By Benjamin Leszcz
HAYLEY WICKENHEISER
Forward for Eskilstuna Winden, in the Swedish Men’s league
Hayley Wickenheiser is arguably the best female hockey player in the world, and possibly the best that’s ever lived. Wickenheiser, who is 31, led the Canadian national women’s hockey team to two Olympic gold medals, played in the Summer Olympics as a softball player, and in 2003 became the first woman to score a goal in a professional men’s league.
: What’s Eskilstuna like?
It’s a quiet, industrial city of about 100,000 people, west of Stockholm. It’s known for motor sports and handball; hockey is third or fourth on the list. I live on sort of a farm, and we are constantly around horses. I love it.
: How’s your eight-year-old son, Noah, adapting?
He really enjoys it but he misses his friends back in Canada. He’s learning Swedish at school. At the grocery store I ask him, “What do these labels say?”
: How does Sweden compare with Finland, where you played in 2003?
Finland was my first experience living abroad by myself. That was a pretty interesting, yet isolating experience. I think I was better for it. You have some bizarre experiences. I remember winning Player of the Game once and getting a bag of fish. That was supposed to be a good thing. Crazy.
: How is Swedish hockey different from Canadian hockey?
It’s a more patient game, more of a thinking game. The trap style makes it very tough; in a women’s game I might get six, seven chances to score. Over here it doesn’t happen as much. They also focus a lot on skill development: on skating, shooting and passing.
: You’ll return to Calgary this spring to train for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Then what?
Post 2010, I don’t know if I’ll play in another Olympics. I could see myself working for the International Ice Hockey Federation, developing the game around the world. Or developing better options for elite women players. With my experience I’d probably have something to offer an NHL club. If I ever step out of the game completely, medicine is something I’ve always seen myself pursuing. But it’s a great life to be a professional athlete. When I was a kid, I never thought I’d have this opportunity. It’s nice to be living it.
: What do you miss about home?
Right now, I miss sunlight. I miss Hockey Night in Canada. A lot. And I really miss a good Alberta steak.
: photograph by calle abrahamsson / JAN 22.09 / 11:19 AM / ESKILSTUNA / SWEDEN
MATT THIRLWELL
Western zone vice-president of sales, Foster’s Wine Estates
As a top executive with Foster’s Group, the world’s second-largest wine company, Matt Thirlwell oversees brands including Wolf Blass,
Penfolds and Beringer, and manages a portfolio that includes wines from Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa and California.
: How did you get interested in wine?
When I was at school, I worked at a wine store part time, which felt somewhat glamorous. Like any 18-year-old, I was pretty interested in drinking beer, but I think when you’re around wine, it’s tough not to develop an interest. I like the fact that it changes every year. Some wines have such an incredible pedigree; some vineyards have been around for over 100 years.
: Don’t you ever get bored of drinking wine?
If you look at what people drink when they’re starting out – and that’s about 80 per cent of the population – it’s fruit-forward, easy-drinking products, like Little Penguin and Lindemans. Over time your palate develops and you look to more complex and sophisticated wines. Collecting wine is a huge hobby of mine, and I’ve had the opportunity to taste some of the greatest wines in the world.
: How’s the wine industry different from Alberta to B.C.?
Alberta has come a long way. I love going back home to visit family and seeing the great restaurant and wine businesses in Edmonton and Calgary. But Vancouver’s always been ahead of the curve in that sense.
: What have you learned from visiting your company’s vineyards?
Because wine is a luxury product, people associate wineries with luxury. I think it’s a big surprise for people that winemakers are actually farmers. I visited Coonawarra, which is a tiny, tiny wine region in South Australia. You go there and it’s a small rural area, as flat as Saskatchewan, but it’s the top Cabernet-producing region in all of Australia. That’s the reality of the wine industry. Big rubber boots and dirty hands.
: photograph by adrian brown / JAN 21.09 / 1:41 PM / VANCOUVER / CANADA
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Category: Career Track, Profiles, Work
just a reader
Good articles and informative especially about the programming entry