Hayley Wickenheiser Hayley Wickenheiser the best female hockey player ( born August 12 , 1978 ) is a women ' s ice hockey player from Canada . She was the first woman to play full time professional hockey in a position other than goalie . Wickenheiser has represented Canada at the Winter Olympics four times , capturing three gold and one silver medal , twice being named tournament MVP . Hockey career . Minor hockey . Wickenheiser started her hockey career in her hometown of Shaunavon when she was eight years old . She played on boys ' teams until she was 13 . In 1991 , she was a member of Team Alberta in the Canada Winter Games for the Under - 17 Girls ' competition , where she helped her team to a gold medal victory by scoring the game winning goal and was named Most Valuable Player of the final game . While playing in the Calgary minor hockey system , Wickenheiser took home numerous awards , including team MVP honours for the 1993 - 94 season , and the Harley Swain Memorial Award for dedication to hockey throughout Calgary ' s AAA bantam system . International . At the age of 15 ( 1994 ) , Wickenheiser was named to Canada ' s National Women ' s Team for the first time and has remained a member since . Her first international tournament was the 1994 World Championship , held in Lake Placid , New York . She played three games , and picked up her first international point - an assist , and Canada won gold . Her second World Championship in 1997 also produced a gold medal and she earned a spot on the tournament All - Star team , the first of four such honours ( 1997 , 1999 , 2000 , 2005 ) . In 1999 , Wickenheiser helped Canada to another gold medal and was named tournament MVP . Wickenheiser has six World Championship gold medals ( 1994 , 1997 , 1999 , 2000 , 2004 , 2007 ) and three silver medals ( 2005 , 2008 , 2009 ) . She was named to Team Canada in 2001 , but was unable to compete due to an injury , and was also on Canada ' s roster for the 2003 World Championship which was canceled . Wickenheiser was a member of Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics , when women ' s hockey was introduced as a medal event . She also played 21 games for Team Canada during their pre - Olympic tour . Canada won a silver medal at the event and Wickenheiser was named to the tournament all - star team . Her performance at the 1998 Olympics impressed Men ' s Team Canada General Manager Bobby Clarke so much , that he invited her to participate in the Philadelphia Flyers rookie camps in 1998 and 1999 . 2002 was another chance at Olympic gold , and Wickenheiser was named to Canada ' s roster for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City , Utah . On Team Canada ' s pre - Olympic tour , Wickenheiser played 26 games and racked up 36 points . In a bit of redemption for 1998 , Canada won the gold medal by defeating Team USA in the final game . Wickenheiser was named Tournament MVP and she was the top scorer on the Women ' s side . At the 2006 Winter Olympics , Canada was defending its gold medal status . When the final match was set , Canada was facing off against Sweden , a surprise finalist . They won gold again , and Wickenheiser once more was named tournament MVP , Top Forward , and to a berth on the all - star team . She also led the tournament in scoring . Wickenheiser captained Canada to a gold medal at the 1998 Christmas Cup ( World Women ' s Under - 22 Championship ) . She has also contributed to 11 gold medals for Canada at the 4 Nations Cup tournaments ( 1996 , 1997 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 ) . At the 2006 Four Nations Cup , she served as team captain . On February 17 , 2010 , Wickenheiser became the all - time leading Olympic goal scorer as Canada defeated Sweden 13 - 1 . Wickenheiser reached her record total of 16 career Olympic goals by scoring once on Wednesday as Canada followed up their 18 - 0 win over Slovakia and 10 - 1 defeat of Switzerland . With a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Women ' s hockey by defeating the United States of America 2 - 0 , Hayley now has 4 Olympic medals : 3 gold , 1 silver . Professional . In 2003 , Wickenheiser became the first woman to score a goal playing in a men ' s professional league . Over the course of the season , Wickenheiser played 23 games , scoring 2 goals and adding 10 assists . Wickenheiser joined a European league to play professional hockey , as the game is more open and less physical than North American leagues . This attempt to play professional hockey was not an entirely smooth process , as Wickenheiser was initially slated to play in Italy , until the Italian Winter Sports Federation ruled that women were ineligible to play in a men ' s league . She also turned down an offer from Phil Esposito to play for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL . Finland ' s Hockey Federation unanimously supported letting women play in a men ' s league , allowing her to debut with HC Salamat in the Suomi - sarja , the third highest hockey league in Finland , on January 10 , 2003 . Wickenheiser played briefly with Salamat in 2004 . They had won promotion to Mestis , Finland ' s second tier of professional hockey , and this was not as good a fit for her . She left the team after ten games . In 2007 , Wickenheiser had a week - long tryout contract with Swedish club IFK Arboga IK in the Swedish male third league . After two practice games , where Wickenheiser scored two goals in the first game , she was not offered a contract . In 2008 , Wickenheiser signed a one year contract with Eskilstuna Linden , also in the Swedish men ' s third league . Wickenheiser was named one of the " Top 100 Most Influential People in Hockey " by The Hockey News ( ranked # 59 on the 2011 List ) , one of the " 25 Toughest Athletes " by Sport Illustrated and one of the " Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Canada " by the Globe and Mail University . Wickenheiser joined the 2010 – 11 Univeristy of Calgary Dinos women ' s ice hockey season that competes in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ( CIS ) . The Dinos are playing their second season of CIS hockey , and Wickenheiser is expected to provide leadership to a young team . While with the Dinos , Wickenheiser will be playing for her former teammate , Danielle Goyette , who is the team ' s head coach . Wickenheiser will be working to complete a degree in kinesiology at Calgary . The Dinos were Wickenheiser ' s choice because the team practices every day , and she was able to stay in Calgary with her family . Under CIS rules , Wicknheiser is in her first year of eligibility because she has never played university hockey . She would have up to five years of eligibility . In her CIS debut against the University of Regina , Wickenheiser scored two goals and added an assist in a 4 – 3 victory . A crowd of over 500 people attended her CIS debut in Regina . Wickenheiser was named the Canada West female athlete of the week on November 2 , 2010 after scoring three goals and adding an assist in two games against the University of Alberta . . On March 9 , 2011 , Hayley Wickenheiser was named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport player of the year in women ' s hockey . She the became the first ever Dino to win the Brodrick Trophy as CIS MVP . Personal . Her cousin was the late National Hockey League player , Doug Wickenheiser . She also has an adopted son named Noah .