{"id":61453,"date":"2015-09-16T19:52:18","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T11:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=61453"},"modified":"2016-05-31T10:18:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T14:18:27","slug":"wickenheiser-returns-to-canadian-team-after-foot-surgery-contemplates-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/09\/16\/wickenheiser-returns-to-canadian-team-after-foot-surgery-contemplates-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Wickenheiser returns to Canadian team after foot surgery, contemplates 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hayley<\/a>
Hayley Wickenheiser (Photo from Wickenheiser’s official Twitter account<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CALGARY \u2013 During the four months her foot didn\u2019t touch the ground, Hayley Wickenheiser wondered if she\u2019d walk normally again, let alone skate.<\/p>\n

She was able to do both in time to re-join the Canadian women\u2019s hockey team for this week\u2019s camp in Calgary.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s all-time leading scorer underwent season-ending surgery in Toronto on Feb. 18 to have a plate and eight screws inserted in her left foot.<\/p>\n

She played in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, with a broken bone in that foot. Wickenheiser had a screw surgically implanted in it just over a year ago, but pain continued to dog her.<\/p>\n

Of the slings and arrows Wickenheiser has played through in her two decades wearing the Maple Leaf, this one had the potential to end her career.<\/p>\n

So when Wickenheiser\u2019s surgeon told her she couldn\u2019t put weight on her foot for four months, she obeyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty serious injury to the point where they said if you put any weight on it you could risk long-term damage,\u201d Wickenheiser said Tuesday at WinSport\u2019s Markin MacPhail Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most serious injury I\u2019ve ever had in my career \u2013 a lot of dark days wondering if I\u2019d ever walk normally again. I did everything the surgeon said.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the weeks following surgery, Wickenheiser did one-legged windsprints using a scooter and wrapped her cast in a garbage bag so she could swim laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to be very creative in my training and my rehab, but I think I made really good progress in the span of six months to be back here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wickenheiser started skating in July, but she\u2019s held off on running and jumping in dryland training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bone is now fully healed,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I was a sprinter or a track athlete I wouldn\u2019t be back at this point, but because it\u2019s hockey I can get away with that lateral push and it doesn\u2019t seem to bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jayna Hefford\u2019s retirement last week at age 38 makes Wickenheiser, 37, the elder stateswoman on the national women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Of the 47 women invited to training camp, only Wickenheiser and goaltender Charline Labonte are in their 30s.<\/p>\n

Wickenheiser and Hefford are the only two Canadian women to have played in all five Olympic women\u2019s hockey tournaments. They won gold in four of them.<\/p>\n

Wickenheiser also played softball for Canada in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Her foot responding the way it has, she was contemplating a seventh Olympic appearance in the 2018 Winter Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to play through 2018,\u201d Wickenheiser said. \u201cToday, I don\u2019t see any reason why I can\u2019t. Physically I\u2019m fitter than I\u2019ve ever been really, considering my foot and the way I was able to come back and feel pretty healthy and good on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

She intends to play a full season with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women\u2019s Hockey League, as well as represent Canada again at November\u2019s Four Nations Cup and the 2016 women\u2019s world championship in Kamloops, B.C.<\/p>\n

The five-foot-10, 162-pound forward from Shaunavon, Sask., leads Canada all-time in goals (168), assists (207), games played (270) and penalty minutes (312).<\/p>\n

She was captain of the Canadian team that won Olympic gold in 2010 and assistant captain in 2014 in Sochi, but she\u2019s now faced with carving a new role for herself.<\/p>\n

Hockey Canada is grooming players such as Marie-Philip Poulin, Rebecca Johnston, Natalie Spooner, Haley Irwin, Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino to be Canada’s captains and assistant captains. Where does that leave one of the most decorated women in hockey?<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s team general manager Melody Davidson, who coached Wickenheiser in both the 2006 and 2010 Olympics, says making sure Wickenheiser\u2019s foot is healthy is the first hurdle upon her return.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s what does she want her role to be, where does she fit it, where do we see her? We\u2019ve only had her at one camp since Sochi,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t teach her compete level, her intensity and her willingness to do whatever it takes to win a hockey game and be successful. There\u2019s a lot of learnings there for the younger players to observe and see. A lot of them have never played with her or never even been to a camp with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wickenheiser accepts the leadership torch has been passed to the 20-somethings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been around for a long time, played on the team for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cMy voice has been around for a long time, so I think it\u2019s nice to have a fresh, new look going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers have to step up and carry some of that load now and that’s a nice thing. I still do the same things I\u2019ve always done and led by example, play hard and train hard and all those things\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canadian women play a series of exhibition games against Alberta Midget Hockey League teams starting Thursday. Their camp concludes Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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