Hayley Wickenheiser made the Women’s Worlds All-Star Team as an 18-year-old in 1997, and again at the next WW two years later. From left to right: Jenny Potter, Sami Jo Small, Kirsi Hanninen, Sue Merz, Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser.
photo: Jukka Rautio / Europhoto
It would never happen today on a North American team. No way a 15-year-old would ever play at the Women’s Worlds. The depth of Canada’s and the United States’ teams is too great, the competition for spots too fierce. Better let a 15-year-old play the U18 three of four times first.
But in 1994, that depth wasn’t as great and there was no U18 tournament. The programs weren’t there, and the game was moving through unchartered territory.
Hayley Wickenheiser had made a name for herself in Canada’s west, playing on outdoor rinks and playing on boys’ teams until she was 13. She made a big impression at the Canada Winter Games, and she went through training camp for the Women’s World Championship in Lake Placid impressing everyone who saw her play.
She was 15, but only according to her passport.
“Hayley came into the selection camp as a centre, and we moved her to the left wing,” Canada’s coach Lea Lawton explained of his decision to keep the young teen on the team. “She had the maturity of a player of 20. When you’re talking about selecting the 20 best players in the country, versatility is one of the things we look at. We looked for leadership with veteran players and for maturity in young players.”
Maturity and versatility are two apt words, to be sure, but perhaps there’s another even more appropriate epithet – determination. Wickenheiser made the team because she wanted to, and she backed her heart up with her head and her skills. These were to be her trademarks for the next two decades.
She played in her first game on 11 April 1994, an easy 7-1 win over China, and she played her final game on 4 April 2016. In between, she set a slew of records – most medals at the Women’s Worlds (13 – 7 gold, 6 silver), most points (86), most assists (49). It was more of the same at the Olympics – most goals, assists, and points (18, 33, and 51, respectively), and most gold medals (4, tied with long-time teammates Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette).
What set “Wick” apart from everyone else was that determination. She trained like the men, developing strength and working on her slapshot, which was by far the best in the women’s game. Her stride was powerful; her upper-body and lower-body strength were unmatched. Her off-season regimen, her attention to diet, her dedication every day of the year were things not in the women’s game in the 1990s or even early 2000s.
Today, most every player trains like Wickenheiser, but that’s because in her day only one player did – Hayley.
It’s not just what she accomplished and the numbers that pop out of the record book like neon signs – it’s that Wickenheiser took the level of women’s hockey and single-handedly raised it. A lot.
Click here for the overview of stories.
But in 1994, that depth wasn’t as great and there was no U18 tournament. The programs weren’t there, and the game was moving through unchartered territory.
Hayley Wickenheiser had made a name for herself in Canada’s west, playing on outdoor rinks and playing on boys’ teams until she was 13. She made a big impression at the Canada Winter Games, and she went through training camp for the Women’s World Championship in Lake Placid impressing everyone who saw her play.
She was 15, but only according to her passport.
“Hayley came into the selection camp as a centre, and we moved her to the left wing,” Canada’s coach Lea Lawton explained of his decision to keep the young teen on the team. “She had the maturity of a player of 20. When you’re talking about selecting the 20 best players in the country, versatility is one of the things we look at. We looked for leadership with veteran players and for maturity in young players.”
Maturity and versatility are two apt words, to be sure, but perhaps there’s another even more appropriate epithet – determination. Wickenheiser made the team because she wanted to, and she backed her heart up with her head and her skills. These were to be her trademarks for the next two decades.
She played in her first game on 11 April 1994, an easy 7-1 win over China, and she played her final game on 4 April 2016. In between, she set a slew of records – most medals at the Women’s Worlds (13 – 7 gold, 6 silver), most points (86), most assists (49). It was more of the same at the Olympics – most goals, assists, and points (18, 33, and 51, respectively), and most gold medals (4, tied with long-time teammates Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette).
What set “Wick” apart from everyone else was that determination. She trained like the men, developing strength and working on her slapshot, which was by far the best in the women’s game. Her stride was powerful; her upper-body and lower-body strength were unmatched. Her off-season regimen, her attention to diet, her dedication every day of the year were things not in the women’s game in the 1990s or even early 2000s.
Today, most every player trains like Wickenheiser, but that’s because in her day only one player did – Hayley.
It’s not just what she accomplished and the numbers that pop out of the record book like neon signs – it’s that Wickenheiser took the level of women’s hockey and single-handedly raised it. A lot.
Click here for the overview of stories.
A young Hayley Wickenheiser at her first Olympics in Nagano 1998.
photo: IIHF Archive