Over the Boards

There is no one in the world like Hayley Wickenheiser.

13 World Championship appearances. 6 Olympic Games. Hockey Hall of Famer. All while raising a child, earning multiple university degrees, and not benefiting from the financial stability male professional athletes have. She gave the game everything she hadnow, Hayley shares what the game gave her.

From motherhood to pro leagues to her new career in medicine, Hayley shares the hard-won lessons she learned on and off the ice that helped her not only have a record-breaking hockey career but craft a life filled with joy, growth, and challenges. In her own words, Hayley shares how she rose from the backyard pond and changing in boiler rooms (because girls' dressing rooms didn't exist) to Olympic MVP (twice). How becoming a parent made her a better athlete. How she learned to thrive under monumental pressure. But she doesn't stop at revealing the pillars to her tremendous successHayley delves into her immense failures and how she grew from them. Like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, and Abby Wambach before her, Hayley shares her wisdom through personal stories of triumph, relentlessness, and more than a couple confrontations. Told with humour, compassion, and steadfast optimism, Hayley's practical advice, coaching, and invaluable perspective inspires readers to never accept "that's not the way we do things" or "that hasn't been done before" as limitations. An empowering and pragmatic guide, Hayley encourages readers to not follow in her footsteps, but to carve their own ice.

Hayley Wickenheiser has represented Canada at 13 World Championships and made six Olympic appearances, bringing home four gold medals. She's been inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame, Hockey Hall of Fame and is the founder of Canadian Tire WickFest. She's currently the Senior Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a medical doctor.

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More aboutHayley Wickenheiser

LIfe after the Olympics for Hayley Wickenheiser

7 years ago

Duration 5:58

Life after the Olympics has been quite an experience for Hayley Wickenheiser. The longtime hockey star retired last year and is now a member of the IOC Athlete's Commission. In this interview with The National's Rosemary Barton, Wickenheiser talks doping at the Olympics, brain research, and life after retirement

Hayley Wickenheiser proud to be Canadian in face of pandemic

5 years ago

Duration 1:30

Canadian hockey great and current medical student Hayley Wickenheiser, wants Canadians to stick together, and be proud of the work being done to fight COVID-19.

'People need connection': Hayley Wickenheiser on parallels between hockey career and fighting Covid-19

5 years ago

Duration 7:56

The hockey great grew up in a small town but those values shaped both her athletic career and her ability to rally Canada during a pandemic.