Having a crack at touching Olympic gold
By: National Post - March, 2010 2010
Gold medallist and hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser spent yesterday afternoon in the egg section of the downtown Metro grocery, on Front Street across from the St. Lawrence Market, signing autographs and promoting everyone's favourite shelled breakfast for the Egg Farmers of Canada. Sensing this might be his only chance to touch a gold medal, The Post's Matthew Coutts snuck into line.
12:06 The downtown Metro is a labyrinthine store and I am soon lost in the shampoo section -- no eggs to be found.
12:09 I spot a guy wearing a hockey jersey and follow him to a line of people running from the egg section through the sour cream and down the milk aisle.
(Read more...)
Golden Olympic Memories: 10 unforgettable moments
By: Hayley Wickenheiser, Hockey Now Alberta Edition - March 2010
There is probably only one word to describe the Vancouver Olympic Games and the journey to the gold medal: wow. I hardly know where to start.
All I can say is, that after 10 months together, intense training day-to-day, 57 games in six months and two World Championship losses, it could not have ended any better.
I am extremely proud of our team, staff and coaches. What most people see is two weeks every four years. That is what most of the media and public perception stems from. Having said that, there is so much more that goes into the process of being Olympic champions. When I look at my gold medal, I see a multitude of moments leading up to it. The work that is done away from the spotlight of the games is what makes champions. (Read more...)
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Canadian Heroes - Women's Hockey
By Matthew Sekeres, The Globe and Mail - Tuesday, March 2, 2010
They queued in the rain and cheered when she first stepped outside and flashed the gold medallion around her neck.
In downtown Vancouver Saturday, several hundred - most of them little girls and young women - turned out for an autograph session with Hayley Wickenheiser, captain of Canada's gold-medal winning women's hockey team, and the face of her sport.
The crowd was there to see an athletic hero, but also a real-lives hero. Not a real-life hero such as a policewoman or firefighter, but someone who does not return to the lap of luxury now that the Olympic cauldron has been extinguished, and someone who, along with her teammates, created a bond with the country by turning the national game into a sport for two genders.
"Our team, we're just normal people," Wickenheiser told the masses. "I live in a normal house. I drive a normal car.
"We have all sorts of regular people who come together and play the game we love," she added. "I think the average Canadian can relate to it, and that's probably why it feels so special."
(Read more...)
Canada brings home Olympic gold in women's hockey
By: Steve Ewen, Canwest Olympic Team - February 26, 2010
VANCOUVER - Shannon Szabados made Melody Davidson look awfully smart Thursday and now hockey coaches across the country just might take their sweet time picking their starting goalie every game.
Canada-U.S. III the women's hockey final everyone wanted
By: Ed Willes, Canwest Olympic Team; Canwest News Service - February 24th, 2010
VANCOUVER - A couple of days ago, the American men's and women's hockey teams were having dinner when a predictable, and somewhat painful, subject came up concerning the events of the Salt Lake Games eight years ago.
Anyone else remember what happened? The Yanks couldn't forget it if they tried.
There, at the E Centre in the Salt Lake suburbs, the Americans dropped both gold-medal games to the Canadians and there, on their home soil, they had to watch their greatest hockey rival celebrate the greatest victory in global sport.
Suffice to say a pint of sulphuric acid would have gone down easier.
Now, eight years later, the Canadian and American women meet again in Thursday's gold-medal game. The men's story is still in the process of unfolding, but the women's final will mark the latest instalment in the ongoing cold war between the Canucks and Yanks. And lest you think this rivalry has grown stale over the last decade or so, the two old foes would suggest otherwise.
``There'd be nothing better than to flip the stage,'' said American defenceman Angela Ruggiero.
``(Salt Lake) is what they want to talk about, but that's not the story we want to write,'' said Canadian captain and resident institution Hayley Wickenheiser. ``We've been through it. We're ready for anything that comes our way.''
(Read more...)
Aggressive leadership - Wearing captain's 'C' the newest challenge Wickenheiser has attacked with her trademark tenacity
By Allan Maki, Globe and Mail - Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010
There is something inside Hayley Wickenheiser that shouts enough is never enough. It's a voice that makes her sharpen her game to a gleaming edge; a need that stretches the limits of her abilities because what she did the day before wasn't enough and more is better, more is power.
