams signed their allowed maximum of five players. The order of selection was determined by a ball drawing, with Vancouver winning and Gardner Morey choosing to select Bell first. Seattle then had the next two picks in choosing Ottawa defenseman Aneta Tejralova and then Bilka. Each team then followed with two selections apiece, with Seattle getting the 14th and final pick. Seattle focused on adding offensive forwards to join the already signed trio of Knight, Alex Carpenter and Danielle Serdachny. Aside from Bilka, Boston's first pick in the 2024 draft, Seattle drafted New York forward Jessie Eldridge, who finished tied for fifth in the league with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) last season, and Toronto forward Julia Gosling, the Sceptres first-round pick in last year's draft. On defense, Seattle also chose Toronto's Megan Carter, Boston's Emily Brown and Montreal's Anna Wilgren, who is reunited with Victoire blueliner Cayla Barnes, who was signed last week. Brown's selection was notable from a Seattle perspective. Brown captured the attention of former WNBA Seattle Storm star Sue Bird, who was in attendance during Boston's neutral-site game against Montreal at Seattle in January. Bird took a picture of Brown in the penalty box with the caption, 'Bad Girl.' Fleet players eventually had the picture printed on T-shirts. In Vancouver, Bell and Boston's Sydney Bard join a blueline group that already includes the Minnesota offensive-minded tandem of Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques. After selecting Bell, Vancouver went on a run of selecting five forwards, including Toronto's Izzy Daniel, who closed her senior season at Cornell in being selected the 2024 Patty Kazmaier award winner as women's hockey MVP. Daniel joins former Toronto teammate Sarah Nurse, who signed with Vancouver last week. Vancouver also selected the Minnesota forward tandem of Brooke McQuigge and Denisa Krizova, Montreal forward Abby Boreen and New York forward Gabby Rosenthal. Both expansion franchises are working under the same salary-cap restrictions as the league's other six teams, though the PWHL does not reveal player salaries. And both enjoy an advantageous head start with the league limiting existing teams to initially protecting only three players, before allowed to add a fourth player to the list after a team loses two from its roster. Each of the existing teams lost four players apiece, with the rules favoring the expansion teams by allowing them to be competitive from the start of the PWHL's third season, expected to open in November. With each having 12-player rosters, the expansion teams now join the rest of the league in taking part in the PWHL draft on June 24 in Ottawa. ___ AP women's hockey:
National Post
3 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Some tough times for some big names in growing PWHL
Until this past week, the majority of the best players in women's hockey have been shielded from the dirtier side of the business side of professional sports and how that could impact their day-to-day lives. Article content An expansion process focused on maintaining league-wide parity ended that shielding once and for all. Article content Article content And kudos to the women — the likes of Hilary Knight, Sarah Nurse, Alex Carpenter and Emerance Maschmeyer to name just four — who handled this all with so much grace. Article content It can't have been easy for hockey players who all their lives have been told they are at the very elite level of their sport, to suddenly hear from the general managers of the teams they helped form that there were three other players they would rather protect going forward. Article content All four of the aforementioned players were foundational signings — the three players on each of the six original clubs that the teams would be build around — and two years later all four, one of them a captain, were left unprotected. Article content Then put the shoe on the other foot and imagine being the GM told they can protect just three players and having to weigh factors such as age, financial flexibility and long-term goals to say nothing of the personal relationships built over two years and some longer than that, and then having to approach a player who has probably never been cut from a team and tell them they would not be protected. Article content But that was the hand dealt both GMs and many of the league's biggest stars over the past few weeks. Article content Article content Soft — read wildly popular — landing spots in Seattle and Vancouver helped cushion the blow for the players, but that didn't stop it from being a roller coaster ride these past few weeks for some of the most highly respected women in the game. Article content Article content Nurse was as much the face of the Sceptres franchise as anyone on the team. She was one of three foundational signings along with defender Renata Fast and eventual team captain Blayre Turnbull. She was part of the marketing campaign that introduced the PWHL to Toronto. She was even part of the Player's Association Executive that helped negotiate the collective bargaining agreement this league will play under for another six seasons yet.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Hilary Knight eager to introduce PWHL and women's hockey to her new team in Seattle
As Hilary Knight winds down her international career , the four-time Olympian and long-time face of U.S. women's hockey is hardly done making inroads in her sport. Next up for the 35-year-old during a trailblazing career — in which she stood up to USA Hockey in demanding better wages and helped found the PWHL — is introducing the women's game to a new frontier as part of the league's expansion into the Pacific Northwest.
