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Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser’s second act

Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Hayley Wickenheiser waves to the crowd before a Toronto Maple Leafs game in 2019. (Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)

When Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser is asked if she will be watching any of the Winter Olympic competitions in Beijing, she is matter of fact in her response.

“I wouldn’t be able to watch most of it,” she says. “They’ll be going live in the middle of the night, and I’ll either be working or sleeping.”

So is retired life for one the greatest hockey players ever to take the ice.

Wickenheiser has an impressive Olympic medal collection — a silver from 1998 and four golds from 2002-14 — not to mention the various other medals and awards from the many international competitions she’s played in throughout her illustrious hockey career. It is unusual for an athlete of her caliber to dismiss the idea of watching the very event she had participated in five times in her life. But then again, most retired athletes are not trying to get through their first year of medical residency.

Since she was young, Wickenheiser envisioned becoming a doctor one day. When she was 10 years old, a friend of hers was struck by a delivery truck and hospitalized. Wickenheiser visited her friend every day that she could, and observing the doctors and nurses who were helping not only her friend but other patients ignited a flame inside of her.

From there began her hockey journey, one that took her on a long and winding road through many countries and championship games at the highest level of her sport. She even found time to play softball some summers, and did well enough to make the 2000 Canadian Olympic team. It appeared as if all of Wickenheiser’s dreams were coming true, but she still hadn’t lost sight of her other passion.

Wickenheiser always knew she needed to have a life after hockey. In 2017, after retiring from her playing career and finishing her degree in kinesiology at the University of Calgary, she enrolled at the university’s Cumming School of Medicine.

Now in residency after graduating last spring, Wickenheiser is a first-year all over again and loving every moment of it.

“I really enjoy going from a veteran in one area to a rookie in another,” Wickenheiser says. “In the midst of a global pandemic, we may not get the same amount of hands-on experience because everything is more virtual now, [but] I think I’ve had incredible mentorship and incredible experience. And with a good perspective on your experience and your mentors that have taught you along the way, you maybe forget about when you’re a veteran [like I was] in hockey. You get back to a growth mindset, and I enjoy being a rookie every day.”

Entering the medical field at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was enough to fill any retired athlete’s plate. It was also perfectly fulfilling for Wickenheiser, who was doing what she had set out to do as a kid growing up in Saskatchewan, Canada and later Calgary.

That’s when Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas came calling. Hockey, it seemed, didn’t want medicine to have Wickenheiser all to itself.

“I actually thought I had retired from hockey and I thought I’d never be in hockey again,” she recalls. “I thought I would move onto medicine and I didn’t expect to work in the NHL.”

Dubas offered Wickenheiser a position as the Maple Leafs’ assistant director of player development in 2018. She accepted, and prior to the 2021 season was promoted to senior director of player development. While the NHL role brings her back to the ice, she finds clear parallels between it and the time she spends in examination rooms away from the arena.

“I use every day what I use in medicine: watch a player, see a move they may have done, see where the deficiencies are on and off the ice, as well as the psychology of being an elite athlete. I think I can really relate to a lot of these players,” Wickenheiser says. “It’s our duty, whether it’s junior player, American League hockey player or NHL player, to help them get better on and off the ice.”

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Wickenheiser celebrates Canada's gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, one of four she won in her career. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

As one of few women in an executive role in a male sports league, Wickenheiser knows that eyes are on her, and that doesn’t bother her.

“I feel I’m opening eyes. I see myself as a trailblazer when I played, and I see myself as a trailblazer in my role with the Leafs,” says Wickenheiser, who’s in the most senior hockey operations position ever held by a woman. “I feel that I’m opening doors to legitimate hockey roles.”

Wickenheiser, 43, seems every bit as passionate about her roles as medical practitioner and Leafs player development director as she was as a player. She has to be if she wants to achieve the standards to which she holds herself.

A center on the Canadian national team for 23 years, Wickenheiser finished her hockey career as Canada’s all-time points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists. She won four gold medals — tying her with Jayna Hefford and Caroline Ouellette for the most by a Canadian Olympian — and one silver medal in five Winter Games, to go along with seven world championship titles. In 2019, Wickenheiser was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in her first year on the ballot.

Nowadays, during her turn on rotation at the hospital, she will occasionally reach into her athlete bag as a reminder that the challenging periods will pass. Conversely, when she’s at the arena, she’ll look in her doctor’s bag and help the players diagnose and assess their games as she would a patient’s health. She’s finding that her two worlds collide in many more ways than she would have thought.