It's why she goes to the Pengrowth Saddledome not just to watch the Calgary Flames play but to see them warm up, see how they act, their body language.
(Read more...)
The Globe and Mail, January 2010
The Globe's Power50
We consider the events of 2009 to identify the individuals with the power, and the will, to influence sport in Canada during 2010 and beyond.
How we make the list....
Our correspondents across Canada nominate individuals from their regions and beats. The nominees, by their actions in 2009, are generally poised to make an impact on the country’s sporting scene in 2010.
Last year, Jim Balsillie’s attempt to transplant the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton had the country buzzing.
This year, the concussion/headshot debate – seeded by a series of Globe stories last winter and thereafter placed on the NHLagenda – is developing into the 2010 version of the Coyotes story. That’s why some of the individuals involved in that story are ranked highly on this year’s list, including the only deceased member of the Power50, Reggie Fleming.
It is a reflection of the country’s thriving and diverse sports environment that we have increased the number to 50 from 30, with nine women included. We pared the names of nearly 50 nominees - and that was without considering highly influential print/web journalists and TV/radio commentators such as Brian Williams and Bob McCown.
It was decided last year to eliminate journalists and restrict the group to athletes, coaches, officials, general managers, executives and owners. The one exception is Don Cherry, a cultural icon of indisputable influence, whether negative or positive is in the ears (and eyes) of the beholder.
#33 - Hayley Wickenheiser: Best women's hockey player in the world, mother to a nine-year-old son, aspiring physician, a 15-year national team veteran with 300-plus points in 200-plus international games, Wickenheiser is captain for the first time as Team Canada campaigns for a third consecutive gold medal.
(Read more...)
By Vicki Michaelis, USA TODAY, January 28, 2010
USA-Canada border rivalry simmers in women's hockey
Only four players on the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team also were on the 2002 Olympic roster. But the history of what happened at those Games is sure to hang thick in the air at Canada Hockey Place if the USA and Canada play, as expected, in the gold medal game Feb. 25.
Entering the Vancouver Games, the U.S. women are the defending world champions, having won the 2008 and 2009 titles. But the Canadians are the team on the hotter streak after winning the Four Nations Cup in November and coming out victorious in a majority of the USA vs. Canada Olympic tuneup games this season.
With the roles thus reversed, the U.S. women have a chance to avenge the 2002 result and, in a way, repeat history: They could win Olympic gold on their fellow superpower's home ice.
Since women began playing at the world championships in 1990 and at the Olympics in 1998, either the USA or Canada has won every title.
"The one thing about playing hockey and being Canadian is you're always expected to win," forward Hayley Wickenheiser says.
"We know that they're looking to knock us off on home soil like we did in '02," Wickenheiser says of the U.S. women. "I think it makes it exciting. That will be the story that everybody is talking about."
(Read more…)
Canwest News Service, Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Athletes are governed by increasingly stringent guidelines in a bid to keep sports clean
Hayley Wickenheiser knows first-hand how far doping-control agents will go to catch potential cheats off guard in their attempt to stamp out doping in sports. She once invited an officer to her sister’s wedding in case she couldn’t pee.
The captain of Canada’s women’s hockey team readily accepts that she can be tested anywhere, any time, no matter where she is in the world. She was 12 the first time she was asked to pull down her pants in the name of sport and since then she’s understood that the price of fairness in sports is to pee into a bottle in front of a complete stranger.
But the oddest moment came last year when a doping control officer showed up unannounced at her parents’ home just as she was getting ready for her sister’s wedding.
(Read more…)
By Tom Hawthorn, Globe and Mail - Thursday, Jan. 07, 2010
Ladies' night in Canada
Author Wayne Norton uncovered the early days of B.C.'s 'lady puck-chasers,' who endured teasing and earned begrudging respect
They called themselves Vamps and Kewpies and Amazons.
In the early days, they wore long skirts as befitted Victorian ladies. Soon, they were donning stylish outfits of their own design, complete with navy collars and short skirts with trim, not to mention nickel-plated ice skates.
