A statue dedicated in 1989 to Wayne Gretzky, in Edmonton, Alberta on Feb. 27.Amber Bracken /The Globe and Mail
In the fall of 1985, The New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy profile of Wayne Gretzky, then the beloved captain of the Edmonton Oilers. The story was titled “King of the New Canada.”
Until very recently, it was barely an exaggeration – especially in Edmonton. Gretzky had arrived in the city at 17, and quickly became its golden son. Hockey fan or not, everyone in Edmonton had witnessed his evolution from a great player to the Great One, the closest thing there was to royalty. Even better, really, because you could run into Gretzky at a restaurant downtown and he’d give you an autograph.
“I think allegiance is probably a good word for what the town felt for this guy. There was a loyalty that just seemed to transcend everything,” said Terry McConnell, a former Edmonton Journal reporter and co-author of the 2009 book I’d Trade Him Again: On Gretzky, Politics, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Deal. “The allegiance to this guy ran deep in Edmonton. Even by celebrity standards, it was something apart from that. He was something special.”
Something so special that, even four decades later, his star still glimmered brightly in the city that had once been called “Gretzkyville.”
“People really felt an incredible sense not just of pride in his accomplishments, but a sense that he belonged to the city,” said Paula Simons, a former columnist at the Edmonton Journal, and now an independent senator. “People in Edmonton legitimately felt like they knew Wayne Gretzky.”
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She recalls Gretzky’s wedding to actress Janet Jones at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Basilica in 1988, as “a time of mass celebration and Edmontonians taking to the streets.”
“It’s a bit embarrassing, when I think about it now, because it makes us sound so parochial, but that was what it was like. The streets were blocked off,” she said. “Everybody kept comparing it to a royal wedding. Everybody kept comparing it to Charles and Diana. But that was really how it felt like, like the whole city was hosting the wedding.”
When it was announced at a tearful news conference barely three weeks later that Gretzky was being traded to the Los Angeles Kings, callers jammed the phone lines of newspapers, TV stations and the Oilers’ offices. Then-Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was burned in effigy outside the arena, and at least one person suggested Pocklington should be tarred and feathered and run out of town. Many likened the Gretzky trade to a death in the family. One woman quoted in The Edmonton Journal said it was “the saddest thing that ever happened.”
But the deep sense of connection and allegiance to Gretzky endured. It outlasted the heartbreak around his departure, continued as he played for three different American teams, remained long after his retirement as a player in 1999, and abided the ups and downs of a person living in the glare of a spotlight, as well as a chewing gum lawsuit and a sports betting allegation.
Reams of No. 99 jerseys continued to dot the crowd at Oilers games, just as Gretzky’s autographs and pictures and memorabilia speckled the walls in homes and offices and bars around the city. Fans and pilgrims regularly stopped to take photographs with the larger-than-life bronze statue of Gretzky hoisting the Stanley Cup, which stands prominently in front of Rogers Place.
Honorary captains Mike Eruzione of Team United States and Wayne Gretzky of Team Canada shake hands during pre-game ceremonies before the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game between Team Canada and Team United States at TD Garden in Boston, on Feb. 20.Brian Babineau/4NFO/Getty Images
But nothing gold – or bronze – can stay, as the saying goes.
And as Gretzky’s image flashed onto the screen during the Canada-U.S. final at the 4 Nations Face-Off last week, people around the City of Champions found themselves – in living rooms and bars and at gatherings with friends – doing something almost unfathomable: They booed him.
“It was so interesting because Gretzky came out, and then boos started,” said Kelley Ware, who was watching the game at her local pub in Edmonton.
“I was just a little startled, and kind of stunned,” she said. “Wayne Gretzky being booed in a small, hockey-focused neighbourhood pub in Edmonton – it was like, how the mighty have fallen.”
Or, as she posted on social media, “The neighbourhood pub I am in just booed Gretzky. What a world we live in.”