Right now, about the only thing missing from Wickenheiser’s life is time. Her retirement, ironically, doesn’t leave her much of it. She managed to squeeze in writing a second book, and recently she helped design a hockey stick for women between her two jobs. Outside of that, she’s spending as many of her waking hours with her family as she can.

With Canada set to face the United States at the Olympics on Tuesday in Beijing (locally on Monday, 11:10 p.m. ET), Wickenheiser hasn’t had time to re-immerse herself into the rivalry she was at the center of for more than two decades. She misses the big stage of the Winter Olympics, but she’s happy to let the next generation of players own the spotlight. She has plenty of other tasks on her mind, after all.

“I work 24/7 in terms of my job with the Leafs and my job in medicine, but I love it. They’re my two loves. All my time is devoted to my family and my two jobs right now. I’m just trying to survive residency,” Wickenheiser says with a laugh. “It is a bit of sacrifice, but what I find more difficult is that my schedule is not my own, so I look forward to T-minus 18 months when I’ll have my schedule back, being done with residency. Then, I’ll have a chance to get my life back.”

Until then, Wickenheiser is perfectly content where she is in her labor of loves.

Ray Bala is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports based in Toronto, Canada.

Chelsea Completes Domestic Treble with 2025 FA Cup Win Over Man United

Catarina Macario celebrates her goal during Chelsea's 2025 FA Cup win.
USWNT star Catarina Macario scored Chelsea FC’s second goal to secure the 2025 FA Cup and the treble. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Adding to their already historic season, 2024/25 WSL champions and 2025 League Cup winners Chelsea FC handed Manchester United a 3-0 defeat in Sunday's 2025 FA Cup final, completing the club's second-ever domestic treble.

Though the Blues first claimed an elusive treble in the 2020/21 season, this year's roster did so without dropping a single match in any of the three domestic competitions.

"I could not have expected this," said first-year Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor about her debut success leading the Blues. "It is almost ideal in terms of domestic dominance."

To clinch that dominance, Chelsea upended the defending FA Cup champs Manchester United at London's iconic Wembley Stadium behind a brace from French fullback Sandy Baltimore and a header from USWNT attacker Catarina Macario.

Baltimore gave Chelsea the lead by slipping a late first-half penalty past 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and the Blues never relented, with second-half sub Macario doubling their scoreline in the 84th minute before Baltimore tacked on a final goal in stoppage time.

"It's a very emotional day," an emotional Macario told the broadcast after finishing her first season following a long ACL recovery. "It's a trophy we always wanted to win."

"All the credit to my players," said Bompastor. "We showed our mentality and our values in this game so we ended the season in an almost perfect scenario – we won, we were playing at Wembley, the stadium was nearly sold out, and we had a strong performance and result against a strong opponent."

"It is an almost ideal way to finish the season."

A screen shows the 74,412 attendance at Wembley Stadium during the 2025 FA Cup final.
Sunday's FA Cup final was the third straight with a crowd over 74,000 fans. (Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

FA Cup crowds prove sustained demand for women's soccer

Chelsea FC's undefeated treble-winning season wasn't the only notable victory on Sunday, as the FA Cup final drew a crowd of over 74,000 fans for the third straight year.

Sunday's 74,412 attendance mark was just shy of both last year's crowd of 76,082 and the 77,390 fans who watched Chelsea defeat the Red Devils in 2023 — all well beyond the tournament final's previous record of 49,094 attendees achieved in 2022.

Fueled by the football fervor following England's 2022 Euro victory — the country's first international trophy, men's or women's, since the 1966 men's World Cup — the 2023 FA Cup final still stands as the largest crowd at a domestic women's soccer match across all nations.

With Sunday's match joining the over-74,000 attendance club, it's clear the post-Euros enthusiasm wasn't a blip, but a boost to the continued growth and sustained success of the women's game.

WNBA Injury Report Mounts After Opening-Weekend Slate

LA's Rae Burrell shoots a free throw during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell is expected to miss six to eight weeks of WNBA play due to a knee injury. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

While most WNBA stars hit the court running this weekend, a few saw their 2025 campaigns already shortened as teams released season-opening injury reports.

Phoenix forward Kahleah Copper will miss four to six weeks of play, the Mercury reported on Saturday, after the 2024 Olympic gold medalist underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on her left knee last week.

Another knee injury has LA's Rae Burrell sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, after the fourth-year guard took a knock to the right leg just 41 seconds into the Sparks' 2025 debut win over Golden State.

