On April 4, the New York Sirens and Seattle Torrent penciled themselves into the PWHL record books when they played in front of the largest-ever women’s hockey crowd in U.S. history, and at Madison Square Garden, no less.
That haul of attendees—18,006, to be exact—was 671 people larger than the crowd on Feb. 27, when the Torrent set the PWHL attendance record that Saturday’s game just broke. And months before that tilt, which brought in a total of 17,335 fans, the Torrent set the attendance benchmark that the February game shattered, when they played their inaugural home opener for a total of 16,014 in the stands.
Surely, you can see the pattern emerging: the PWHL is enjoying a thrilling and headline-making explosion in popularity in recent months, and the Torrent is the driving force at the center. And although the heavyweights running the league were pleasantly surprised by last week's sold-out match at the world-famous Garden, Seattle captain and gold-medal-winning Olympian Hilary Knight positioned the opportunity as more of an inevitability than anything.
“Honestly, it’s funny because people ask, you know, ‘Are you surprised?’ I’m not surprised that we sold out MSG,” Knight told reporters over the weekend, after the Sirens defeated the Torrent in a shootout win. “It's a testament to the caliber of player that we have, the fanbase, the product that we put together, the work that we do when the lights aren't bright. To finally have this moment—and I hope it's not a moment, I hope we're back here—is truly incredible. Even if we were getting booed or cheered for, it didn’t really matter. It was an awesome moment for women’s hockey, and I hope those moments continue.”
Notably, Knight’s comments were in keeping with her remarks during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, orchestrated on behalf of Hershey's Olympic campaign with Team USA. In that conversation, Knight acknowledged how the tides around her sport did, in fact, seem to shift following Team USA’s thrilling gold-medal win vs. Canada in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
“It definitely does feel different,” Knight told SI in March. “It could just be [a result of] all the amazing movement that we’ve seen in women’s sports in general, and people championing women’s sports as they should. It was really cool to be able to move through [Milan Cortina], [and] have teammates who aren’t necessarily household names but who are now household names because people are so invested in our journey. So I’d say this Olympics definitely is different.”
The caliber of the high-powered 2026 women’s team likely added to this well-earned spike in public intrigue, too.
“Our on-ice performance—like, what we're doing on ice—is breaking the mold and completely different than any team you've ever seen at this level,” Knight continued. “And so I think there's something about that, that little spark that really gets more attraction, gets more attention, for people wanting to be a part of that, which is awesome.”
The numbers would certainly back that up. For one thing, the PWHL said it enjoyed a 101% increase in merchandise sales during the Olympic window, which goes to show the financial impacts of representation on such a massive stage. The league also reported a 25% YOY increase in average attendance for the league in March—quantifiable proof that the ever-growing focus on women’s sports extends to women’s hockey, too.
Plus, it certainly helps to have a face of the game, and the 36-year-old Knight has filled that role well, aided by her long career as well as multiple high-profile moments during the Games, including her engagement to American speedskater Brittany Bowe.
“I honestly just thought I could post and kind of just like skate by, and ... just assume normal game prep, and I guess I didn’t really think about, like, the magnitude of that, right?” A smiling Knight told SI, referring to the moment the proposal news broke. “I forget we’re at the Olympics and obviously Brit’s an icon as well, and people are really invested sort of in our personal lives, which is really cool. And [we] received overwhelming support from everyone.”
At the end of the day, the PWHL still has miles to go—Knight and her teammate Alex Carpenter answered plenty of questions to that effect on Saturday. As one reporter pointed out, female athletes are still tasked with not only excelling at their game, but also eloquently advocating for it, as well, something their male counterparts aren’t necessarily burdened by.
Still, however, Saturday’s sold-out soiree is a massive step in the right direction. And if recent progress is any indication, the record both teams set probably (hopefully) won’t hold for very long.
“I think for so long we showed up in spaces that weren’t necessarily created for us,” Knight told reporters that night. “And we’re starting to see those spaces change, which is really exciting and encouraging.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Team USA's Hilary Knight Thinks Things Feel Different This Time, Too.
