Hayley Wickenheiser says retirement not an easy decision

The decision to retire wasn't one that came easilyfor Canadian hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser.

The country's all-time leading scorer announced her retirement Friday after 23 years on the Canadian women's team and almost a dozen Olympic and world championship gold medals.

Considered one of the greatest female players of all time, women's hockey grew in popularity considerably during her time on the ice. The number of registered female players in Canada went from 16,000 in her first year on the national team to almost 87,000 today.

But retirement hadbeen on her mindfor a few months now, she says. Deciding she couldn't put off her entry into medical school any longer, she's decided to hang up the skates, she told CBC Radio'sSaskatchewan Weekend.

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"These decisions are never madeeasy or without a lot of thought,"Wickenheisersaid.

She says she's excited about what lies ahead, but admits she has some mixed emotions about leaving the game she has played and loved since she was 15yearsold.

"It feels like a bit of a funeral and a graduationall at the same time," she said.

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Wickenheiser added everything she has in life is because of the game. Giving credit to the people she grew up with, played with and was coached by, along with the people of her hometown of Shaunavon, Sask., Wickenheiser said she doesn't think she would have had the career she did if people had said "no" to her desire to play or made it difficult to get into the game.

"It's really where my heart and my love of the game lies, is on my outdoor rink in my backyard in Shaunavon," she said. "That's kind of how I started the game and what I'll always love about the game."

Memorable moments

Some of the moments that stick out in Wickenheiser's mind are the games she played on Canada's national roster.

"I was a 15-year-old kid and on top of the world really," she said of the 1994 IIHFWomen's World Hockey Championship in Lake Placid, NY.

Since 2002,Wickenheiserhas won Olympic gold for Team Canada in four straight Olympic games. Thosegold medal wins in Salt Lake City in 2002, Torino in 2006, Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014 were some of the moments which stick out in her mind, she said.

Shementioned players who helped paved the way for her in hockey and with whom she played early in her career, such asStacyWilson, France Saint-Louis and JudyDiduck.

"They taught me how to win and what it meant to be a pro," Wickenheiser said.

Nowmedicine is in her sights.

Comparing it to the game she loves, Wickenheiser said medicine appealed to her because of the team environment andsnap decisions involved, and the opportunity to changelives.

"Hopefully, maybe I'll have a chance to make a bigger impact in the world of medicine than I did in hockey."