Heroes Fall The Hardest

Wayne Gretzky wears a MAGA hat

For the second time in his lifetime Wayne Gretzky has effectively thrust a dagger through the hearts of Canadians, although you could make the argument that he wasn’t entirely responsible for this the first time, when he was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles in the summer of 1988.

That moment broke Canada because of what it meant to us as a nation. We all worried that someday Gretzky would outgrow Canada and on August 9th, 1988 that fear became reality. It burst a delusional bubble for our national psyche. We all knew that one day, it might happen and, well, it did.

Gretzky, of course, knew this was in the works and, from purely a rational perspective, it kind of made sense. How could a small market team like Edmonton ever hope to hang onto the greatest player the game has ever seen?

Janet and Wayne Gretzky's Canadian "Royal" Wedding

Less than a month after Gretzky’s royal wedding (to American actress Janet Jones) he was gone. Captain Canada had been sucked up by the American commercial behemoth and it felt like a betrayal, with simple economics carted out as a convenient scapegoat.

That ancient betrayal however, pales in comparison to his second, most recent, indiscretion and this time it doesn’t feel like something that will simply heal with the passage of time. By implicitly supporting Donald Trump and his vitriolic disregard and disrespect for Canadian autonomy, Gretzky has inadvertently and unintentionally chosen a side, and it isn’t Canada.

The fact that he has yet to publicly speak out against Trump’s tariff attacks and his expansionist plans, Gretzky has essentially said so much by saying absolutely nothing.

Given the immense blowback he’s faced from Canadians during this crisis, you’d think he’d want to do some damage control but then you have to wonder if his silence is deliberate. Not to say that he doesn’t still feel pride for his home country but he’s fully aware that if he is to say something truly meaningful, he knows full well that someone will be pissed off. Instead, he has thus far opted to let the court of public opinion make its feelings known. And it has.

Perhaps that’s his strategy. To simply weather the storm by laying low and staying silent although he could argue that these are remarkable times we’re living in, and what’s needed most of all at this moment is some rational sensibility although he’s foolish to think that that will come from the mercurial Donald Trump.

Leave it to his wife to bleat out a limp and tone deaf response in defense of her husband, where she cites that “it has broken his heart to read and see the mean comments” even though it fails to address the immeasurable number of hearts he has inadvertently broken by staying silent. And the fact that it’s his wife doing the talking only emboldens the notion that Gretzky’s trying to play both sides.

There will be those who will excuse this situation as the result of the precarious intersection between celebrity and politics, as if the two should always remain separate yet that completely disregards the time period we live in.

While a celebrity may have had the luxury of being able to hide such indiscretions or conflicts of interest in the past, we now live in the world of transparency and who you are and what you think actually matters. If you live in the public eye know full well who you are and what you believe in is also for public consumption.

While he may have gained notoriety by playing a sport, his public image is not immune to criticism. This doesn’t - and shouldn’t - diminish his sporting legacy, it sure as hell can affect what people think of you. I, for one, appreciate knowing who people are and what they stand for.

Just ask Bobby Orr, who has faced the same type of backlash for vigorously (and very publicly) supporting the same President over the years. Orr, unsurprisingly, recently penned an op-ed in the Toronto Sun defending Gretzky.

Orr wrote: “How fickle can people be, when someone who has given so much time and effort to Canadian hockey is treated in such a way. 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?”

Bobby Orr endorses Trump.

Orr’s point quickly loses steam though when his birth country’s autonomy is under attack, and using the tired argument about personal choice would only work if the stakes weren’t as high as they are.

Instead of chastising Canadians about their criticisms of Gretzky’s version of patriotism I would ask Orr where the hell is his and, by that, I mean both of them. At a time when Canada is reeling and craves unanimity and prominent voices of support, your response is to attack the attacked?

Janet Jones Gretzky, in the same post defending her husband, concluded by saying:. "He would do anything to make Canadians Proud, with his Love for Hockey and his Country."

Really? Well, then he needs to say something.

******

It's over.