Hilary Knight will lead a stronger and younger US Women’s Ice Hockey team at the Milano Cortina 2026. She will be making her fifth appearance in the Winter Olympic Games with the US starting as strong favorites for a gold medal.
The initial 23-player women’s hockey roster was released on Friday. The group, led by Knight, will consist of 11 members from the team that won silver at the 2022 Beijing Games alongside several new comers and defender Laila Edwards.
The 21-year-old Wisconsin player is set to become the first Black female hockey player to compete for the U.S. at the Olympics.
“It still hasn’t really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true,” Edwards said. “Always had dreams of playing in the pros, but the biggest dream was to go the Olympics for sure.”
Knight will set a US Women’s record for most Winter Games appearances, which includes gold in 2018 and three silver medals.
The Seattle Torrent captain had announced that this will be her final Winter Games while she continues to ply her trade in the PWHL.
Some familiar faces in the US roster consists of forward Kendall Coyne Schofield and defender Lee Stecklein, who will both be competing in a fourth Winter Games. Others include, forwards Alex Carpenter and Kelly Pannek and defenders Megan Keller and Caroline Harvey, who at 23 is completing her senior season at Wisconsin.
The roster has been transformed under coach John Wroblewski, featuring 16 PWHL players.