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What a world, indeed. Elsewhere on social media, lifelong fans called Gretzky a traitor, a disgrace and a sellout. A petition began circulating calling for Wayne Gretzky Drive to be renamed.
“We are all feeling this really keen sense of betrayal right now with what’s happening with the States, and I think that’s where this is coming from. People are already hurt. That was my initial reaction: I totally get this. People feel betrayed,” McConnell said. “And poor Wayne ended up in the crosshairs because he didn’t read the room.”
The room has changed dramatically. While Gretzky’s close friendship with American President Donald Trump has long been known, Trump’s repeated comments about taking over Canada have made the relationship a matter of patriotism.
Many fans were willing to look past Gretzky’s visits to Mar-a-Lago, his attendance at the inauguration and pictures of him wearing a MAGA hat or grinning broadly beside Trump giving a thumbs-up. But now the U.S. President has implied that one of Canada’s most famous and beloved sons actually supports an American takeover.
“I have so many great friends. One of them is the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. I said, ‘Run for prime minister, you’ll win. It’ll take two seconds,’” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in January. ”But he said, ‘Well, am I going to run for prime minister or governor? You tell me.’ I said, ‘Let’s make it governor. I like it better.’”
Trump told a similar story in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Against that backdrop, Gretzky appeared at the final game of the 4 Nations Face-Off dressed not in a national jersey like the honorary captain of the U.S. team, but wearing a sombre blue suit and vest, not a hint of red or a Canadian flag to be found.
Gretzky repeatedly gave a thumbs-up to the American players, but appeared cool toward the Canadian team, of which he was the honorary captain. He later gifted Canadian players red hats with the message, “BE GREAT.” The caps were embossed with a number 47 on the side, both the brand of a sports merchandise manufacturing company and the number of the current Trump presidency.
Grant Prete, who started the petition to rename Wayne Gretzky Drive, says he’s generally opposed to “cancel culture,” and hasn’t been a social activist before. But he felt like he had to do something.
“I think anyone who makes a threat to Canadian sovereignty is an enemy of the nation,” he said. “If you stay friends, or have close associations politically, with an enemy of the nation, then you become labelled as a traitor. It’s about protecting Canada and the things I hold dear.”
Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet Jones arrive before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 20.Kevin Lamarque/The Associated Press
The petition reads, in part: “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.”
Gretzky himself has not spoken publicly, but on Thursday, his wife posted a copy of a letter written in his defence by professed Trump supporter Bobby Orr, along with her own caption.
“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,” she wrote, on Instagram. “… He would do anything to make Canadians Proud, with his Love for Hockey and his Country.”
She later removed the post.
Lyle Best, former executive director of the Edmonton Oilers Alumni Association and one of the members of the civic recognition of Wayne Gretzky selection committee that named Wayne Gretzky Drive, calls the situation “really overblown.”
“I think it’s people’s anger at Donald Trump and the way he’s treating the world. If you are affiliated with him in any way, it sort of rolls off on you,” Best said. He speculated that if Gretzky “had a do-over, he might have kept a lower profile at some of these events with Trump.”
“Having said that, he’s Donald Trump. He’s the President of the United States and if he invites you to the White House, you go to the White House, or Mar-a-Lago,” he said. “I think this is more about Trump than it is about Gretzky.”
But Best acknowledges there are things that bother him, such as how Gretzky still hasn’t picked up his insignia after being promoted in 2009 to companion of the Order of Canada, one of the highest civilian honours bestowed in the country.
“So there’s little things,” Best said. “But his schedule is crazy still, and it could be logistics.”
On Wednesday, Trump came to Gretzky’s defence on Truth Social, saying: “Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat ‘low key’ about Canada remaining a separate country, rather than becoming a cherished and beautiful 51 State. … Wayne and Janet, his wonderful wife, love Canada, and they should only support Canada and whatever else makes the Canadian People, and Governor Justin Trudeau happy.”
Trump said he was making Gretzky “‘a free agent,’ because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him.”