Hayley Wickenheiser

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Position Forward
Shoots Right
Nickname(s) Wick
Height
Weight		 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg/12 st 2 lb)
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born August 12, 1978,
Shaunavon, SK, CA
Pro career 2003 – present
Olympic medal record
Women's ice hockey
Gold 2006 Torino Team
Gold 2002 Salt Lake City Team
Silver 1998 Nagano Team

Hayley Wickenheiser (born August 12, 1978,[1] in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan) is a player for the Canadian women's ice hockey team. In 2003, she became the first woman to play professional hockey at a position other than goalie. In addition to her prowess as a hockey player, Wickenheiser is also an elite softball player, representing Canada at the summer Olympics in that sport. She is a cousin of the late National Hockey League player, Doug Wickenheiser.

Contents

[edit] Minor Hockey Career

Wickenheiser started her hockey career in her hometown of Shaunavon when she was eight years old. She played on boy's teams until she was 13.[2] In 1991, she was a member of Team Alberta in the Canada Winter Games for the Under-17 Girls' competition, where she helped her team to a gold medal victory by scoring the game winning goal and being named Most Valuable Player of the final game.[3][4]

While playing in the Calgary minor hockey system, Wickenheiser took home numerous awards, including team MVP honours for the 1993-94 season, and the Harley Swain Memorial Award for dedication to hockey throughout Calgary's AAA bantam system.[3]

[edit] National and International Hockey Career

[edit] 1994-1997

At the age of 15 (1994), Wickenheiser was named to Canada's National Women's team for the first time, to play at the World Championships, held that year in Lake Placid. She played in 3 games, and picked up her first international point, an assist, while helping Canada to a gold medal. In 1995 and 1996, she competed for Canada at the Pacific Rim Championships, winning gold medals at both tournaments. In 1995, she was named Outstanding Forward and a First Team All-Star at the tournament.[3][5] In 1996, Wickenheiser was named MVP of the Esso National Women's Championship, helping Alberta to a fourth place finish.[3]

While playing at the Three Nations Cup tournaments in 1996 and 1997, Wickenheiser helped Canada to gold and silver medals respectively. Wickenheiser made her second appearance at the Women's World Championship in 1997, helping Canada to another gold medal, while being named to the tournament All-Star team in the process. At the Esso Women's National Championship in 1997, Wickenheiser helped the Edmonton Chimos to a gold medal, and was named tournament MVP in the process.[3][5]

[edit] 1998

With the introduction of Women's Hockey as a full-fledged medal event at the 1998 Winter Olympics, Wickenheiser was a member of Team Canada at this event as well. Team Canada won a silver medal at the event and Wickenheiser was named to the tournament all-star team. Wickenheiser also played 21 games for Team Canada during their pre-Olympic tour.

Also during 1998, Wickenheiser was a member of Canada's Under-22 Women's team, which won a gold medal at the Under-22 World Championships, held in Germany. Closer to home, the Calgary Oval X-Treme were National Champions again, and she was named MVP. Her performance at the 1998 Olympics impressed Men's Team Canada General Manager Bobby Clarke so much, that he invited her to participate in the Philadelphia Flyers rookie camps in 1998 and 1999.[6]

[edit] 1999-2001

Throughout these years, Wickenheiser continued to play for her club teams at the Esso Women's National Championships, winning a gold medal and two silvers. On the international level, there were Three Nations Cup events and World Championships. In 2001, she was named to the World Championship roster, but missed the tournament due to a knee injury suffered at the National Championships.[3][7]

[edit] 2002

2002 was another chance at Olympic gold, and Wickenheiser was named to Canada's roster for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah. In a bit of redemption for 1998, Canada won the gold medal by defeating Team USA in the final game. Wickenheiser was named Tournament MVP and she was the top scorer on the Women's side.[3][7] On Team Canada's pre-Olympic tour, Wickenheiser played 26 games and racked up 36 points.

[edit] 2003

In 2003, Wickenheiser became the first woman to suit up in a Men's professional hockey league, at a position other than goalie, when she played for HC Salamat in Finland. During this season, she also becomes the first woman to score a goal playing in a Men's professional league. Over the course of the season, Wickenheiser played 23 games, scoring 2 goals and adding 10 assists.[3][7][6] Wickenheiser joined a European league to play professional hockey, as the game is more open and less physical than North American leagues. This attempt to play professional hockey was not an entirely smooth process, as Wickenheiser was initially slated to play in Italy, until the Italian Winter Sports Federation ruled that women were ineligible to play in a men's league. She also turned down an offer from Phil Esposito to play for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Finland's Hockey Federation unanimously supported letting women play in a men's league, allowing her to debut with Salamat on January 10, 2003.[8]

