Hayley Wickenheiser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hayley WickenheiserOC |
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| Hockey Hall of Fame, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wickenheiser in 2014
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| Born | August 12, 1978 Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
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| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shot | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Played for | Calgary Oval X-Treme Edmonton Chimos HC Salamat Linden HC University of Calgary Calgary Inferno |
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| National team |  Canada |
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| Playing career | 1993–2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official site: http://www.hayleywickenheiser.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Hayley Wickenheiser (born August 12, 1978) is a Canadian sports legend. She is famous for being an amazing ice hockey player. She was also the first woman to play professional men's hockey in a position other than goalie.
Hayley played for the Canada women's national ice hockey team for 23 years, from 1994 until she retired in 2017. She holds the record for the most points on the team. She played in five Winter Olympics, winning four gold medals and one silver. She was even named the best player of the tournament twice! She also played softball in one Summer Olympics.
Many people think Hayley Wickenheiser is the greatest women's ice hockey player ever. She was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. She is also in the IIHF Hall of Fame and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Today, she works as an assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Contents
Ice Hockey Career
Early Years in Hockey
Hayley Wickenheiser started playing ice hockey when she was five years old. She played on outdoor rinks in her hometown of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. She played only on boys' teams until she was 13.
When her family moved to Calgary, Alberta, she kept playing minor hockey. In 1991, she played for Alberta at the 18-and-under Canada Winter Games. Her team won the gold medal. Hayley scored the winning goal and was named the Most Valuable Player of the final game.
Playing for Canada
Hayley was just 15 years old when she first joined Canada's National Women's Team in 1994. She stayed on the team until she retired in 2017. Her first big international tournament was the 1994 World Championship. Canada won gold, and Hayley got her first international point.
She won seven World Championship gold medals (in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, and 2012). She also earned six silver medals. She was named to the tournament All-Star team four times. In 1999, she was even named the World Championship MVP.
Olympic Games Success
Women's hockey became an Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Hayley was part of Team Canada and they won a silver medal. Her performance was so impressive that she was invited to try out for the Philadelphia Flyers men's team rookie camps!
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Canada won the gold medal. They beat Team USA in the final game. Hayley was named the Tournament MVP and was the top scorer.
Canada defended its gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. They won against Sweden in the final. Hayley was again named tournament MVP and Top Forward. She also led the tournament in scoring with five goals and 17 points.
In 2010, Hayley became the all-time leading Olympic goal scorer for women. This happened when Canada beat Sweden 13–1 at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She scored her 16th career Olympic goal in that game.
Hayley helped Canada win two more Olympic gold medals. They beat the United States in Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014). This means she won five Olympic medals in total: four gold and one silver. She is one of only five athletes to win gold in four Winter Games in a row.
When she retired in 2017, she was the Olympic tournament's all-time leading scorer. She had 18 goals and 51 points. Hayley took the athlete's oath at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony. She was also Canada's flagbearer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Supporting Women's Hockey
In 2010, Hayley attended the World Hockey Summit. This meeting discussed the future of women's hockey in the Olympics. Some people worried that the tournament might be removed because only Canada and the United States had won gold.
Hayley explained that the difference in skill between North American and European teams was due to more support in North America. She said that North America had professional women's leagues and year-round training. She argued that European players were talented but their national teams did not get as much support as the men's teams.
Playing in Professional Leagues
Women's Leagues
Hayley Wickenheiser was a star in women's professional leagues. In 1996, she was named MVP of the Esso women's hockey nationals. She helped Alberta finish fourth. She won Nationals with the Edmonton Chimos in 1997 and the Calgary Oval X-Treme in 1998. She was MVP both years.
In 2004–05, she played for the Calgary Oval X-Treme in the first season of the Western Women's Hockey League. Her team won the league championship. Hayley was the top scorer and made the league's all-star team.
Men's Leagues
In 2003, Hayley made history. She became the first woman to score a goal in a men's semi-professional league. She played for HC Salamat in Finland's third-division league. She played 22 games over two seasons, scoring one goal and three assists.