In time, they skated freely in bloomers, their team identity proudly presented in colourful wool sweaters.
Long before Hayley Wickenheiser first laced a skate, decades before the inauguration of the Winter Olympics, a handful of daring women in British Columbia defied convention by taking to the ice to play hockey.
(Read more...)
By Wayne Scanlan, The Ottawa Citizen - January 2, 2010
Getting stronger - The level of play in women's hockey continues to rise, according to its biggest star
Hayley Wickenheiser has been called the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey.
Gordie Howe is probably a better comparison.
Like Howe, Wickenheiser grew up in the Prairies, in a small Saskatchewan town. The 31-year-old native of Shaunavon is tall, rangey, physical, and shoots right like Howe, not left like Gretzky.
(Read more...)
By Hayley Mick, The Globe and Mail - Wednesday, December 30, 2009
You’ll play better with a butt like Sid the Kid
What does Sidney Crosby's butt have to do with your Wednesday-night hockey game?
According to Hayley Wickenheiser, captain of Canada's Olympic women's hockey squad and the highest-scoring Canadian female player of all time, Crosby's powerful glutes are a reminder that great hockey at any level begins with a strong behind.
During a break from preparations for the 2010 Games, the three-time Olympic medalist from Shaunavon, Sask. spoke to The Globe and Mail about the best stretches and exercises for those lacing up their skates this winter.
(Read more...)
By Donna Spencer, THE CANADIAN PRESS, August 25th, 2010
Wickenheiser's leadership will be tested heading into 2010 Olympics
She may be called the best female hockey player in the world but Hayley Wickenheiser still has a Plan B.
When she's done setting records on the ice, life after hockey will be in a hospital or doctor's office and she'll be the one wielding the stethoscope.
Paging Dr. Wickenheiser.
"I find that it's the closest thing to me being involved in the game," Wickenheiser says of her desire pursue a career in medicine. "It's the adrenaline. It's never the same thing every day.
Wickenheiser may be all about hockey at the rink, but she pushes it aside in the Calgary home she shares with partner Tomas Pacina and their nine-year-old son Noah.
"It's going to be time consuming and those are things you have to weigh with your family and I have a young boy," she sa ys. "I think it's possible to do it. I've talked to people that have and it interests me a lot.
"I still have a very long road ahead."
(Read more...)
www.ctvolympics.ca, December 2nd, 2009
Canadian women rely on men's midget teams
If the Canadian women's hockey team wins Olympic gold in February, the men of the Alberta Midget Hockey League will share in some of the glory.
Canada will have played some 30 games against the men's league by the time the 2010 Winter Games open Feb. 12 in Vancouver.
It's a different type of hockey than they're accustomed to and the Canadians are hoping it will help lift them to Olympic gold.
"We'll be asking for a medal," Calgary Royals head coach Ryan Hilderman jokes.
Read more
Right To Play is "Priceless"
One of Hayley’s favourite charities is Right To Play and she just loves the new RTP Mastercard ads. Hayley has been to Rwanda, so she tells us this is very realistic.
http://www.mastercardevents.com/rtp/
Hayley also wanted to share this story with her fans. It is recent CTV news broadcast highlighting an Edmonton school that has just launched a huge fundraising campaign for Right To Play that will culminate in a 12-hour Play-a-thon mid-December. These kids have spirit!
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip232335#clip232335
MISSISSAUGA, ON., November 16, 2009
Young hockey players share the ice with Gretzky and Wickenheiser
Samsung’s Hockey Camp contest offers 15 youth an unforgettable experience
Fifteen lucky young Canadians converged in Calgary to take part in a once-in-a-lifetime hockey clinic with hockey legends Wayne Gretzky and Hayley Wickenheiser.
Read more
CBC, Saturday, November 7th
Canadian Women’s Hockey Team Wins Four Nations Cup
The Canadian women's hockey team snapped a four-game losing streak in international finals with a 5-1 victory over the U.S. on Saturday to take the Four Nations Cup in Finland.
The Canadian women hadn't beaten the U.S. in the last game of an international tournament since the 2007 Four Nations Cup in Kitchener, Ont.
The U.S. won two world championships, the 2008 Four Nations Cup and September's Hockey Canada Cup in Vancouver after that.
