Inside her office at the Prince George Public Library, chief librarian Janet Marren keeps an action shot of her daughter Jocelyn playing hockey with the UBC Thunderbirds.
Jocelyn, all five-foot-11 of her, played defence for the Thunderbirds for two seasons. In the photo, Jocelyn has delivered a textbook heads-up open-ice check that hockey coaches love to see.
Her victim, a shorter player with the University of Calgary Dinos, is captured falling backwards awkwardly down to the ice, an instant before an abrupt landing on her rear end.
The name on the back of the Dinos jersey is plain to read.
Wickenheiser.
What parent wouldn't be proud of a photograph depicting their daughter not only playing against the greatest female hockey player of all time but delivering a huge hit on the living legend?
Wickenheiser announced her retirement over the weekend, releasing an outpouring of tributes calling her the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey. The Great One wisely compared her to his inspiration Gordie Howe and that link is more accurate. Wickenheiser, like Mr. Hockey, was a product of long Saskatchewan winters, an incredibly talented athlete brimming with grit and determination on the ice and a humble, approachable ambassador of the sport away from the rink.
Wickenheiser's list of hockey accomplishments is incredible.
The all-time leading scorer in women's hockey at the Olympics, she owns four gold medals and a silver medal in five Olympic appearances and was named the most valuable player at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics.
In 2014, heading into Sochi and her final Olympics, she was the unanimous choice to be Canada's flagbearer. She also possesses six gold and one silver world championships medals. She played minor pro in European men's hockey leagues. Before all that, she won a Canada Winter Games gold medal - at age 12. And it wasn't just hockey. She took part in the 2000 Summer Olympics as a member of Canada's women's softball team.
And it wasn't just Canada that knew about her. In 2008, Sports Illustrated ranked her 20th on a list of the top 25 toughest athletes in the world.
How tough is Wickenheiser?
When she appeared in Prince George to speak at a UNBC Timberwolves legacy breakfast, a month after the city had hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games, she came to the stage in crutches, her foot in a cast after surgery to repair a broken foot after blocking a shot.
Except she had blocked the shot back in 2012, meaning she had played two full seasons, including her last Olympics, where she scored two goals and three assists in five games, on that broken foot.
A generation ago, girls didn't play hockey, they played ringette. Today, ringette has all but died as a sport in Canada, as girls play hockey and they play hockey because they want to be like Hayley.
At the 2015 morning event, the room was jammed with young girls in their jerseys, even though it was a school day.
They clapped and cheered loudly when she took the stage and then sat still and quiet as Wickenheiser spoke, soaking up each word of wisdom with reverence. Afterwords, they rushed the stage to get their jerseys signed and their pictures taken with their hockey idol.
No doubt those pictures are as treasured as the one Janet Marren keeps in her office.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
