The rise of girls hockey: Meet the Utah teen at the center of U.S. hockey history

Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight meets 13-year-old Joanna Gilligan of Milcreek, Utah, on Friday, March 6, at the Utah Mammoth Ice Center. Gilligan made history as the 100,000th girl to register to play hockey for the 2025-2026 season. | Brandon Gilligan A Utah teen recently found herself at the center of a historic moment for U.

S. girls and women’s hockey. For the first time in history, USA Hockey saw 100,000 girls register to play hockey in a season, and the honor of being No.

100,000 belongs to 13-year-old Joanna Gilligan of Millcreek, Utah. On March 6, USA Hockey’s vice president of girls hockey, Kristen Sagaert, celebrated Gilligan — who will play in the Utah Mammoth’s new all-girls league — at the Utah Mammoth Ice Center with a special locker room tour and a visit from a hockey legend. “Honestly, it was crazy.

I had no idea that I would ever get the chance to do something like this, to be the 100,000th girl to register for USA Hockey,” she told the Deseret News. Gilligan was inspired by her father, Brandon Gilligan, who has been playing hockey since he was 12, to try the sport. She recently finished her first season as one of three girls on a boys team at Salt Lake City Sports Complex.