Windsor

UWindsor coach draws parallels to Maple Leafs' Wickhenheiser signing

Though Deanna Iwanicka is the first full-time women's hockey head coach in University of Windsor history, she still looks up to Hayley Wickenheiser as a true trailblazer of athletics.

The school signed its first female women's hockey head coach in June

A woman with blonde hair wearing a dark blue polo shirt
Deanna Iwanicka is the first full-time women's hockey head coach in University of Windsor history. During her prior 10-year coaching stint in Alberta, she had the opportunity to share the ice with one of her idols, newly-signed Toronto Maple Leafs assistant director Hayley Wickenheiser. (Meg Roberts/CBC )

Newly-signed Toronto Maple Leafs assistant director Hayley Wickenheiser and University of Windsor hockey coach Deanna Iwanicka are no strangers to making history.

They both went to university in Calgary, have skated on the same rinks at the same time during training and have both gone on to become trailblazers of their respective programs.

In June, Iwanicka was signed as the first full-time women's hockey head coach in University of Windsor history. She said, growing up, Wickenheiser was a trailblazer in her eyes.

When Iwanicka was coaching the women's hockey squad at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Wickenheiser was making history playing in multiple men's teams.

"I think Hayley and I were at that perfect age where she was always in the limelight while I was up and coming ... She was really the one paving the way for everybody else in the sport. So for me, just seeing somebody do that was really instrumental."

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired former women's hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser as assistant director of player development Thursday. (Antonio Calanni/Canadian Press)

In 2003, Wickenheiser became the first woman to score a goal playing in a men's semi-professional league.

Iwanicka said seeing Wickenheiser get signed to the Toronto Maple Leafs — in a job which could possibly lead to a full-time coaching stint — is just another example of her continuing to blaze new trails.

"She's doesn't stop doing that 'I am going to be the first to do this' thing ... She's convincing people that females can do that. Similar to when she was playing, now she's just paving the way for us in a different way."