Published 19.02.2015 10:59 GMT+1 | Author Martin Merk

Canada will have to play the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship without its most famous player. Hayley Wickenheiser underwent a foot surgery.

There are many ways to describe Wickenheiser. She’s the all-time leading scorer of the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship (37+48=85 points) and of the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournaments (18+33=51).

Wickenheiser also leads the Canadian women’s team all-time in goals (146), assists (172) and games played (216).

For many years she was considered the best female hockey player in the world. She was the first skater to play professional hockey with men (2002-2004 with Salamat in Finland, 2008/2009 with Linden in Sweden) and she was Team Canada’s captain from 2007 until 2013 before losing the “C” to Caroline Ouellette shortly before the 2014 Olympics.

But an ongoing foot injury will end her streak of 12 consecutive Women’s World/Olympic participations since 2002 after the season-ending foot injury on Wednesday in Toronto. In total Wickenheiser has competed in 12 Women’s World Championships and in all five Olympics with women’s ice hockey as a discipline.

According to the Canadian Press, Wickenheiser played with a broken bone in her left foot in the Sochi 2014 Olympics, an injury she originally suffered in November 2012. She already had a foot surgery last summer but said her foot continued to give her problems this season as a player of the University of Calgary. She had to wear a walking cast after the games during the last few months.

It will be a season-ending surgery for the 36-year-old, who intends to return for next season. She expects seven months of recovery and rehabilitation before she will be able to return to the ice.

“I’ve done everything I can to try and heal it and now I need to take a step back and take the time it needs and do this,” Wickenheiser told the Canadian Press. “It’s the major weight-bearing bone in the foot, probably the most important bone in your foot. “It’s frustrating to miss the Worlds, but at the same time, I need to do this right and come back strong for next season and that’s my goal. I want to come back next season and be healthy and fit, so I’m going to give myself the time to have a long period of rehab and recovery so I can be 100 per cent by the time next season starts. You only get one chance to heal this right.” Teammate Meghan Agosta-Marciano will also miss out on Malmo as she’s taking the season off to attend police academy in Vancouver, but Canadian fans will count on having both these veterans back when the country will host the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Kamloops next year.

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