Wickenheiser, Hayley (1978-…), a Canadian athlete, is considered one of the best woman hockey players of all time. As an outstanding forward, she led Canadian national teams to seven world championships and four Olympic gold medals. Wickenheiser set Canada’s all-time scoring record for women’s hockey with 168 goals.
Wickenheiser was born on Aug. 12, 1978, in Shaunavon, in southwestern Saskatchewan. She learned to skate in her backyard on a homemade ice rink. She joined the local boys’ hockey team as the only girl player. Her mother also fought to enroll her in a boys’ hockey school. Wickenheiser’s family moved to Calgary, Alberta, where Wickenheiser was able to play on a girls’ team. In 1993, she made the women’s national team at just 15 years old, becoming the youngest player to represent Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship. Wickenheiser won world championships in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, and 2012. She was chosen for the tournament All-Star team in 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012. In 2007, she was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canada’s female athlete of the year.
In 1998, women’s hockey became a medal sport at the Winter Olympic Games. Canada was upset by the United States team, earning a silver medal. However, Wickenheiser’s performance earned her an invitation to the prospects camp of the National Hockey League (NHL) Philadelphia Flyers. In the 2002 Olympic final, Wickenheiser scored the second of three goals in a 3-2 win over the United States. Wickenheiser and Team Canada also took home gold medals at the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Olympic Games. In 2002 and 2006, Wickenheiser was named tournament MVP and top forward.
After the 2002 victory, Wickenheiser began playing for a Finnish men’s team, HC Salamat. In 2003, she became the first woman to score a goal in a professional men’s hockey game. She also became the first woman position player in full-time professional hockey. Wickenheiser made a documentary One of the Boys (2003) about her experience on the Finnish team. She began playing for the Swedish men’s team Eskilstuna Linden in 2008.
Wickenheiser has won a number of national championships with the Edmonton Chimos and the Calgary Oval X-Treme, both in the Western Women’s Hockey League. She also later played for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. While attending the University of Calgary, Wickenheiser played varsity hockey for the Calgary Dinos.
In addition to hockey, Wickenheiser excelled at softball. She made Canada’s junior national softball team in 1995. She played for Team Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, becoming the second Canadian woman, after Sue Holloway, to compete at the Summer and Winter Games.
Wickenheiser graduated from the University of Calgary in 2013 with a degree in kinesiology (the study of human movement). She went on to earn a medical degree from the university in 2021.
Wickenheiser officially retired from hockey in 2017. In 2018, she began working as a player development director for the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs organization.
Wickenheiser wrote a book about her time in the Olympics, Gold Medal Diary: Inside the World’s Greatest Sports Event (2010). She also wrote a memoir, Over the Boards: Lessons from the Ice (2021). In 2011, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.
