PHOTO: Jean Levac/Postmedia NewsHayley Wickenheiser is on her fifth Olympic games (four winter and one summer games playing softball), and is widely regarded as the greatest female hockey player of all time.
So after twenty years on Canada's national team, is Wickenheiser going to retire after Thursday's gold medal final against the United States?
'I don't know and that's the truth,' the 35-year-old forward told the Canadian Press. 'I still love to play. I feel I have lots left in the tank. I would like to get into medicine at some point and there's other things to do in life, but at this point I haven't decided.
Wickenheiser isn't saying, though at 35 she is no longer the captain of Team Canada, a team which is one of the two most competitive women's hockey ecosystems in the world.
'I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt,' Wickenheiser told CP of the decision to pick Caroline Ouellette over her for the 'C'. 'I'm a player that leads by example. I go out every day and do the best that I can. It's not really going to change anything in the way that I lead or what I do day to day.
'As far as what I do on the ice and what I do around the team and what I'm going to do in the community and with the rest of my life, I don't think it really changes a whole heck of a lot. I still am going to be the person and the leader I've always been. Now Caro will step in and do a great job in that role.'
It was rumoured before the games started that Wickenheiser wasn't even wanted at this Olympics and that coach Dan Church was trying to keep her off the team. Church resigned for 'personal reasons' and Wickenheiser is on the team, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she'll be back at 39.
However, Wickenheiser doesn't think her age should be that much of a factor, despite several injuries along the way during her career.
'If I was a male hockey player, we wouldn't be talking about this,' she told CP. 'You've got Teemu Selanne who is 42, Chris Chelios played until 47 and I'm 35. I'm young and I've got lots left. With files from Donna Spencer, Canadian Press
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