Patience remains Hilary Knight’s operative word about the long-awaited offer from the Women’s Professional Hockey Players Association to launch her own professional league.
«I’m not anxious yet. You know, I’m on the board, so I get to peek behind the curtain, if you will,» one of the longest-serving and most decorated players told The Associated Press this week. USA Hockey.
The PWHPA, now a certified union, is in negotiations with its corporate partners (Billie Jean King Enterprises and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter) to craft a collective bargaining agreement.
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United States forward Hilary Knight, center, holds up the cup as she celebrates with her teammates after defeating Canada in the gold medal game at the women’s world hockey championship in Brampton, Ontario on April 16, 2023. Patience remains the watchword for American star Knight in the long-awaited offer from the Women’s Hockey Professional Players Association to launch her own professional league. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
«I know people who aren’t necessarily in the mix are saying, ‘What’s going to happen next year? How is this going to work? It’s already mid-June.’ And I totally get that,» Knight said. «So I’m excited for this year. I think that’s all I can say.»
Knight’s assessment follows a recent letter the PWHPA sent to its members saying it is at «the final line» of negotiations with only a few details to work out, and has already begun touring potential sand sites both in the US USA as in Canada. A person with direct knowledge of the letter confirmed its contents to The AP on Friday on condition of anonymity because it had not been made public. The Hockey News first reported the details of the letter.
What impresses Knight is how PWHPA members, most of them US and Canadian national team players, remain united in their vision to wait out negotiations, which began in March and were initially expected to be finalized. which will end at the end of April.
Meanwhile, having helped raise the profile and pay for women’s hockey, Knight won’t envy her fellow players for cashing in on lucrative contracts offered by the rival Premier Hockey Federation. The seven-team PHF has doubled its salary cap to $1.5 million per team entering its ninth season.
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Forward Hilary Knight #21 of the USA skates against Canada during the 2023 IIHF World Championship for Women gold medal game at the CAA Center on April 16, 2023 in Brampton, Ontario. (Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)
What is also true for the inaugural International Ice Hockey Federation Player of the Year is that Knight will not stop believing that there is a better, more sustainable alternative to building the professional women’s game.
«I make this distinction. The more women we get paid to do the sport they love, I think that’s amazing,» Knight said.
«What bothers me is the illusion of professionalism and what women’s hockey should be, and settling for what it is, right? And I think that’s the big distinction, let’s call it what it is,» she said. «For people who really want to change the game and make it professional and give hockey, particularly women’s hockey, the legs it needs to get up and go in the right direction and make it sustainable, that’s what it’s all about.»
If that means the PWHPA initially loses high-profile European national players, including Switzerland’s Alina Muller, Sweden’s Emma Soderberg and Finland’s former goalkeeper and former PWHPA board member Noora Raty, all of whom have signed with the PHF , so be it.
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Team USA celebrates a 6-3 win over Canada during the 2023 IIHF World Championship for Women gold medal game at the CAA Center on April 16, 2023 in Brampton, Ontario. (Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)
«It’s a personal decision. And I would love it if more European players didn’t sign or wait for their different prospects? Yes,» Knight said. «But who am I to say what they should and shouldn’t do?»
A month shy of her 34th birthday, Knight’s perspective is the result of being a leader for players who caught the first glimpses of what women’s hockey can offer financially, beginning with her sponsorship deal with Red Bull dating back to 2015. He has also represented Nike, Bauer, Chipotle and Visa, and is now enjoying a budding career as a broadcaster with ESPN.
In 2017, Knight was at the forefront of a threat by American players to boycott the 2017 world championships on his home soil, successfully winning his offer of better salaries and more equitable treatment from USA Hockey.
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Forward Hilary Knight #21 of the USA celebrates the 6-3 victory over Canada during the gold medal game of the 2023 IIHF World Championship for Women at the CAA Center on April 16, 2023 in Brampton, Ontario. (Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)
She also experienced hardships, including having her salary cut in 2016 while playing for the National Women’s Hockey League, now PHF, and the financial collapse of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2019.
Those experiences leave Knight wanting to open the door for his peers and the next generation of hockey players.
«What’s really interesting is seeing the change. We had a group that finally felt empowered to make changes,» Knight said. «And now this next generation doesn’t feel any of those barriers… They think it’s the norm.»
Knight is optimistic and seemingly free of worry to be back on the ice in St. Paul, Minnesota, after recovering from what she called an upper-body injury.
Personally, he’s riding high with his IIHF honor after scoring three times in a 6-3 win over Canada in the world championship final to claim his ninth gold medal, tying an individual tournament record, and the tenth for the United States.
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United States forward Hilary Knight (21) battles for the puck with Japanese forward Yoshino Enomoto (16) during the second period at the women’s world hockey championships in Brampton, Ontario on April 5, 2023. Patience is still the word operative for American star Knight in the long-awaited offer from the Association of Professional Women’s Hockey Players to launch her own professional league. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Knight’s performance at the world championships in April was rejuvenating — «a huge boost, to be honest» — for a player whose national team career began in 2007 and shows no sign of an end date.
Knight has maintained that he will continue to play until the game is no longer fun or begins to show signs of age.
«So the preconceived idea of where I should be at my best, for me, I don’t get it because I show up every day on the track wanting to get better,» Knight said. «We’ll see how long this runway is for that.»