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Olympic gold medalist Jayna Hefford retiring after 17-year career

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Between the haze of late-night feedings and baby bliss, new mom Jayna Hefford has little time to indulge in nostalgia even as the final buzzer sounds on her 17-year hockey career.

The second-leading scorer in the history of the Canadian national women's team just figures the time is right to hang up her No. 16 jersey and move on with her life.

"There's obviously sleep deprivation and challenging times and busy times, but it's also the best of times," says Hefford, who announced her retirement Thursday along with teammates Gillian Apps and Catherine Ward. "Once you become a parent, it's no longer about you. When I'm reflecting about retirement, I'm thinking a lot more about what my parents did for me growing up and all the selflessness and the sacrifice. I guess I'm more appreciative of what they did to help me live out the dream."

And live the dream she did. Five Olympic appearances. Four gold medals. One silver. A whopping 157 goals in 267 international appearances on behalf of her country.

One of those goals came with two seconds left in the second period of the 2002 gold-medal game at the Salt Lake City Olympics. Despite a never-ending parade to the penalty box -- some infractions deserved, others questionable -- the upstart Canadians held on to defeat the United States 3-2.

One day, Hefford's kids might find the grainy footage on YouTube of one of their moms streaking up the ice on a breakaway, pulling the puck to her backhand and banging it in off goaltender Sara DeCosta.

The goal put Canada up 3-1.

"I don't know if it's my style to go showing them my goals," said Hefford, a 38-year-old from Kingston, Ont. "But I think that's a moment in my career that I'm proud of and I look back on and it brings back so many great memories. The way it happened, it's pretty neat. And I'm sure one day they'll see it or ask me about it."

At just 5-foot-5, 140 pounds, Hefford had to fight for every one of her goals against towering defenceman and imposing power forwards.

"One of her strengths is obviously her speed," Ward said. "But as a defenceman, no matter where I would pass her the puck -- whether it was in her skates or a little bit behind -- she never lost any speed and would always catch the pass. She would always seem to score at the biggest moments."

On the ice, Hefford made it all look effortless, but behind the scenes, it was anything but.

"She was always strong," said Melody Davidson, general manager of the national women's team programs for Hockey Canada. "She was always fit and looked after her body. And as a result, she was able to play the game for as long as she did and as good as she did."

In Hefford's mind, complacency was the enemy.

"A few years before Vancouver, I decided if I was going to stick in it into my 30s, my mid 30s, I knew I had to get better," said Hefford, only one of five athletes in the world to win gold at four consecutive Olympics. "It wasn't good enough to be there just because I had gotten that far already. I probably had some of my most successful years in the latter part of my career which is something I'm proud of. I saw the results of that hard work."

Hefford gave birth in April to her son Lachlan, a second child with her partner Kathleen Kauth. The couple's eldest is daughter Isla, whom Kauth carried and delivered.

For now, hockey is secondary to family, but Hefford wants to stay in the game, albeit on the business side.

"We'll miss her on the ice," said Davidson. "But I don't plan on letting her off the hook on leaving us. Given all her parental duties, I know there's a lot on her plate right now. But we're definitely not going to let go of her."

ALSO RETIRING ...

* Catherine Ward finished her undergraduate degree at McGill University in just three years. Then she took only 18 months to nail down an international MBA at Boston University. The Canadian Olympian was not messing around when it came to building a career outside of hockey.

And so no one at Hockey Canada passed out with shock when Ward informed them of her retirement from the women's national team at age 28.

"In women's hockey, hopefully we will one day be able to live off it," says Ward, who logged more ice-time than any other Canadian player at the Sochi Games. "Currently, I think it gives us great opportunities, but it's not really a viable long-term plan."

A two-time Olympic gold medallist, Ward is working as the assistant product manager for sticks at CCM Hockey.

"I have big goals in terms of my career down the line," said Ward, who notched seven goals and 43 points in 77 appearances with the national team. "So I think for me to start now instead of in four years is going to be beneficial."

* Power forward Gillian Apps is retiring at age 31 with three Olympic gold medals in her possession.

The Unionville, Ont., native -- and granddaughter of the late Hockey Hall of Famer Syl Apps -- carved out a reputation as the ultimate team player willing to jump in wherever needed.

According to national team GM Melody Davidson, Apps would rather pull her groin at the blue line than step offside and negate a scoring chance.

"I've had an incredible run," said Apps, who successfully completed an Ironman competition last month in Ontario's cottage country. "I couldn't have had a better experience, and I think it's just time to move on."

In 164 games with the national team, Apps collected 50 goals and 50 assists for 100 points.

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