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Hockey Legend Wayne Gretzky Shared His Father With a Nation – The New York Times

Published

4 years ago

March 5, 2021

Walter Gretzky coached a young Wayne, who ended up setting N.H.L. scoring records that will never be matched, and became a role model for hockey parents.

OTTAWA — In an instant 30 years ago, a huge piece of Walter Gretzky’s legacy went missing.

Gretzky, the father of the greatest hockey player of all time, had an aneurysm while painting his mother’s farmhouse in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. An ambulance and a nearby hospital saved his life, but when he came to he could remember not a single one of his son’s extraordinary feats.

It was as if someone had accidentally deleted the folder holding Wayne Gretzky’s four Stanley Cups, dozens of National Hockey League records, even his 1988 trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.

“It’s like I was asleep for 10 years,” Walter Gretzky told The Ottawa Citizen in a 1994 interview. “It’s all kind of like a dream.”

He said he tried to recapture those precious father-son moments through video, “but it was not the same.”

Walter Gretzky — widely known as “Canada’s Hockey Dad” — died Thursday night in Brantford, Ontario, after a nine-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 82.

Walter and Wayne Gretzky in 1984. Walter was the one who told Wayne to “skate to where the puck’s going and not to where it’s been.” — The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada tweeted: “Walter Gretzky cared deeply about his family and his community — his kindness was undeniable, his passion was obvious, and his impact was immense. My thoughts are with Wayne and the entire Gretzky family, and all who are mourning the loss of Canada’s hockey dad.”

Indeed, it seemed the entire country was grieving this small man with the crooked grin and prominent nose. Gretzky became a hockey icon himself over the decades, appearing in television commercials and at charitable events. Obliging, humble and supportive, he was an ideal model for hockey parents, many of whom lose control and a sense of reality while encouraging their children to excel in the sport that is Canada’s national obsession. He was the hockey parent you wanted in the stands.

Wayne Gretzky, who was a Ranger when he retired in 1999, released a statement on Friday saying: “For my sister and my three brothers, Dad was our team captain — he guided, protected and led our family every day, every step of the way. For me, he was the reason I fell in love with the game of hockey. He inspired me to be the best I could be, not just in the game of hockey, but in life.”

Brantford Expositor via The Canadian Press

Walter Gretzky was predeceased by his wife, the former Phyllis Hockin, in 2005. He is survived by their five children: Wayne, Keith, Glen, Brent and Kim, and several grandchildren.

The Gretzky home at 42 Viradi Ave., in Brantford, has become something of a national shrine over the years. Walter Gretzky happily welcomed strangers wishing to see the backyard where the rink known as “Wally’s Coliseum” started a 3-year-old Wayne on his way to hockey superstardom.

The family had one golden rule — “Get your homework done first” — and then everyone could play as long as they wanted, on what Wayne’s father liked to call “glass ice.”

“He would be out here hour after hour,” Walter Gretzky told The Globe and Mail in 2008, “twisting in and out between pylons we made from Javex bottles. He used to tie a can off a string and hang it in the net and see how many times he could hit it. He used to pay kids a nickel or a dime to play goalie for him.”

Boris Spremo/Toronto Star, via Getty Images

It was Walter Gretzky who drove his son to his very first game, and it would be Wayne Gretzky who drove his father to his final game with the Rangers.

“I rode with my Dad,” Wayne Gretzky said in a broadcast interview. “It was like my first game when I was 6 years old.”

It was Walter who told Wayne to “skate to where the puck’s going and not to where it’s been.” As a 10-year-old, Wayne Gretzky scored 378 goals for the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers, and he became known nationally before reaching his teens. He retired from the N.H.L. as its scoring leader, with 894 goals and 1,963 assists in 1,487 games; all told, he held 61 scoring records.

The superstar son always maintained that he developed his game “right in my own backyard,” under the tutelage of his father. Walter Gretzky had been a fine young player in his own right, but at 140 pounds he was considered too small to move into Junior A hockey, then the traditional route to a professional career.

He turned his attention to coaching his children, all of whom excelled in a variety of sports.

Right: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star, via Getty Images; Geoff Robins/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Walter Gretzky was active in multiple causes, raising more than a million Canadian dollars through annual golf tournaments for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. In 2007, he was named to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor, for his charitable work.

“It’s not that hard to be ‘Canada’s Dad’ if you’re already the father of the greatest player ever,” Charlie Henry, Walter Gretzky’s closest friend for more than 50 years, said in an interview on Friday.

The two men, born within two weeks of each other in 1938, met in the stands at a minor hockey tournament when Henry took note of the slick young player from Brantford wearing distinctive white gloves.

“That kid’s going to be a great player,” Henry said to those standing with him, “but if you have to play with white gloves that glow in the dark, I don’t know …”

“That’s my kid!” Walter Gretzky snapped from a few rows away.

The two quickly made up and grew close, and Henry frequently traveled with Gretzky, particularly after his recovery from the aneurysm.

Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images

“Wally would have flashes of memory,” Henry said. “Like his first pair of skates. Or his wedding. But Wayne’s hockey was gone.”

Wayne Gretzky wrote extensively about his father in his 1990 book, “Gretzky: An Autobiography.”

“My hero as a kid was a man with constant headaches, ulcers and ringing in his ears,” he wrote. “He’s a funny little guy who stays up drinking coffee every night until 3:00 in the morning even though he’s got to be at work at 8:00 the next day. He doesn’t have to work if he doesn’t want to, yet he never misses a day.

“He was my hockey instructor. He was also my lacrosse, baseball, basketball and cross-country coach, not to mention my trainer and chauffeur. He’s still my coach, but he’s also my agent, manager, amateur lawyer, business partner and best friend. He doesn’t have a college degree, but he’s probably the smartest guy I know.”

Later, in a 1996 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Wayne Gretzky put all that into a single sentence:

“Everything I am is because of him.”

Pat Price/Reuters

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Ravens win fifth straight game by beating Bucs 41-31

Published

24 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.

The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.

Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.

Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.

The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

Elsewhere in the NFL:

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CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.

Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.

Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.

It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.

Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.

Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.

It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.

Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

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Struggling Whitecaps, Timbers set to meet in MLS wild-card matchup

Published

24 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.

With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.

The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.

The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.

An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”

Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.

There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.

“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.

Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.

“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”

Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.

“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.

“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”

The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).

The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.

Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).

The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.

To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.

“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”

A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.

The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.

“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)

Wednesday, Providence Park

HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.

ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.

POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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No rugby, field hockey, badminton, triathlon or cricket at leaner 2026 Commonwealth Games

Published

24 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.

Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.

The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.

It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.

“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.

Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.

More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.

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