"We have some players that have never won in a big tournament before against the U.S., some of our young players," captain HayleyWickenheiser said from Tikkurila.
Read more
www.ctvolympics.ca September 14, 2009
The Growth of the Game
Hayley Wickenheiser feels a sense of pride at increasing popularity of the sport with women and expectations for after the games.
Read more
Calgary Herald, August 15th, 2009
Hayley Hits 200!
Hayley Wickenheiser’s hockey career spans more than 15 years and has taken her all over the planet.
Last season, she played professional men’s hockey in Sweden — a check on her list of career goals.
And tonight, another milestone — her 200th international women’s hockey game — will be crossed off when the Canadians face off with Sweden at Father David Bauer
Read more
June 23, 2009
Samsung Electronics Links the World to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
Samsung Unveils Olympic Games Programs to Allow Consumers and Olympians
like Wayne Gretzky, Hayley Wickenheiser and Jarome Iginla to Discover Their
Every WOW Moment.
download pdf here
April 1, 2008
The 25 Toughest AthletesSports Illustrated
Let's start a barroom argument. Who are the toughest athletes in sports? Well, hang on a second. How do you define tough? The ability to take and deliver a shot or ten? To play hurt and still play well? The utter refusal to give in to pressure, circumstance, or more physically imposing foe? To dominate one's opponents or even one's sport?
Read more
April 1, 2009
Women to be admitted to Hockey Hall of Fame - The Toronto Star
There have always been those who believed that comparing the stars of men's professional hockey to the greatest players in the women's game was too difficult, too unwieldy and simply pointless.
Maybe they were right. Given the different developmental stages of the men's game versus the women's, comparing Hayley Wickenheiser to Alex Ovechkin is like comparing Tris Speaker to Derek Jeter.
Read more
March 28, 2009
Wickenheiser named captain for world championships - CBC Sports
Veteran Hayley Wickenheiser was named captain of Canada's national women's team for the IIHF World Championships in April, Hockey Canada announced Saturday.
The Shaunavon, Sask., native has been captain of the women's team since 2007. Read more
March 26, 2009
2002 Men's and Women's Gold Medal Hockey Teams Lead 2009 Inductees into Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame - Canadian News Wire
In mesmerizing performances at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games seven years ago, two Canadian figure skaters won gold after first being awarded silver and two hockey teams both defeated host
United States for Canada's first Olympic men's hockey gold in 50 years and first-ever women's gold. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) will honour these and other sport legends tonight in Vancouver at the 2009 Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Gala Dinner & Induction Ceremony presented by General Motors Canada and the Vancouver Airport Authority. Read more
March 18, 2009
Canadians choose Hayley Wickenheiser as someone they would like to pass the Olympic Flame to - Canadian News Wire
Hayley Wickenheiser chosen amongst prominent Canadian greats such as Terry Fox and Wayne Gretzky as someone Canadians would most like to pass the Olympic Flame to during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Read more
Mar 17/09
HOCKEY CANADA ANNOUNCES ROSTERS FOR 2009 IIHF WORLD WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP AND 2009-10 OLYMPIC CENTRALIZATION
Canada’s National Women’s Team roster has been named for the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Championship, which will be held April 4-12 in Hämeenlinna, Finland. Hockey Canada has also named the additional four players who will be centralized in Calgary, AB beginning in August...download pdf here
Mar 16/09
ParticipACTION and Wilson Sporting Goods team up to give Boys and Girls Clubs more reasons to move
Members of Boys and Girls Clubs across Canada are bouncing, kicking and
catching brand new soccer balls, basketballs and footballs, thanks to a new partnership between ParticipACTION and Wilson Sporting Goods...
download pdf here
Mar 11/09
Prominent Canadians fill new roles on ParticipACTION’s Board of Directors
ParticipACTION, the national voice of physical activity and sport
participation in Canada, is pleased to announce the appointments of Phil Fontaine, Mary-Lou Donnelly...download pdf here
Mar 01/09
Countdown to 2010: Spotlight on Canadian Atheletes
Air Canada releases a monthly feature in their in-flight magazine Enroute. March 2009 featured Hayley...download pdf here