Later in 2003, Wickenheiser joined Team Canada for the 4 Nations Cup where they lost the final game in a shootout, taking home silver.[3][7]

[edit] 2004-2005

Wickenheiser played briefly with Salamat in 2004. They had won promotion to the First Division, and this was not as good a fit for her, so she left the team after 10 games. The 2004 Women's World Championships were held in Halifax, and Wickenheiser scored the winning goal in the final and was named MVP of that game.[3].[7]

In 2005, at the Women's World Championship, Canada did not win gold for the first time, but she was a member of Canada's silver medal team, which lost the final game in a shootout. She played this season with the Calgary Oval-XTreme, in the inaugural season of the Women's Western Hockey League. The X-Treme were league champions, and Wickenheiser was the regular season leading scorer and was named to the league's all-star team.[3] On August 31, 2005 Wickenheiser scored her 100th career goal while playing for Team Canada, the first woman to reach this milestone.[7]

[edit] 2006-Present

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Canada was defending its gold medal status. When the final match was set, Canada was facing off against Sweden, a surprise finalist. They won gold again, and Wickenheiser once more was named tournament MVP, Top Forward, and to a berth on the all-star team. She also led the tournament in scoring.[3]

In 2007, Wickenheiser played a key role in helping Canada regain its status as Women's World Champions, and picked up several more pieces of hardware in the process: Tournament MVP, Top Forward, Media All-Star and Top 3 Player for Canada. She also played for Alberta at the Esso National Championships, where they won gold medals. Again leading the tournament in scoring and being named MVP.[3] Wickenheiser capped off 2007, by winning the Bobbie Rosenfield Award as the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year.[9]

In 2008, Wickenheiser again played for Team Canada at the Women's World Hockey Championships, capturing a silver medal. She was also named to Sports Illustrated's List of 25 Toughest Athletes, coming in at #20 on the list. [10]

[edit] Softball and Fastball Career

In addition to playing hockey, Wickenheiser has been playing softball since her childhood as well. On June 24, 2000, she was named to the Canadian softball team for the 2000 Summer Olympics.[11][12] This was the culmniation of a long ball career. In 1994, she participated Canadian Midget Nationals where she was named All-Canadian Shortstop and Top Batter. In 1995, Wickenheiser was a member of Team Canada at the World Junior Fastball Championships, held in Normal, Illinois. Canada finished fifth at this event. In 1997, Wickenheiser participated at Midget Nationals with the Silver Springs 76ers. Her team finished second and Wickenheiser was again named All Star Shortstop and Top Batter. In 1999 she participated at Senior Nationals, where her team finished fourth.[3] After the Olympics in 2000, where Canada only won a single game, Wickenheiser has not been as active in softball.

[edit] Personal life

Wickenheiser was born in Shaunavon in 1978. She lived there with her family until she was 12 years old, when they moved to Calgary.[13] She has a brother named Ross and a sister named Jane. Wickenheiser lives in Calgary, AB with her boyfriend Tomas Pacina and their son, Noah.[7]

In 2004, Wickenheiser was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Nipissing University.[3][7] In July of 2006, Wickenheiser was honoured by her hometown of Shaunavon when the sportsplex there was renamed 'Wickenheiser Place.'[7]

[edit] International Career Statistics

Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM
1995 Canada WWHC 3 0 1 1 0
1997 Canada WWHC 5 4 5 9 4
1998 Canada OLY 6 2 6 8 4
1999 Canada WWHC 5 3 5 8 8
2000 Canada WWHC 5 1 7 8 4
2002 Canada OLY 5 7 3 10 2
2004 Canada WWHC 5 3 2 5 2
2005 Canada WWHC 5 5 3 8 6
2006 Canada OLY 5 5 12 17 6
2007 Canada WWHC 5 8 6 14 0
TOTALS WWHC 33 24 29 53 24
TOTALS OLY 16 14 21 35 12

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2006 Olympics Women's hockey team roster. TSN. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
  2. ^ Hayley Wickenheiser on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. CBC. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Official Site of Hayley Wickenheiser: Highlights. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  4. ^ Profiles of Notable Women in Hockey. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  5. ^ a b SLAM! Nagano: Hayley Wickenheiser. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
  6. ^ a b Oration Honouring Hayley Wickenheiser.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hockey Canada Player Profile: Hayley Wickenheiser.
  8. ^ CBC Sports: Wickenheiser makes pro debut Saturday.
  9. ^ Wickenheiser wins Bobbie Rosenfield Award.
  10. ^ "Tough" Wickenheiser eyes Tiger.
  11. ^ Women's Olympic Softball Team Named, Hayley Wickenheiser is in.
  12. ^ Softball: Hayley Wickenheiser.
  13. ^ CNN/SI: Hayley Wickenheiser.