Decorated women's hockey player Hilary Knight is someone you want to have a beer with.

Knight is intelligent, wickedly funny, well-spoken, and yes, beautiful. In all honesty, after spending some time with Hilary, and watching her as she deftly navigated the seemingly hundreds of appearances and events she attended, I cannot think of a better ambassador for the women's game.

I had the opportunity to chat with affable 25-year-old after a hectic 48-hours in Anaheim.

Enjoy!

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Puck Daddy: Has anyone ever told you that you look like Kate Middleton [Duchess of Cambridge]?

Hilary Knight: Yeah.

PD: Isn’t that awesome?!

HK: Someone just Tweeted that at me. I’m like ‘woah, okay’.

PD: You really do!

HK: Really? Well thank you!

PD: You’re welcome. I guess there are worse people you could be compared to…

HK: [Laughs]

PD: Well, first, how are you doing?

HK: I… This has been a whirlwind. I’m standing here just kind of blinking. It’s just been great. To be able to have the opportunity I had yesterday [practicing with the Ducks], and just continue to promote and push women’s ice hockey in a whole new level is something that I aspire to do every single day. So, having that opportunity was great, but being on the ice with the guys, I felt like just one of the boys. It was fun.

PD: Now I noticed you opted to go with the visor, and not the full cage.

HK: Half shield, yeah! Absolutely. [Laughs] I was actually arguing with my rep, she’s like ‘no, you need to wear the cage and worry about your teeth and your smile.’ I was like ‘no, I want to be like one of the guys and wear a half-shield’.

PD: That’s badass.

HK: I know! I was like, ‘don’t get a puck in the face, Hilary’.

PD: That’s all you gotta do, avoid the money maker. [Laughs at own joke.] Now who were you most excited to skate with, besides everyone because that’s the standard answer?

HK: Obviously, Getzlaf. Perry’s great. Lovejoy is unreal. I remember watching him when I was younger.

PD: He’s hysterical.

HK: Yeah! I mean, on ice, off ice, great guy. So, Emerson…

PD: [Interrupts] Did they make you feel at ease?

HK: Yeah.

PD: Did you know if they were kind of taking it easy on you? Did you feel that way at all?

HK: No, I didn’t know really what to expect because of the whole circus of the cameras and stuff. Going into a locker room that’s not even yours to begin with is certainly like you’re entering the lion’s den. But they were extremely welcoming, nice, and friendly, and made me feel more like part of the group, which is great.

PD: Who do you think in the NHL best represents your game? You say that you’d be down to play in the NHL. So who is Hilary Knight’s game just like?

HK: Actually we were just talking about this. My Wisconsin coach compared me a few times to [Dany] Heatley. That would be pretty cool if I’m like that.

PD: Not bad, really.

HK: He’s unreal.

PD: Would you rock the mock turtleneck like he does?

HK: I wouldn’t.

PD: It’s a fashion faux pas.

HK: I did it for one game day and I was chirped by all my teammates. [Laughs] They all motioned at me right here [waves finger in front of invisible mock turtleneck on neck] and were like ‘you can’t do that’.

[We laugh.]

PD: Have you ever had an offer to play for any men’s league?

HK: I have, yeah…

[WE ARE INTERRUPTED BY BRUCE BOUDREAU AS HE’S WALKING OUT.]

Bruce Boudreau: It was wonderful having you. Truly, come again. [Note: Not talking to me.]

HK: THANK YOU!

PD: I’m totally using that [in the post], by the way. So, THAT’s good! You could have been used tonight on the power play.

HK: [Courtesy laugh]. Hey, they got the job done. Whatever it takes.

PD: Good answer. [Raise my voice] YOU HAVE BEEN COACHED WELL. [We laugh as I nudge her publicist, Keren Lynch.] Okay, okay. So you’ve been offered to play where?

HK: There’s a men’s league in Canada and a couple leagues in Switzerland that have reached out. Which it turns out there are women’s leagues because women can’t play in the men’s leagues in Switzerland. So, it’s a very confusing situation. I wasn’t quite clear on that. But there was talks of going to play in the CHL, and I know my opponent Shannon Szabados played in the SBJHL or some acronym.

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