FROM RINK GLORY TO MEDICAL STUDIES
`It's an honour to help people,' Wickenheiser says of pending second career as a doctor
As 2020 winds to a close, Postmedia's Wes Gilbertson will be profiling Calgary's sporting icons of the 2000s so far.
For Hayley Wickenheiser, soon to be Dr. Wickenheiser, this was an early diagnosis.
It's one of the reasons the women's hockey legend, as she pondered her post-puck career path, enrolled in medical school at the University of Calgary.
“Something that you do as an athlete is, we call it `the disease of me,' ” Wickenheiser said. “You're so caught up in yourself. Everything is about you. It has to be to be an elite performer, right? One of the things that I like in medicine is I can get outside of myself and worry about and take care of others. It's kind of a refreshing thing, and it's an honour to be able to help people.
“I don't actually really know where medicine will end up taking me, but I know I went into it because I enjoy working with people and I enjoy walking through difficult times with them, alongside and trying to help.”
As a net-filling forward, Wickenheiser helped propel Canada to four straight Olympic gold medals — in Salt Lake City and then Torino, on home ice in Vancouver and in Sochi — and to seven more title celebrations at the women's world championship.
She made history when she first earned a spot on the national team, the youngest to ever achieve that feat at 15, and made history again when she retired, exiting as Canada's career scoring leader with 146 goals and 172 assists. She's nearly 100 points clear of the next name on that list.
Wickenheiser wasn't just a game-breaker. Widely considered the greatest female hockey player of all time, she was a game-changer.
“Hayley's impact on the women's game has been truly immeasurable in a lot of ways,” said Gina Kingsbury, a former teammate and now director of the female national program for Hockey Canada. “I think that her drive, her competitiveness, her push to bring the game to a whole other level — including herself — has helped the game progress. It has helped the game become faster, stronger, more entertaining over the years. She was definitely the driver of pushing the pace of our game.
“And then to play professional men's hockey in Finland. … Throughout her career, she's been breaking the glass ceiling in a lot of ways and showing that women can compete at levels that I think, otherwise, people never thought they could. She's been a trailblazer in the sense of always pushing the limits.”
Wickenheiser, who also has a silver keepsake from Nagano 1998 and was on the national softball team at the 2000 Summer Games, stressed there's a lot of credit to go around for Canada's incredible run of four straight Olympic crowns, praising the character of that core: “We had a lot of players for a lot of years that understood what it took to be a pro athlete and to really train and commit.”
Despite her unmatched offensive stats, despite her spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame, she seems uncomfortable with the mention of her GOAT status.
“I always believe you're only as good as your last game,” Wickenheiser said. “I guess one thing is I'm proud my last game was one of the best I ever played, at the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. I just pride myself on consistency. If there's anything I could say about my career, I think I was a consistent performer, whether there were 10 people in the stands at Father David Bauer or 16,000 at the Olympics. I tried to
play the game the same way.
“That's something I prided myself on — bringing it on a daily basis. Any success that I have had is probably because of that approach.”
Wickenheiser, continuing her studies as a clinical clerk at hospitals in both Alberta and Ontario, is on track to graduate in May from the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine. She is currently in the process of applying for residency opportunities.
Truth be told, she initially thought she'd become Dr. Wickenheiser much sooner.
As a kid in Shaunavon, Sask., her next-door neighbour was backed over by the local grocery delivery truck. When visiting the little girl, she remembers being in awe of the work of the hospital staff.
Then, after moving to Calgary, where she played for the Blackfoot Bantam Cougars and the Northwest bantam AA Bruins, she was recruited at an early age to skate and study at Harvard University.
“So I thought I'd do that and go to medical school and that would be it,” Wickenheiser said. “And then obviously I had an opportunity with the national team, and
the rest is history.”
Wickenheiser's return to the books, not long after Vancouver 2010, was big news. She was still a fixture in Hockey Canada's program — and raising a son, Noah — when she carved out time to complete her kinesiology degree and lend some star-power and presence to the U of C Dinos, coached by her longtime teammate Danielle Goyette.
With a near-perfect GPA, she was named one of eight CIS academic all-canadians in 2010-11.
“She had a big influence on our team,” said Goyette, also enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. “Because if she was able to do that, having that good of marks while training full time with the national team, playing with us, having a child, it showed a really good example for our students. I knew at that point, no matter what she's going to take, she will be on top of her class. Because that's who she is. She doesn't take mediocrity for results. She wants to be the best and if she can get there, she'll find a way to get to the top.”
This isn't a competition, but Wickenheiser believes some of the traits necessary to be a high-performance athlete will also be beneficial in her next
career in a family practice or emergency room.
“Playing sports, not just on the national team but from a young age, it's really given me skills to adapt and be flexible under pressure and not take criticism to heart,” said Wickenheiser, still involved in the game as a development coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Because every day in medicine, you get told you're not doing something right or you make mistakes. That's how you learn. I see a lot of people crumble under pressure, whereas I'm like, `Every day that I went to the rink, all I was told was everything I wasn't doing right.'
“That's just part of life as an athlete. I think that serves me well to manage stress, maybe in some cases better than other people would not having that experience.”
What's become clear since she called it a career in 2017 is that this hockey legend isn't done making a mark … and making a difference.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, she spearheaded a social-media drive to collect personal protective equipment for front-liners.
While the youngsters can't gather for a tournament, she's hosting a virtual edition this weekend of her annual WickFest, with a star-studded slate of special guests for the online hangouts.
“Sometimes I think, `Oh my gosh, how can she find the time to do all that?' It's pretty amazing,” Goyette said. “But she always finds a way to find a solution, how to make things better or how to get better instead of find excuses. I think that's one of her biggest assets.
“Right now, when you think about it … She's studying in becoming a doctor. She's working with the Leafs at the same time. She has her Wickfest. It just goes on and on and on. I don't think this girl can slow down and sit down and do nothing. That's not in her DNA.”