On Friday, the Mystics released updates on both second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards and rookie guard Georgia Amoore. While another assessment of the Unrivaled 1v1 runner-up's back injury will occur in two more weeks, Washington confirmed that the Australian standout will miss the entire 2025 WNBA season after undergoing a successful surgery to repair her right ACL.

Seattle's Katie Lou Samuelson is also out for the full 2025 campaign, with the 27-year-old Storm forward recovering from last week's successful surgery after tearing her right ACL in practice on May 1st.

Las Vegas's Elizabeth Kitley shoots a basket during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
2024 Las Vegas draftee Elizabeth Kitley returned from injury to make her WNBA debut on Saturday. (Louis Grasse/Getty Images)

Kitley makes long-awaited WNBA debut as Brink eyes return

In more uplifting news, LA's Cameron Brink is on track to return to the Sparks sometime next month, one year after her standout rookie season came to a halt in a left ACL tear.

Already celebrating, however, is 2024 second-round draftee Elizabeth Kitley, who battled back from injury to make her WNBA debut and score her first league points in Las Vegas's Saturday loss to New York.

The Aces took a draft chance on Kitley, despite the center suffering an ACL tear in her final NCAA postseason. In response, the former Virginia Tech star successfully translated her year-long delayed shot at a pro career by surviving Las Vegas's brutal 2025 roster cuts.

Notably, Kitley's close friend and collegiate on-court counterpart with the Hokies is the aforementioned Amoore, who will aim for a rookie-season redo of her own next year.

Kansas City Eyes the NWSL Shield as Gotham Skid Continues

Temwa Chawinga celebrates her game-winning goal against Orlando with Kansas City teammates Bia Zaneratto and Debinha.
First-place Kansas City has a four-point lead in the 2025 NWSL Shield race after this weekend's win. (Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images)

The No. 1 Kansas City Current strengthened their grip on the 2025 NWSL Shield race on Friday, taking down now-No. 3 Orlando 1-0 on the road to earn a four-point lead atop of the NWSL table.

Reigning league MVP Temwa Chawinga scored the top-table game's lone goal. With five goals in nine matches, Chawinga now sits in a four-way tie for second place in the 2025 Golden Boot race.

"If you don't come with heart, you have no chance," Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. "And today I think we showed heart."

Kansas City now stands 7-2-0 on the season, putting the NWSL Shield firmly within their grasp.

Kansas City's rise aside, the weekend's biggest drama hovered near the playoff line.

Gotham FC fell to No. 2 San Diego 1-0 on Friday, sending the Bats skidding to No. 8 on a three-game winless streak while boxing No. 9 North Carolina out of playoff contention — despite the rising Courage securing their third win in four games with Saturday's 2-0 victory over last-place Chicago.

"Obviously, we were hot for a little bit, and teams have slumps all the time, so now it's just finding a way," Gotham midfielder Jaelin Howell said of the team's recent struggles.

While some rebuilds soar, last year's postseason contenders are still finding their way as the league moves into the second third of the 2025 season.

WNBA Launches Investigation into Fan Misconduct After Clark-Reese Spat

Indiana's Caitlin Clark commits a hard foul on Chicago's Angel Reese during their 2025 WNBA season opener.
The WNBA is investigating Indiana fan conduct after Caitlin Clark’s Flagrant 1 foul on Angel Reese. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Indiana's 35-point blowout win over Chicago wasn't Saturday's only newsmaker, as a controversial foul on Sky forward Angel Reese by Fever guard Caitlin Clark sparked intense off-court conversations and a WNBA investigation into subsequent fan misconduct.

Clark's third-quarter foul against Reese incited a brief dust-up between the second-year stars, with Clark's offense upgraded to a Flagrant 1 while Reese and Fever center Aliyah Boston picked up a pair of offsetting technicals for their reactions.

"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," Reese said after the game, while Clark told reporters, "It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that's up to their discretion."

Immediately following the flagrant ruling, however, Indiana fans allegedly directed racially charged remarks toward Reese, prompting the league to open an investigation on Sunday.

Officials acknowledged allegations of racist abuse inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, saying the WNBA "strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms," and that they're "looking into the matter."

"We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players," said Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Mel Raines, who oversees the Fever, in a statement.

"We will do everything in our power to protect Chicago Sky players, and we encourage the league to continue taking meaningful steps to create a safe environment for all WNBA players," echoed Sky CEO and president Adam Fox.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Fever-related fan misconduct has taken center stage, as last season's storylines start to spill over into the 2025 WNBA campaign.

In anticipation of the issue, the league launched "No Space for Hate" on Thursday, describing the campaign as "a multi-dimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces — from online discourse to in-arena behavior."

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