Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has been criticized by colleagues Canadians for his apparent support from President Donald Trump.
Trump has drawn contempt from the country north to say it would become the “51st state” and initiate tariffs on Canadian goods.
Before the 4 Nations Face-off Championship between the United States and Canada in Boston, Gretzky was named Canada’s honorary captain and he received setbacks.
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Donald Trump shakes his hands with former NHL star Wayne Gretzky before leaving Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, NJ (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It got the hockey legend Bobby Orr, a colleague Canadier, to write in Toronto Sun That he was disappointed when he read criticism of someone he considers one of the “greatest Canadians ever.”
“How unclear can people be when someone who has given so much time and effort to Canadian hockey is treated in such a way,” ORR’s column said. “Listen, we all have our personal convictions as they relate to things like religion and politics. Wayne respects your right to such beliefs – why can’t you respect his?”
Janet Gretzky, Wayne’s wife, then Orr’s pillar, and she responded to social media.
“Thank you Mr. Bobby Orr. Your words mean the world to Wayne and his family, I have never met anyone who is more proud to be a Canadian, and it has broken his heart to read and see the average comments. He would do something to make Canadians proud with her love for hockey and his country,” Janet wrote in an instagram post where she shared Orr’s column.
Team USA Forward Auston Matthews, Left, and former hockey player Mike Eruzione and former hockey player Wayne Gretzky and Team Canada Tip Sidney Crosby (87) under 4 Nations Face-off Ice Hockey Championship Game in TD Garden in Boston 20 February 2025. (Brian Fluharty/Imag- Pictures)
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Janet’s post did not end the criticism.
A user commented, “You can’t be a big Canadian if you support Trump trying to destroy Canada it’s so simple.”
Another wrote, “Written from one trumps for another. If Wayne is so proud, he might have to make a public statement condemning your friend’s call to annex his homeland. Thank you would speak louder than something that a colleague -trumps could write about him.”
Trump recently said he asked Gretzky to become the next “Governor of Canada” after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would resign.
But after Gretzky expressed support to “Canada, who remained a separate country, rather than becoming a loved and beautiful 51st state,” Trump Gretzky declared a “free agent.”
“I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him. He supports Canada as it is that he should, even though it is not almost as good as it can be as part of the largest and most powerful country in the world, The Good Ole ‘US!” Trump wrote in a truth social post on Wednesday.
Center Wayne Gretzky from New York Rangers under a first name skate before the start of Rangers’ match against Florida Panthers in the Miami Arena in Miami, Fla., October 8, 1996. (Zoran Milich/Allsport)
Gretzky attended a victory for Trump’s election of 2024 after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. Gretzky was discovered wearing a maga hat shortly afterwards and participated in Trump’s initiation.
