How Hayley Wickenheiser landed job with Maple Leafs

In August, the Maple Leafs made a splash when they named Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser assistant director of player development.

Wickeneheiser is arguably the women’s hockey player of all time and also a bright mind (she’s currently attending medical school at the University of Calgary), so it seemed inevitable that some team would come knocking.

And while forward-thinking Leafs GM Kyle Dubas received most of the credit for the shrewd hire, it was actually a member of his staff that set the plan in motion.

“When I was playing, I worked with Darryl Belfry for about eight years, who is one of the skills development guys for the Leafs,” Wickenheiser explained on Episode 3 of the Jack and Soph podcast. “Darryl and I see the game very similarly and spent a lot of time together through the years.

“His connection with Kyle [Dubas] and talking with Kyle Dubas, who is the GM of the Leafs, said you should talk to Hayley, she’s got something to offer. And so essentially Kyle called me and offered me the job, it was pretty straight forward.”

And no, when you’re as accomplished as Wickenheiser you don’t have to worry about writing a cover letter — 23 years of experience on the national team and five Olympic medals (four gold) speaks for itself.

“My life in hockey is my resume and my body of work because he knew what I could bring,” Wickenheiser said of her meeting with Dubas. “I met with Kyle for a few hours and we just talked about our philosophies of life and hockey and development and those types of things. I suppose that was my interview.”

You can listen to the Jack and Soph Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

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