Hilary Knight scored a hat trick on Nov. 8, helping the U.S. Women’s National Team defeat Canada 6-1 in Game 2 of the 2025 Rivalry Series in Buffalo, New York. 

Earlier that day in Buffalo, a leadership summit focused on girls’ hockey gave those involved a chance to see how players can be recruited and retained to help grow the sport and possibly produce more Hilary Knights in the future. 

“We’ve had tremendous growth across the United States at all age levels of the girls’ game,” said Kristen Sagaert, director of girls’ hockey for USA Hockey. “Looking to hopefully break 100,000 women and girls registered with USA Hockey this season.

“This event definitely helps invigorate them. … Because at the end of the day, I think it’s more about the community that’s built during the event and the conversations that are had. The group becomes very close-knit over the weekend.”

This was the fifth year of the Girls’ and Women’s Hockey Leadership Summit, which included speakers, real-world examples of leadership, interactive breakout sessions and networking opportunities. The event intentionally coincided with the Rivalry Series weekend.

This year’s theme for the summit was empowerment and connection, and it focused on networking and empowering the group with tools and information. Speaker Alicia Pelton, who has more than 30 years of experience in youth sports, discussed data from girls and women in sports and what it looks like to support their growth and what it takes to keep the growth going into adult hockey.

Read more at: https://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/1349986