Choice of Wayne Gretzky as Canada team’s honorary captain irks fans

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The choice of Wayne Gretzky as honorary captain of Canada’s hockey team in Thursday night’s game against America has upset fans of the sport.

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Yesterday the NHL announced the honorary team captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off final between Canada and the United States.

For the Americans it was Michael Anthony Eruzione, best known as captain of the 1980 Winter Olympics U.S. national team that defeated the Soviet Union in the famous “Miracle on Ice” game, in which he scored the game-winning goal.

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For Canada, Wayne Gretzky, a.k.a. The Great One, whose family has a close relationship with Donald Trump, having attended an election-night event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in November. Trump has also suggested this year Gretzky run for prime minister — or rather governor — of America’s 51st state.

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At the 4 Nations Face-Off final, Gretzky arrived through the Americans’ bench, giving them a thumbs up along the way. He was dressed in a suit, in contrast to Eurizone, who wore the team’s jersey.

Before the game, he was coy about whether his first country — he now holds dual Canadian-American citizenship — would win, which it ultimately did. “It’s going to be tremendous hockey,” he said from the NHL Board of Governors meeting on Monday, NHL.com reports. “I’m not sure who is going to win, but I’m just saying as a Canadian, I think our team matches up very good against the Americans.”

It did. Connor McDavid scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States.

Fan reaction to the choice of Gretzky as captain was largely negative. Hockey writer Ken Campbell took to X to call the decision “tone deaf,” while an account called Great White North responded with a GIF that said  “disgraceful,” and another, J. Hunter, contrasted an image of Gretzky at the game with one of his meetings with Trump, which showed both men giving a thumbs-up sign.

Another user, Kelley Ware, posted: “The neighborhood pub I am in just booed Gretzky. What a world we live in.”

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Booing wasn’t just reserved for Gretzky, however. Fans at the game, which took place in Boston, also booed the Canadian national anthem, a response to the U.S. anthem getting similar treatment at 4 Nations games north of the border after Trump threatened tariffs against Canada.

One Canadian fan watching from a bar in Edmonton told the National Post, “I think it’s a big deal, especially after Trump’s tweets reinforcing the notion of Canada being the 51st state. We’re often quietly proud, this is one of the few times we’re loudly proud.”

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In December, then president-elect Trump said he told Gretzky during a Christmas Day visit that he should run for prime minister of Canada.

“I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in ice-hockey circles,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for prime minister of Canada, soon to be known as the governor of Canada — you would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’ He had no interest.”

On Boxing Day, his wife, Janet, seemed to be supporting the idea when she posted one of her husband’s most iconic quotes over a generic hockey image on Instagram: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” During Trump’s inauguration, Janet and Wayne attended the ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building.

Even before the game, a petition was circulating to change the name of Wayne Gretzky Drive in Edmonton to “a different name.”

Organizer Grant Prete wrote: “Wayne Gretzky may arguably be Edmonton’s greatest claim to fame. The Great One was a man who kids and hockey fans looked up to ever since he led the Edmonton Oilers during their glory days. I think, for this reason, it stings even more to know that he supports Donald Trump despite knowing Trump’s intentions to annex his home country.”

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The petition also points to a 2018 Maclean’s article titled: “Why won’t Wayne Gretzky pick up his order of Canada?” He was awarded the honour in 2009. The petition has almost 2,500 signatures.

Gretzky has not commented on social media about being chosen at the honorary captain. His latest Instagram posts from several days ago show him playing “Wayne Gretzky trivia” and appearing in an ad for BetMGM Casino, an online gambling site.

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