A few years back I had the luxury of doing an interview with Hayley Wickenheiser following a UBC Women’s  Hockey Game and one thing she is willing  to talk is about sport in Canada.

She grew up in Shaunavon Saskatchewan which is located southwest of Swift Current and played her minor hockey on an outdoor rink with the boy’s teams in the area.

Both her Parents were School teachers and her Dad played old timers hockey and she truly enjoyed Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, who she eventually became friends with.

Throughout her career she has faced various challenges and she is a true ambassador for sport in Canada in more way’s than one.

It’s nice to see her finally get the recognition she truly deserves and next spring, June 8th the University of Saskatchewan is going to bestow her with an honorary degree as a Doctor Of Laws.

Hayley made her International hockey debut at the young age of 15 and went on to play 23 seasons in Women’s Hockey with the National Team before retiring this past January holding a record of a five-time Olympic Medalist.

This includes four straight Gold medals that date from 2002 to 2014 and it the all-time scoring leader with 168 goals in 276 career games for Team Canada.

She was a member of Team Canada when Women’s hockey was introduced as a medal sport at her first Winter Olympics in 1998 and was Canada’s official Flag Bearer at her final Olympic Games in 2014.

Playing in Canada it’s interesting to note that she was drafted by the Calgary Inferno in the in the second round, 9th overall in the CWHL 2015 Draft.

Congrats to Hayley for putting Women’s hockey on the  world stage and Sportswave wishes her all the best moving forward.

I have enclosed the interview we did at UBC with Hayley!!