Hannah Bilka with her linemate Hilary Knight (left) in the background.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
There are 250 women at this year’s Women’s Worlds, all honoured and thrilled to be part of this tournament. But there are few who are quite as enthralled by their experience as Hannah Bilka of the United States. On the cusp of entering her senior year at Boston College, as the team captain, Bilka is here in Herning playing in her first senior Women’s Worlds. And what’s amazing for the 21-year-old is that incoming coach John Wroblewski has put her on the first line with 33-year-old Hilary Knight.
After being named to the team a couple of weeks ago, Bilka showed a photo taken eight years ago when she was 14, smiling alongside that same Knight with her medal from the 2014 Olympics. The caption eight years later read, “And now we’re lineys.”
After being named to the team a couple of weeks ago, Bilka showed a photo taken eight years ago when she was 14, smiling alongside that same Knight with her medal from the 2014 Olympics. The caption eight years later read, “And now we’re lineys.”
“It was in 2014, and it was one of my first all-girls select camps in Buffalo,” Bilka recalled the other day, “and she was a guest speaker and showed me her medal and I was taking pictures with her. I just remember talking to her, and she was super down to earth. I think that’s so cool about looking up to someone. It’s about how they are on and off the ice, and that’s what I really looked up to her for, how nice a person she was. I don’t know if she remembers it, but I remember it. Great person, and great player as well.”
“It’s pretty cool,” Knight acknowledged. “It’s that full circle thing when someone who is obviously one of the better players on the ice, and she’s from Texas. She took responsibility for her development, and she saw what the next level could be. She’s here because of her commitment and her tenacity on and off the ice.”
“Being on the same team as her, not even being on the same line, just being around her and learning from her, and all the older players, every day in practice, I think is one of the coolest things about being on the team,” Bilka added.
Wroblewski paired them for two reasons. One, they play well together. Two, he saw an opportunity for the veteran to mentor an obviously devout admirer.
“That’s a question for the coach!,” Knight offered about making them “lineys” as Bilka called them. “But we had a really good development camp together in order to make this team, so that was really fun to be able to be on the ice with her and play with her. Whenever you have that level of creativity, speed, and skill, it’s a lot of fun.”
As Knight noted, however, a photo from 2014 does not guarantee a roster spot in 2022. Bilka worked hard to get to where she is, and she takes none of it for granted.
“My sisters figure skated, but my brother played hockey, and I always looked up to my brother, so I started skating with him,” Bilka recalled of her simple beginnings. “He taught me everything I know. I roller-bladed when I was younger. I wanted to play hockey, but my parents kept saying no. But I kept asking, and finally when I was six, I laced up the skates.”
“It’s pretty cool,” Knight acknowledged. “It’s that full circle thing when someone who is obviously one of the better players on the ice, and she’s from Texas. She took responsibility for her development, and she saw what the next level could be. She’s here because of her commitment and her tenacity on and off the ice.”
“Being on the same team as her, not even being on the same line, just being around her and learning from her, and all the older players, every day in practice, I think is one of the coolest things about being on the team,” Bilka added.
Wroblewski paired them for two reasons. One, they play well together. Two, he saw an opportunity for the veteran to mentor an obviously devout admirer.
“That’s a question for the coach!,” Knight offered about making them “lineys” as Bilka called them. “But we had a really good development camp together in order to make this team, so that was really fun to be able to be on the ice with her and play with her. Whenever you have that level of creativity, speed, and skill, it’s a lot of fun.”
As Knight noted, however, a photo from 2014 does not guarantee a roster spot in 2022. Bilka worked hard to get to where she is, and she takes none of it for granted.
“My sisters figure skated, but my brother played hockey, and I always looked up to my brother, so I started skating with him,” Bilka recalled of her simple beginnings. “He taught me everything I know. I roller-bladed when I was younger. I wanted to play hockey, but my parents kept saying no. But I kept asking, and finally when I was six, I laced up the skates.”
So many women’s stories have a familiar refrain – I had to play with the boys at first – and Bilka’s is no different.