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Hilary Knight eager to introduce PWHL and women's hockey to her new team in Seattle
As Hilary Knight winds down her international career, the four-time Olympian and long-time face of U.S. women's hockey is hardly done making inroads in her sport. Next up for the 35-year-old during a trailblazing career — in which she stood up to USA Hockey in demanding better wages and helped found the PWHL — is introducing the women's game to a new frontier as part of the league's expansion into the Pacific Northwest. 'Yeah, I guess it's sort of how my career's gone. I'm more of a builder in many ways,' Knight said with a laugh on Friday, two days after becoming the first player agreeing to sign with the PWHL's new team in Seattle . 'Ecstatic. It's an incredible honor to be part of this group and to have this opportunity. I think it's pivotal, it's important,' added the PWHL MVP finalist. 'And to have a hand in that at the ground level is an extreme honor.' And don't be fooled by Knight agreeing to sign a one-year deal. Though she's already announced the 2026 Winter Games will be her fifth and final Olympics, Knight said she is committed to continuing her pro career in Seattle beyond the PWHL's third season. 'The term doesn't really reflect my commitment or my promise to what we want to build and be a part of in the city of Seattle,' she said. The additions of Seattle and Vancouver grow the league to eight teams, and expands the PWHL's reach fully across the continent. In switching coasts, Knight bids farewell to her longtime ties to Boston, which go well beyond the two years she spent serving as captain of the PWHL Fleet. Before her college days at Wisconsin, Knight attended a prep school in New England, and later spent six years playing in Boston for its CWHL and NWHL franchises. Seattle brings Knight much closer to her offseason home in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to where she's enjoyed several fond memories . The foremost came in 2022, when she was wowed by the 14,551 fans inside the NHL Kraken's arena for a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series game. And she was back in the same arena in January with 12,608 fans on hand to watch Boston play Montreal to open the PWHL's nine-game neutral-site Takeover Tour series. 'When the league announced that Seattle was gonna be an expansion franchise, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, whoever has an opportunity to get out there, it's just going to be an amazing setup and wonderful fan base,'' Knight said. 'I think things aligned for me personally in the right way. And I cannot wait for puck drop.' Knight is coming off a stellar season in which her 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) were tied for the league lead with New York rookie Sarah Fillier. She also captained the U.S. to win its 11th gold medal and her 10th at the women's world championships in April. Knight will already have some familiar faces joining her in Seattle, following the signings of U.S. national team members Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter. The 31-year-old Carpenter agreed to a one-year contract on Friday. She spent her first two seasons in New York and ranks third on the PWHL career list with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in 50 games. Seattle filled out its fourth and fifth spots with Ottawa forward Danielle Serdachny and goaltender Corinne Schroeder, who signed a two-year contract. The all-time PWHL leader in shutouts spent the past two seasons with New York. The signing period runs through Sunday followed by both teams filling out their rosters to 12 players in the expansion draft on Monday. All eight teams will then take part in the PWHL draft on June 24. Knight reflected on how upon finishing college in 2012 there were few options for women to continue pursing hockey careers outside of their respective national teams. The CWHL didn't pay its players salaries, while the NWHL did but endured several hiccups and was eventually bought out to establish the PWHL in 2023. 'We all wanted this 20, 30, 100 years ago,' Knight said of the PWHL. 'I'm just so grateful for all the people that came before us to be able to have this league,' she added. 'I think we're in really good hands with where we started Year 1 and where we're going. And what an amazing hit out of the park to be able to expand in Year 3.' ___ AP women's hockey:
