♪ >> Valerie: Welcome to Canada Files.

I'm Valerie Pringle.

Wayne Gretzky called Hayley Wickenheiser the female Gordie Howe.

She's one of the best women hockey players ever .

Winning four gold and one silver Olympic medals.

She's also the first woman to play full-time men's professional hockey, not as a goalie.

She is now assistant general manager of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

If that weren't enough, a doctor specializing in emergency medicine.

>> Valerie: Welcome Hayley!

>> Hayley: Thanks for having me, Valerie.

>> You were a very ambitious little girl!

In small-town Saskatchewan.

What made you think I could be an Olympic hockey player then I'll be a doctor?

>> I grew up with two parallel dreams.

One was to play for the Edmonton Oilers and win a Stanley Cup.

Because my heroes were Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in the Oilers of the '80s.

Then alongside that, very early on, there was a little girl in our neighbourhood who was backed over by a grocery delivery truck.

She was injured, we had a possé of kids in our neighbourhood that went to visit her at the hospital.

So I got inspired by the doctors and nurses there.

Just by being around the hospital all the time.

This would be an interesting career.

My dad was a science teacher.

My parents were teachers.

They always said you're going to need a life after hockey.

You can't probably do this forever.

So those were my two parallel goals growing up.

>> Interestingly you say, similar skill set for what you were-- an Olympic hockey player and an emergency room doctor.

>> Very similar.

In fact, every single day in the emergency dept.

all the skills I learned as an athlete, I'm using.

Preparation, team work, think on your feet.

Make decisions quickly.

You have to be decisive.

Learn to work with and help people.

They're all the same things we used inside of hockey every day.

The action and fast pace, never the same thing twice, that really is what the emergency room is all about.

>> It made me laugh in your book when I got... to page 87.

You say, "I'm a pretty driven intense person".

You think?

>> It just comes from within-- I have always been like that since I was a kid.

I think a pretty high-strung kid, my parents would say.

They're very calm, low-key and laid back.

Never did I ever feel pushed or this was somebody else's idea to do these things-- it was always from me.

In fact, many times growing up, my mom and dad would say, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's getting hard.

You don't have to."

I would always say no-- this is what I'm going to do.

So stubborn, driven.

Probably the same thing.

>> It did sound like an idyllic childhood in Shaunavon, Sask.

Watching hockey games with your dad, picking apart the great players and studying them.

In particular, the stories you tell about your grandfather, this big strong farmer.

>> My grandpa, John Eberts.

He's passed now.

Kind of the joke was he had the biggest hands I've ever seen on another human being.

He'd play a piano key and his finger would cover three keys.

Just massive hands!

He wasn't a tall man but a wide man.

And hard working.

Six kids on the farm growing up.

Self made.

So as a little girl, I idolized him.

All my cousins who lived on the farm--we lived in town... they couldn't wait to get off the farm and do chores.

I couldn't wait to get on the farm and do chores.

Pick rocks, throw bales, drive the tractor, ride the horses, whatever it was.

He instilled in us very young, if you're going to make anything of yourself, you'd better be the hardest working person in the room.

And that's all that mattered in his eyes...for me So I was going to work as hard as I could and then I would get that approval.

So he was a big influence in my life and in a very good way.

>> And you had the backyard rink--the pond.

To the point of Wayne Gretzky calling you the female Gordie Howe, it's the classic Gordie Howe learn to play.

Just play by yourself for hours, which you did.

>> I did.

My dad built a rink.

It was between three houses in a back alley.

30 kids in the neighbourhood and I spent the most time on that outdoor rink, more than anyone.

It was the place where I could go out, dream, try things.

Experiment, freeze my butt off!

Play free.

Just spend hours and hours out there.

I did.

I would sneak out at night when everybody was sleeping.

The stars would light the ice and I would practice.

My dad would hear bang-bang .

He would know it was me.

He'd open the door and be like, "Get to bed".

That's just what we knew.

Honestly it was a lot to do with there was nothing else to do in our town.

There was hockey, curling.

There was no phones, Xbox.

You were always having to create your own stuff to do.

>> The idyllic times seem to end when you started to play a lot of hockey.

Then as you say, you had to fight your way.

You fought the whole time.

Changing and sleeping in a closet when you went to a boys' hockey camp.

What's that Sarah Palin line-- the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom--lipstick.

>> Right (laughing) >> They were horrible to you!

Calling you freak!

Get out of here.

You don't belong.

You shouldn't be here.

Nobody wanted you there!

>> Yeah, that's very true on many occasions.

I think originally when I started at 6 - 7 years old, it's not quite like that.

As I got older--8 to 12, that was when it really started to pour on.

That's when parents, mostly moms from other teams would harass you.

I had one mom come in the dressing room I was changing in.

It was open, didn't have a roof but it was in the middle of the lobby.

There was renovations and she opened the door and said, "You don't belong.

Get away from my son..." I remember I turned to her and said, "If he could actually skate".

It was my way of trying to protect myself.

I was 9 years old at the time.

These are the times when my parents would say, "Are you sure you want keep going?

You don't to play.

There's lots of other sports you can do."

It was me... no, I'm going to keep going.

I think it was because I knew I was pretty good.

I loved the game and thought if I just get through going to the rink, getting dressed and on the ice.

If I just get through that part, then the rest is okay.

I did that continually for well into my teens.

>> You had an ulcer at 14.

>> I did.

I remember one night-- I had developed an ulcer just from the stress!

It got to be overwhelming.

I was 14-15, somewhere there.

It was Bantam Triple A in Calgary.

That was a hard time because you're on the cusp of players getting drafted, taking someone else's job.

So there was a different set of pressures and circumstances that came with that.

>> You got cut from a Triple A team--a boys' team in Calgary.

You think after all the abuse you'd taken all those years to play with the boys, that one, you said left a big scar.

I would have thought you were scar-proof at that point.

>> I think it's... we talk about micro-aggressions.

It's all these ticks through the years.

I was pretty good with all of them.

But that one was Triple A Midget in Calgary.

I had gone away to a tournament in Medicine Hat and had a pretty good tournament.

I came back home, it was Father David Bauer parking lot.

My mom was waiting there to pick me up.

I got off the bus and the coach said, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

I'm expecting him to say, "Oh we're going to try a power play or something.

He said very honestly, "I'm sorry but I can't handle having a girl on the team.

I'll have to let you go."

I think we were 15 or so games into the season.

He cut me right on the spot.

I remember walking out-- no cell phones to text.

My mom said, "Sounded like it went pretty good.

How'd it go?"

I was just like, "I just got cut."

My mom went ballistic, "What!

This is a human rights issue".

Some of the same things that we had experienced when I was a lot younger.

She was hell-bent to drive over to the president of the area.

I said, "No, don't do that.

I'm going to prove them wrong another way."

I was just so tired dealing with it up to that point that I couldn't really fight anymore and I didn't want to.

Shortly after that, I joined the national team.

>> You started playing with the national women's team in Canada at age 15 so you were the little baby on the team.

>> Hayley: I was.

They called me Highchair Hayley .

because I was so young.

I was lucky.

I was surrounded by women who were full-on professionals.

I remember I was a grade 10 math student and my room-mate, Margot Page-- poor woman, she was a Grade 10 math teacher.

So she got stuck with me, the 15 year-old.

It was women like her: Francine Louis, Stacey Wilson, Geraldine Heaney, Judy Diduck, Angela James.

These types of women early on taught me how to be a pro.

They taught me how to train.

They all worked mostly full-time jobs... and also played on the national team.

It wasn't like it is today, where you can do it as a living.

So I was really lucky.

I got surrounded by some great people early on.

>> You headed off to your first Olympics which was Nagano.

With, "We're winners, we always win."

It's always Team USA you're playing in the finals.

>> And you lost!

>> We did.

>> You couldn't handle it.

>> I think the matter of the fact is we kinda choked.

We went in as heavy favourites--first Olympics and we didn't play well.

I forget the score.

I think it was 4 - 1.

>> I forget the score.

>> All I know is we lost the game.

I remember standing on the blue line trying not to cry.

Looking across at the Americans with the gold medal.

I had never once to that point thought about losing.

I had only thought we were just going to go there and win.

I was so naive to perspective at that time.

That was a really hard thing to get through.

But maybe the best thing in the end.

>> It never was any less intense when you came to play Team USA.

>> Oh no.

>> You say it was war, it was always war.

>> Yes, it was.

For me, I needed it to be like that.

And it was like that.

It's changed in recent years.

As players cross borders and you have pro hockey and things like that.

But for us in the early Olympics, it was a cold war.

The border was the border-- Canadians played in Canada and the Americans played in the US.

I remember being in hotels and the elevator would open.

If there were American players on that elevator, I'll take the stairs or another elevator.

I needed to hate them to play well, for myself.

I could not be friends.

I could not.

>> Ever?

Is this healthy?

Can you talk to them now?

Have you ever gotten over this, Hayley?

>> I'm over it.

I remember I joined the IOC Athletes Commission.

And Angela Ruggiero, a great American player, was the chair of the Commission.

She walked up to me and said, "I guess we have to learn to be friends now."

This was in 2014.

So it took me awhile but yeah!

It's changed now.

For me to play well, it needed to be that really divisive.

That's them and this is us.

That's just what made it work.

>> You got happy four more times with gold medals after that.

>> Hayley: Yeah, we got the upper hand after one loss and four good wins.

>> Your endurance is legendary.

Didn't Sports Illustrated call you one of the 25 toughest athletes in the world?

You'd be... your training is legendary.

You'd say to yourself, I'm not hungry, not in pain.

I'm not exhausted.

And it worked?

>> Yeah, it did work.

I'd kinda play games with myself that way.

Just ways to get around fatigue and push through barriers where you didn't think you could.

We did a lot of crazy stuff when I was training.

I used to train with the Hunter Brothers from Shaunavon, Sask-- and Jungle Jim Hunter, the crazy Canuck skier.

He was our trainer for a couple of years.

We used to ride our bikes from Calgary to Nelson, BC in three days.

Over 600 or 800 kilometres, whatever it is.

We wouldn't stop.

We'd eat and drink on the bike.

We'd only stop to do other training or sleep.

We would get to Nelson, dip our bikes in the lake, get in the minivan and drive back to Calgary.

It was a way to steel the mind and body.

I would do crazy things like that.

Just because I felt this was as important as this.

>> After the Olympics, you go and train with Bobby Clarke and the Philadelphia Flyers-- always pushing yourself.

Then you went to Finland and played men's professional hockey.

You were the first woman to do that.

In a strange country, alone.

Getting knocked around the ice by people who wanted to show you a thing or two.

This sounds awful!

You went, no, it was a really good two years of my life.

Loved it!

>> It wasn't awful in that sense.

It was physically challenging.

Because I knew I had to be at my best every day, whether it was a practice or a game playing pro men's hockey.

I did two years in Finland and one year in Sweden in 2008.

But I knew that it was going to make me better.

I always strove to do things that would push me out of my comfort zone.

Because my theory was I will train harder than any game will ever be.

So the games will always feel easy and the training will always feel harder.

That was the way I approached everything that I did.

>> Was it hard to retire, finally hang up your skates?

>> It was a long time, Hayley.

>> An eternity.

I think my mom was happy.

>> I think she was like, "Oh thank God, this is over!"

>> And your son.

>> And my son was happy... yes, it was hard to retire.

It was one thing you did your whole life.

You're 38 years old.

Wow, this is over!

I'd been doing this since I was 5.

What's next.

But I had, along the way, always had this other plan.

Which was to do medicine.

I don't think any of my team-mates were surprised when I retired and three months later, I'm stepping into medical school.

>> Then you also got a job with the Toronto Maple Leafs, around the same time.

They went, "Come and work with us in player development."

So you were doing med school and working for the Leafs in two different cities at the same time.

>> Yes, when I retired from hockey, I thought, "That's it.

I'm never going back to hockey."

New life.

Here we go!

I was kinda okay with that.

Two months into medical school, Kyle Dubas the GM of the Leafs at the time, called.

Would you like a job to work with us?

>> Pretty hard to turn down.

>> I made it to the NHL!

>> That's what my mom said.

"Well, you finally made it."

So I commuted 5-6 times a month, Calgary to Toronto in the initial years finishing med school.

Then when I started my residency, I moved to Toronto to do my residency and live full-time.

>> Now assistant general manager with the Leafs, player development and emergency room doctor.

You talk about the first time you were in an emergency room as a med student and looking after a boy who'd overdosed.

>> Yeah, it was my first day in med school.

I had shadowed one of my friends for many years-- a very experienced emerg doc.

She said, "Why don't you come in for the first shift you're actually legit.

You can do something."

I went to the orientation and I walked over to the emergency dept.

Not even 5 minutes in, we got a call saying, "Fire and EMS were bringing a young man found down on the CTrain in Calgary."

People thought he was sleeping but it was a suspected overdose.

They were working on him and on their way.

She turned to me and said, "Well, welcome to medicine.

Day 1.

You're going to do CPR.

Gown, glove and mask.

Let's go."

Then assembled the team.

I totally panicked inside.

Why didn't you stick to hockey.

Why did you decide to do this?

But I quickly gathered myself and they brought him in.

I traded CPR with a couple of other people.

He didn't survive.

So it was a heck of a first day in medical school.

My first patient...human being I laid hands on like that.

And he was about the same age as my son.

He could have been my son.

I remember standing over top of him and a million thoughts in that moment.

It's just such a crazy thing.

I put my hand on his arm, said I don't know where you're going but I hope it's a good place.

That was it.

That actually really re-affirmed for me why I wanted to do medicine.

He didn't survive but just being able to help people in their worst moments, there's something very satisfying.

When you have lived a life of only worrying about yourself as an athlete.

It's nice to get out of that a bit.

>> We've mentioned your son, Noah, who you adopted as a preemie -- 1 lb, 10 oz little tiny baby.

When you were 21 years old.

>> Yeah, I did.

He was born three months premature.

So a little sooner than was expected.

At the time, Thomas my ex, his dad everything was rolling along.

Okay, well I guess being from Saskatchewan, this is just what we do.

This little baby is coming along and I didn't really....

I never thought about not doing it.

This little boy is in our life and I don't know what I'm doing.

But I'm going to figure it out.

I had a lot of help from my mom and dad.

My sister helped a lot in that initial first year.

Because I was travelling and playing a lot.

I would never have chosen to have a child at 21 years old.

But he's the best thing that ever happened to me.

He came into my life and taught me a lot about perspective.

He still does.

He doesn't like hockey.

Could care less about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's great!

But those were a challenging first couple of years.

But it was really good for me actually.

>> You're very outspoken.

You've had success on Twitter, X or whatever.

There are a couple of stories that are really interesting.

One during COVID-- one of your colleagues said, which was universal, we don't have protective equipment gear.

You went, "This is unacceptable!"

I'm going to change this and put something out on Twitter, started an organization and decided to do something about that.

>> That was the Conquer COVID-19 We were.

I couldn't believe it.

I never thought I'd be a med student in a pandemic.

Then I'm right in the mix of this running around the hospital looking for N95s for Ontario's first COVID patient that walked through the door.

I was in the emergency room that night.

That was my job, finding N95s and I couldn't.

We eventually scrounged up enough.

But my friends, attending physicians, were saying we'll run out and these are people from across the country.

So I tweeted it out.

Then with a little help from a guy named Ryan Reynolds.

>> Valerie: Whom you met at an awards ceremony.

>> Hayley: Yeah, we met at Canada's Walk of Fame .

We had stayed in contact and become friends.

So Ryan said, "Can I help amplify it?"

It was really Ryan out to the universe.

200 people galvanized, 8 weeks they raised $2.3 million, and 3 million items of PPE to 550 locations.

It was a cool thing, very Canadian.

For all these people that didn't know each other.

They got together and said we've got a problem our government can't fix right now.

So we're going to do it.

They saved a lot of lives by doing this.

It was one of the best teams that I've been a part of.

>> You've done the same thing more recently with neck guards.

Everyone's gotta wear that.

You want to make hockey safer, better.

>> Yeah, better.

I think these are common sense things.

For me, there are certain things that I feel I may have the expertise to speak out on.

Neck guards.

I've personally had two very close calls with players.

I have been in the rink when they've been cut in the neck in the last few years in the Leafs' organization.

I've had to stitch them up.

I've seen it first hand.

I've lived it as an athlete.

I wore a neck guard for 20-some years.

So this is just something we can do.

It doesn't interfere with how you play the game at all.

>> Tell me about meeting Nelson Mandela.

>> Well, he was...I mean, everyone knows Nelson Mandela.

...first thing I noticed he was much taller.

Have you met him?

You probably have.

>> I did but I've always wanted to interview him.

He was the one I never got.

What a man... >> Yeah, what a man.

I remember walking into the Athletes Village in Sydney in 2000.

I had a chance to sit and listen to him talk to South African athletes.

He was more weathered in his face.

I guess 20 years in prison will do that.

But so kind and calm.

I often think about him in today's Middle Eastern conflict.

What would a Mandela do?

What would a really transformational leader like that do?

HE talked to the athletes about, yes, you're an athlete, and you do your sport but what will your legacy be?

How are you going to leave the world a better place through what you do.

That was his message to the South African athletes.

I got a chance to sit in and listen to that.

He was very impactful in my life.

I had his books, his photo on my wall in my home, prior to this.

Then I took my son to Capetown and we went to Robben Island.

Did a little pilgrimage to see that cell.

That every small cell that he was trapped in for all those years.

Yeah, a great leader!

>> So what is your mark?

How are you making the world a better place?

>> I think, for me, I'm not trying to leave a legacy.

I'm just doing what I do and I hope that by what I do it makes the trail a little easier and smoother for young girls coming up in hockey.

If they don't have to walk into a hockey rink and hear the harassment that I did, then that's a win.

I have my hockey festival called WickFest .

13 years--we work with 30,000 young girls from coast to coast.

And around the world.

For me, that's the most impactful thing that I can do to give back to the game.

Because the game has been so good to me.

I think now a lot about getting outside of myself.

That's in the world of medicine.

I'm able to help other people.

I spent a long time thinking about myself.

I think that's my way to also give back good.

I feel very proud to be Canadian.

Very lucky to live in Canada.

>> The question that we always end with is what does being Canadian mean to you?

>> It's just we're so fortunate.

Just have to turn on the news and my gosh!

What's happening in other parts of the world?

I think being Canadian stands for freedom, democracy, equality for all.

We have to continue to fight for those things in this country.

Because they're so important.

And we need to lead the world in many ways.

Because if Canada doesn't do it in some ways, I don't know who else will.

>> It's lovely to be able to talk to you.

>> Thank you, you too.

>> Thanks so much for your time.

>> Thanks for having me, Valerie.

>> We'll be back next week with another episode of Canada Files .

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