Hayley Wickenheiser says metal-filled foot progressing towards 2018 Olympics

“I put in a lot of hours. I still have a little bit to go on the jumping, but as far as the sprinting and the running, I had a really great summer of training. “

Whether the six-time Olympian will participate in a seventh Games in 2018 and play for a fifth gold medal in women’s hockey has been a question mark since Wickenheiser underwent surgery in February 2015.

She played through the 2006 Olympics with a broken hand, the 2013 world championships with a bulging disc in her back and the 2014 Olympics with a broken foot that eventually led to the surgeon’s scalpel.

The five-foot-10, 162-pound forward knows how to play through pain, but the surgery threatened to end her career.

Wickenheiser chose a surgeon who said she would play hockey again over ones who said she wouldn’t.

When the 37-year-old from Shaunavon, Sask., would get back on the ice and to what level of performance, however, were question marks.

Her foot limited her mobility in April’s women’s world hockey championship in Kamloops, B.C., where Canada’s all-time leading scorer was not a top-six forward.

Wickenheiser had four shots on goal and one assist in five games. When her teammates ran around outside on concrete for pre-game warmups in Kamloops, Wickenheiser bounced on a mini-trampoline.

“I just needed time,” Wickenheiser said. “There’s a noticeable difference in how I feel on the ice as opposed to world championships.

“I have an Olympic foot. Yeah, I do. I think it’s rebounded great to this point. It’s been a heck of a long road, that’s for sure. I had a very serious traumatic injury.”

Wickenheiser will play for the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno this winter. Her off-season training partner was Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Braydon Coburn, who is another Shaunavon native.

Wickenheiser also worked with speedskating coach Marcel Lacroix, who coached Canada’s Christine Nesbitt to Olympic gold in 2010.

“I can still get a little more explosiveness out of my foot,” Wickenheiser said. “I still think I can get better all the time, regardless of how you old you are.”

The hardware will stay in her foot at least until Wickenheiser decides to stop playing. The plate provides protection against slapshots.

Rehabilitating her foot to get back on the ice with the national team and her club team has been a full-time job.

She also wants the time to see her son Noah through high school, so Wickenheiser has postponed medical school for now.

She defended her thesis in July for a masters degree in medical science.

“It’s basically what happens to blood vessels in the brain during exercise in kids with autism,” she explained.

“Does high intensity exercise change cerebral blood flow in young adults with autism? The answer was, we don’t know, but what we know is exercise can help to reduce the severity of symptoms with young adults with autism and improve their daily life.”

Her thesis was the foundation of a recreational program Wickenheiser started in 2011 for young people with autism. The program is currently run by the Autism Aspergers Friendship Society of Calgary (AAFS).

“When kids are in high school and younger they have a lot of programs, but when they leave they don’t, so we started a program called Stepping Out in the city here,” she explained.

“Now there’s a waiting list of over 30 kids.”

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Hayley Wickenheiser says metal-filled foot progressing towards 2018 Olympics

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