Hayley chose to play in a European league because the game there was more open and less physical than in North America. Finland's Hockey Federation supported her playing in a men's league. She debuted with HC Salamat on January 10, 2003.
In 2007, she had a tryout with a Swedish men's team, IFK Arboga IK. She scored two goals in her first practice game. In 2008, she signed a one-year contract with Eskilstuna Linden, another Swedish men's team.
Hayley was named one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Hockey" by The Hockey News. She was also called one of the "25 Toughest Athletes" by Sports Illustrated.
In 2016, playing for the Calgary Inferno in the Clarkson Cup finals, she had two assists. Her team won the championship with an 8-3 score.
University Hockey
Hayley Wickenheiser joined the Calgary Dinos women's ice hockey team in 2010. This team plays in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). She was expected to be a leader for the young team. She also studied kinesiology at the University of Calgary.
In her first CIS game, Hayley scored two goals and an assist. She finished her first season tied for the conference lead in scoring with 40 points. She was named the Canada West Most Valuable Player. In 2011, she became the first Dino to win the Brodrick Trophy as CIS MVP.
After Playing Hockey
On January 13, 2017, Hayley Wickenheiser announced her retirement from playing hockey. She decided to go to medical school.
In August 2018, she was hired as the assistant director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In May 2021, she was promoted to senior director of player development. In July 2022, she became the assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 2021, she helped create the "Wick Stick" with Verbero Hockey. This was the first hockey stick designed with her specific ideas. It was part of a plan to make hockey equipment for women.
In 2022, a documentary film about her life called WICK was released.
Softball Career
Hayley Wickenheiser is also a talented softball player. On June 24, 2000, she was named to the Canadian softball team for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
In 1994, she was named All-Canadian Shortstop and Top Batter at the Canadian Midget Nationals. In 1995, she played for Team Canada at the World Junior Fastball Championships. In 1997, she was again named All Star Shortstop and Top Batter at Midget Nationals.
In 2000, she played for Simon Fraser University. She helped her team finish third at the NAIA National Championships. Later that summer, she played in the Summer Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. She had the highest batting average for Canada.
Personal Life
Hayley Wickenheiser's parents, Tom and Marilyn, were both physical education teachers. She lives in Calgary with her son, Noah. Her cousin, Doug Wickenheiser, was also a professional hockey player.
A children's book about Hayley's life, called Born to Play, was written in 2005. In 2011, her hometown of Shaunavon named a new recreation complex after her, the Crescent Point Wickenheiser Centre. She was also named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011.
Hayley graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 2013. After retiring from hockey, she went to medical school at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine. She finished medical school in 2021. She completed her family medicine training in 2023 and is now studying emergency medicine.
Hayley wrote a book called Gold Medal Diary – Inside the World's Greatest Sports Event. It talks about her training with Team Canada for the 2010 Olympics.
She also started WickFest, an annual event for girls' and women's hockey. Female players from all over the world come to learn from top coaches and players.
Video Game Appearance
In September 2012, EA Sports announced that Hayley Wickenheiser would be one of the first two female hockey players in the NHL video game series. She appeared in NHL 13 along with Angela Ruggiero.
Awards and Honours
- 2007 Most Valuable Player, Pool A, Esso Canadian Women's Nationals
- 2007 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award
- 2010 Gave the athlete's Olympic Oath at the 2010 Olympic Games
- 2011 Canada West Player of the Year
- 2011 Brodrick Trophy Winner (Most Outstanding Player in USports women's ice hockey)
- 2011 Officer of the Order of Canada
- 2011 Media All-Star team, IIHF Women's World Championship
- 2014 Canada's Walk of Fame
- 2014 Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development
- 2017 CAAWS Wall of Influence Award
- 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame
- 2019 IIHF Hall of Fame
- 2021 Canada West Hall of Fame
- 2022 Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
See also
- List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
