Sportsnet: I can’t believe you’re retiring.

Hayley Wickenheiser: Yeah [laughs]. I am.

You’re one of the best players in the world. Why retire?

It came down to timing. I’d been thinking about it, and the opportunity to go to medical school is one I didn’t really want to pass up. It felt like the right time. I guess there’s no right, right time. But for me, I felt like it was. So here I am.

How difficult has this decision been? Because you could’ve gone the Jagr route and done a couple more Olympic cycles.

[Laughs.] It’s a difficult decision for sure when you decide to move on. But for me I look at it as I’m really grateful for everything I had in the game. I think as women on the national team, you start [your hockey career] and you also are starting to plan what you’re going to do when it’s over, because we don’t make the millions of dollars and you have to have a life after. There were things in my life I just really didn’t want to wait for anymore. My son, Noah, was very happy when I told him I was going to retire. He was supportive either way, but there was a little bit of relief there that mom was probably going to be gone less. It’s very emotional, because it’s something you’ve loved your whole life.

You’ve been named to the Order of Canada, played Olympic softball, won countless world championships, won four Olympic gold medals. You played pro men’s hockey and pro women’s hockey, and went to an NHL rookie camp. How do you even reflect on a career like that?

Yeah, I think I’ve done a lot in my life and the game for me has been very diverse. The one thing I’d always wanted to do in my career is push myself out of my comfort zone—I think I’m really comfortable with being uncomfortable. So that’s why I played pro men’s hockey, that’s why I played softball and hockey at the same time, that’s why I’m not afraid to speak up—that’s just who I am. I’ve always had to prove myself from the time I was a little girl growing up playing hockey in Shaunavon, [Sask.]. It’s just been part of the fabric that you get—whether you ask for it or not—when you’re the first in a lot of things. But I wouldn’t trade it. It’s been good.