“There are more rinks in Texas than you’d think, but not a lot of girls’ teams,” she continued. “I just played with boys growing up. I’d be the only girl, but in the end it all worked out. I played U14 with the Pittsburgh Pens Elite team. It was a travel team. I had to fly to tournaments for games, but at home in Dallas I’d practise with a boys’ team. It was cool being on an all-girls’ team. You become best friends. It’s different than playing with boys, two different worlds.”
Her perspective changed forever, evolved, you might say, when her parents sent her to a prep school, Shattuck-St. Mary’s, whose most famous alumnus is Sidney Crosby.
“When I went to Shattuck, being around some of the best players, they all challenge you,” Bilka explained. “You really have to commit to it. That’s when you take your discipline and commitment to the next level. That’s when you have to lock in, around that age.”
Lock in she did, to the point that she knew quickly she wanted to play at the highest level of hockey and she wanted hockey to be part of her university education.
“I committed to Boston College when I was in my sophomore year of high school. I always loved the east coast, but I think when you look at schools it’s almost more important to look at the school aspect. Boston College is so good academically. That’s as important to me as hockey. I’m majoring in communications and minoring in leadership and management. I’ve always wanted to be involved in sports in some way. I think being on the hockey side of the business side of an NHL team would be my dream. You see Amanda Kessel, who works for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and you can just see there are so many jobs around the game, and they’re kind of paving the way for women.”
Prior to BC, Bilka played at the women’s U18, in 2017 and 2018, getting her first taste of USA Hockey under the IIHF umbrella. “I played two years of U18," she recalled. "We won gold our first year and lost our second year, but at the time you’re young, immature, it’s your first international tournament. Wearing the USA jersey. There’s a lot of growing to do. I think I’ve made those steps, nutritionally, off ice, being in the right head space, focusing on those details. I think I've taken a lot of steps from then to now, but wearing the USA jersey doesn’t change whether you're 16 or 21. It’s still a huge honour.”
In Herning, it’s so far, so good for Bilka and her team. They have won their first two games comfortably, and Bilka has scored a goal in each game. A medal is still a long way away, so Bilka won’t pinch herself just yet. She doesn’t want to wake from her dream.
“There are more rinks in Texas than you’d think, but not a lot of girls’ teams,” she continued. “I just played with boys growing up. I’d be the only girl, but in the end it all worked out. I played U14 with the Pittsburgh Pens Elite team. It was a travel team. I had to fly to tournaments for games, but at home in Dallas I’d practise with a boys’ team. It was cool being on an all-girls’ team. You become best friends. It’s different than playing with boys, two different worlds.”
Her perspective changed forever, evolved, you might say, when her parents sent her to a prep school, Shattuck-St. Mary’s, whose most famous alumnus is Sidney Crosby.
“When I went to Shattuck, being around some of the best players, they all challenge you,” Bilka explained. “You really have to commit to it. That’s when you take your discipline and commitment to the next level. That’s when you have to lock in, around that age.”
Lock in she did, to the point that she knew quickly she wanted to play at the highest level of hockey and she wanted hockey to be part of her university education.
“I committed to Boston College when I was in my sophomore year of high school. I always loved the east coast, but I think when you look at schools it’s almost more important to look at the school aspect. Boston College is so good academically. That’s as important to me as hockey. I’m majoring in communications and minoring in leadership and management. I’ve always wanted to be involved in sports in some way. I think being on the hockey side of the business side of an NHL team would be my dream. You see Amanda Kessel, who works for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and you can just see there are so many jobs around the game, and they’re kind of paving the way for women.”
Prior to BC, Bilka played at the women’s U18, in 2017 and 2018, getting her first taste of USA Hockey under the IIHF umbrella. “I played two years of U18," she recalled. "We won gold our first year and lost our second year, but at the time you’re young, immature, it’s your first international tournament. Wearing the USA jersey. There’s a lot of growing to do. I think I’ve made those steps, nutritionally, off ice, being in the right head space, focusing on those details. I think I've taken a lot of steps from then to now, but wearing the USA jersey doesn’t change whether you're 16 or 21. It’s still a huge honour.”
In Herning, it’s so far, so good for Bilka and her team. They have won their first two games comfortably, and Bilka has scored a goal in each game. A medal is still a long way away, so Bilka won’t pinch herself just yet. She doesn’t want to wake from her dream.