The new Detroit PWHL team already has a few things working in its favor, and one of the biggest is the person expected to lead it on the ice.
Hilary Knight sounds energized by the move to Hockeytown, and she didn’t hide how much the setting means to her. “To be a part of a place . . . a place where it just feels like Hockeytown,” Knight said.
“Such an iconic place to play. So really looking forward to taking the ice here.
“I was just geeking out when we were on the bench looking up at the Jumbotron and being like, ‘This is my new home.'”
Knight also made it clear she’s buying into the vision from Detroit GM Manon Rheaume. The two appear to be aligned on where this team is headed, and Knight said that started the moment they connected.
“I wouldn’t be here unless Manon had the vision, right?” Knight said.
“I think when we hopped on that Zoom, or maybe it was a Teams, I don’t remember. But I ended that call, and immediately, I was like, this vision is incredible.
“Like, I want to be a part of this.”
That enthusiasm hasn’t faded. Knight said the conversations with Rheaume, coach Josh Sciba and the rest of the staff left her thinking long term.
“Honestly, just the vision, trusting Manon,” Knight said. “She wants to be successful right from the start. So that’s super exciting.
“The other staff members (Coach Josh) Sciba, everything’s sort of just shaping up in a beautiful way. And so when we were having those conversations, it got me really excited and enough to be like, hey, like, I want to be here for years.”
Detroit’s new star is no stranger to making history. Rheaume was a pioneer herself, playing goal in an NHL exhibition game for the Tampa Bay Lightning during her career.
Knight’s résumé is just as decorated: five Olympic medals - two gold and three silver - plus 15 IIHF Women’s World Championship medals, including 10 golds and five silvers. At the NCAA level, she won two national championships at Wisconsin and remains the Badgers’ all-time leader in goals.
For all those accomplishments, there’s still one thing Knight and Detroit don’t have yet: a team name and logo. That’s part of what she’s looking forward to most.
“I mean, one of the most exciting things is when you finally get the name, you get the logo, because people are like, who do you play for right now?” Knight said.
“I’m like, PWHL Detroit. It’s sort of like a mouthful.
So when you get that identity, I think it just changes everything, and it becomes more real. So really looking forward to whenever that is.”
Until then, the team is still operating without the full identity that usually makes a franchise feel complete. Knight, though, can already imagine how much that will matter. And when the question came up of what the Detroit Knights would sound like, she seemed to like the idea.
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