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Mitten Hockey story card: PWHL Detroit

Four PWHL Detroit players named to U.S. roster for Women’s World Championship

Hilary Knight, Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, and Jesse Compher will play for the United States at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in Denmark, which opens Nov. 6.

Shaun
1–2 minutes

PWHL Detroit will have four players wearing USA across their chests before the franchise plays its first game. Forwards Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, and Jesse Compher and defender Cayla Barnes are on the 25-player U.S. roster for the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship, which USA Hockey announced Oct. 31. The tournament runs Nov. 6-16 in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark.

No other PWHL team placed more players on the U.S. roster. Boston, Minnesota, and the New York Sirens have three or four each, and Ohio State forward Joy Dunne is the lone college player in the group. Twenty of the 25 players were part of the U.S. team that won Olympic gold last winter, and the roster was picked after a week-long camp in Colorado Springs.

Knight, the most decorated player on the team, will be making her 16th World Championship appearance, according to Detroit Hockey Now. Barnes is headed to her seventh, Bilka her fourth, and Compher her third. All four signed with Detroit ahead of its inaugural season, and Knight’s deal now runs through 2028-29 after an extension.

The United States enters as the defending world champion under head coach John Wroblewski. It plays four group games in Esbjerg: Switzerland on Friday, Nov. 6 (1 p.m. ET), Germany on Sunday, Nov. 8 (9 a.m. ET), Austria on Monday, Nov. 9 (1 p.m. ET), and Czechia on Wednesday, Nov. 11 (1 p.m. ET). The quarterfinals are Nov. 13, the semifinals Nov. 15 in Herning, and the bronze and gold medal games Nov. 16 in Herning.

The tournament ends less than a month before PWHL Detroit opens its home schedule on Dec. 12 at Little Caesars Arena. Mitten Hockey will track how Detroit’s players do in Denmark and wrap up the event when it ends.

Sources

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