Walter Gretzky 1938 - 2021

[wildone]

RIP Walter Gretzky. 
 

You and you wife gave birth, raised, educated and coached one of the Greatest Athletes in the world. 
 

it is hard to think of Wayne without you. Although I may have disliked Wayne as an Oiler 😛, what you did as a father always impressed me. To a point as teens, we all wondered what we would be if we had you as a dad. 
 

Im sure you and Phyllis will be so happy to be together again. 
 

😢

 

 

[W_L]

@wildone Wayne Gretzky was an amazing Hockey player and it's sad to hear his father passed.

I only saw him towards the end of his career, but I was old enough to see the effect of the Gretzky rule and post-rule era in the NHL.

Side note: Are you a Calgary Flame, Toronto Maple Leaf, or Montreal Canadiens fan? I know there are more Canadian teams, but those are the 3 that comes to mind that have beef with Edmenton Oilers.

[wildone]

I sort of got to know Wayne over my years as being a rink rat while working for the Flames. He would sit on the bench before the doors open and tape his sticks. A couple of us had to walk the game nets (if you were to put the room temperature metal nets right on the ice, they would melt in  ). We would chat about different things going on in league and about him, but he always enquired about us too. If I saw him on the street and said hi, he probably wouldn't remember me though  My one coworker was definitely more around when he was.

Hard to believe I grew up despising him as a kid, since he played for Calgary's arch rivals, the Edmonton Oilers.

But the thing that amazed me, like his dad, he was so humble.

Regarding his dad it amazed me how much a blue collar worker he was and still made time for all his kids and coach and develop them into the athletes that they were. His demeanor and calming presence I imagine made him a great coach and mentor. I had never heard about back yard rinks, I'm sure there would be some, before hearing about the Gretzky's. After that every kid wanted a backyard rink.

I think Walter was with Wayne every step of the way his entire career and beyond. Wayne signed a personal services contract when he was 17. Actually with the original owner of the Flames who then sold him and the contract to the Oilers, before the Oilers moved from the WHA to the NHL. Who knew, he could have been a Flame . I did see Walter around a bit, but never had the opportunity to speak to him personally .

I have to admit, I don't really follow all the US sports, but I wonder if there is a real life and recognized unilaterally as being a player to own the title 'Greatest' and how important their parents played in helping them become the greatest  The only one I've heard about is LaVar Ball  , but I don't think he can be classified as humble  Aren't his kids the Greatest in Basketball ? Well at least to him.

 

On the second part W_L.

Oh my!!! How dare you mention Toronto in a list of teams 😮 

Here is my list of Canadian Teams:

1. Calgary Flames
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Montreal Canadiens 
4. Ottawa Senators
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. Toronto Maple Leafs

Now before I have the Toronto contingent come out for me with both fists flying, let me explain. Toronto is the largest city in Canada by a lot. So, since we are still relatively small country, 1 person to every 10 in the US, everything seems to be centralized to Toronto. Hence their nickname, Centre of the Universe. Well we have two major sports networks, all the cable networks and the national broadcasting networks all are based in Toronto.. With the exception of a few Saturday nights all year, ever single early hockey game will be of Toronto playing in Toronto for the CBC/Sportsnet time slot. CBC has been hosting national broadcasts since black and white (Hockey Night in Canada) and has always been pro Toronto in everything. Alex Ovechkin could score 5 goals and they will talk about how great Mitch Marner and Austin Mathews is. They are tone deaf to the rest of the country. Well, not fair, they totally have a love affair with Connor McDavid. 

I'd sure like to know who writes the schedule that Toronto is home nearly every weekend. Oh wait, the NHL Head Office is split between Toronto and New York, but most recognize Toronto is where things happen. 

There is a lot of Leaf fans outside of Toronto, but mainly older people that are from before the expansions. Then a lot have moved from Toronto to other cities, so they have a big following wherever they go.

 

Spoiler

You may ask why Vancouver is so low. They were my favourite team before Calgary had a team and dropped to 2nd after the Flames started. Two names put them at near bottom, Todd Bertuzzi and Mike Keenan. The team is scarred for life IMHO as no one including ownership and Brian Burke admitted any guilt in the targeted attach on Steve Moore which broke his back .

 

[W_L]

Good to know, I won't mention the "centre of the universe"   I know Toronto is treated like Canadian version of New York, didn't even occur to me that the hate is similar for their sports coverage (American Football's coverage and booth reviews come out of New York as well, so lots of team hate the calls).

Being a Bostonian, we sort of live in the shadow of Bobby Orr, who was an Ontario boy oddly enough and probably the youngest prodigy in the history of Hockey. He's among the short list next to Wayne as the Greatest Hockey Player of all time. I remember the stories about his father pushing him and negotiating with the Boston Bruins at the time about pre-draft details, squeezing the head office to make sure that Bobby got everything he needed as he was working his way up. Think about it, a 13-14 year old teenager with a lot of raw talent and getting scouted, I can't think of anyone in modern sports of any variety who would have committed to someone that young or a parent who would go out of their way so much to support their child to reach the professional levels.

@wildoneIf you recall, I won one of GA's NHL bracket when we used to have them Also, I used to ice skate a little as a kid after school, there was a program for disabled kids, but I am rusty now. I love the free motions on the ice and cold blow of air on a rink, especially when it's unseasonably warm autumn day.

It's cool that you had a few brushes with Wayne, I hope you had him autograph your helmet or stick. That sort of stuff is a keeper. By the way, did you by any chance meet his enforcer, Dave Semenko. I've seen the highlight reels from back then and I can understand why people called him Wayne's bodyguard. He deserved credit for Wayne's early success as well.

[Dodger]

3 hours ago, wildone said:

I sort of got to know Wayne over my years as being a rink rat while working for the Flames. He would sit on the bench before the doors open and tape his sticks. A couple of us had to walk the game nets (if you were to put the room temperature metal nets right on the ice, they would melt in  ). We would chat about different things going on in league and about him, but he always enquired about us too. If I saw him on the street and said hi, he probably wouldn't remember me though  My one coworker was definitely more around when he was.

Okay, here's the Toronto contingent  and I'm angry after just watching the Leafs lose to the Jets. That's a pretty cool story though, Steve. I was a late arrival to Canadian sport and it took me a while to appreciate hockey. By that time 'the great one' had long since retired, but he was well-known even in England where they have no NHL coverage at all on the regular channels.

My first love was soccer and I still watch most of the Arsenal games on TV. However, my stubborn refusal as a teenager to accept North American sport didn't last long, and I soon started cheering for everything Toronto. I love baseball and used to watch the Blue Jays regularly at the Rogers Centre before they moved to Buffalo, but tickets for the Maple Leafs in Toronto are ridiculously over-priced.

In the states, Tom Brady would probably be considered the greatest QB.