HAYLEY WICKENHEISER
LEADS CANADA AGAINST THE WORLD IN KAMLOOPS
Hayley Wickenheiser was politely perturbed.
“Do I get tired of that question? Yeah, I do. People get too caught up in age,” she said moments after helping Canada to a 9-0 win over Sweden Saturday at the Sandman Centre in an exhibition before the women’s world championships, which open here Monday.
The inquiry was regarding whether she ever envisioned she’d still be playing international hockey at this stage. She’ll turn 38 in August.
There’s also the regular question about how much longer she’ll keep competing.
“Yeah, that one is annoying, too,” she said. “I’ll tell guys when I’m done.”
To be clear, she was smiling and laughing the whole time she was saying that. Wickenheiser continues to maintain that she wants to play through the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics. It would be her sixth Winter Games.
You can argue she’s shown it with more than words. The right-handed-shooting centre missed last year’s worlds in Malmo, Sweden, because she had reconstructive surgery on her left foot in February 2015. It was the second operation on that foot. A plate and eight screws were inserted. She couldn’t walk on it for four months. She thinks she hurt it initially blocking a shot in practice at the 2012 Four Nations Cup tournament in Tikkurila, Finland, and believes it was misdiagnosed several times.
Keep in mind she was still one of Canada’s best players at the Sochi 2014 Olympics. She played 25 minutes and 37 seconds in the 3-2 overtime win against the U.S. in the goldmedal game, leading all Canadian forwards in ice time.
“I think there were six doctors consulted, and four of them said that I could never play again,” Wickenheiser said of the lead-up to February’s surgery, “so I went with the guys who said I could.”
She was creative in her rehabilitation. Early on, she did one-legged wind sprints using a scooter; she wrapped her cast in a garbage bag to swim laps.
“I never thought about not doing this,” said Wickenheiser, a 5-foot10, 162-pound Shaunavon, Sask., native. “I always knew I was coming back. A lot of people thought I couldn’t. Those who know me knew I had the desire.
“It’s been a long process, but I feel really good with where my game is at now.”
She’s not the centrepiece of the Canadian team like she once was. Coach Laura Schuler’s first-unit power play versus Sweden featured Marie-Philip Poulin, Meghan Agosta and Natalie Spooner up front.
Wickenheiser is still a factor, though. She seemed to have plenty of jump against the Swedes. She has a heavy shot. And she’s fiery, driving hard to the net at every chance. On one particular rush, she nearly corkscrewed Swedish forward Maria Lindh into the ice, bobbing and weaving at the Swedish blue-line.
Lindh is 22. Wickenheiser’s linemates against the Swedes were Jennifer Wakefield, 26, and Jamie Lee Rattray, 23. Her teammates include forward Emily Clark, 20. The next oldest after Wickenheiser is goalie Charline Labonte, who’s 33.
“I’m learning a lot, just from watching her work habits on and off the ice and how dedicated she is,” Clark, a Saskatoon native, said of Wickenheiser.
Clark wasn’t born when a 15-yearold Wickenheiser played in her first women’s worlds in 1994 in Lake Placid. For more perspective, consider that Wickenheiser’s son, Noah, turns 16 in the coming days. “He’d probably prefer if I retired,” she said, again with a laugh, “but he sees the effort that it takes. He’s proud. He understands the commitment.”