Wayne Gretzky, the Canadian hockey legend known around the world as ‘The Great One,’ is suddenly in a big pickle in his home country because of his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Gretzky, 64, served as the honorary captain for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game in Boston on Feb. 20, and his presence created more fuel for a brewing controversy north of the border. The greatest hockey player of all-time has faced criticism in his homeland over his association with Trump in light of the president’s political threats related to tariffs and comments about Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States.
The negative rhetoric led Trump, fellow Canadian hockey legend Bobby Orr and Gretzky’s wife to defend his national pride in recent days. Orr wrote an op-ed for the Toronto Sun last Saturday to express his disappointment at the treatment Gretzky received for his appearance on behalf of Canada’s hockey team last week, while Trump posted on his social media website, Truth Social, in an apparent effort to help Gretzky.
Janet Jones Gretzky, who attended Trump’s presidential inauguration in Washington last month with her husband, then posted a thank you to Orr on her Instagram account Thursday. The caption offered a glimpse into the toll this controversy is taking on Wayne Gretzky.
‘I have never met anyone who is more Proud to be a Canadian and it has broken his heart to read and see the mean comments,’ Janet Jones Gretzky wrote. ‘He would do anything to make Canadians Proud, with his Love for Hockey and his Country.’
The rising political tension between the United States and Canada since Trump returned to the White House in January coincided with the NHL’s first 4 Nations Cup this year, and it helped create a level of interest in the tournament that caught even the most staunch hockey supporters by surprise.
Trump called the American team to wish them luck ahead of the game and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needled Trump on social media after Canada’s 3-2 overtime win. Trump, in reference to Canada joining the United States as the 51st state, declared Gretzky a ‘free agent’ on social media Wednesday in an effort to demonstrate Gretzky supports an independent Canada.
‘Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat ‘low key’ about Canada remaining a separate Country,’ Trump wrote, in part. ‘… He’s the Greatest Canadian of them all, and I am therefore making him a ‘free agent,’ because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him. He supports Canada the way it is, as he should, even though it’s not nearly as good as it could be as part of the Greatest and Most Powerful Country in the World, the Good Ole’ U.S.A.!’
Orr was the first notable hockey figure to publicly back Gretzky as more Canadians turned against one of its country’s sports heroes and called for him to speak out against Trump’s recent comments regarding Canada. Some fans in Edmonton even started an online petition for a freeway named after Gretzky to be changed. It had more than 10,000 signatures as of Thursday.
‘How fickle can people be, when someone who has given so much time and effort to Canadian hockey is treated in such a way,’ Orr wrote in the op-ed. ‘Listen, we all have our personal beliefs as they pertain to things such as religion and politics. Wayne respects your right to such beliefs – why can’t you respect his?’
Known as ‘The Great One’ during a 20-year career with the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, Gretzky is the league’s all-time leader in points, goals and assists. Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is currently on the verge of passing his goals record.
Gretzky represented Canada in international competition throughout his career, including the 1998 Nagano Olympics when NHL players were allowed to participate for the first time. He was executive director of the 2002 Olympic team that won gold in Salt Lake City and ended Canada’s 50-year championship drought.
Gretzky retired from playing professional hockey in 1999 and later became part-owner and coach of the Arizona Coyotes. He’s currently a studio analyst for TNT.