Wayne Gretzky does not deserve the criticism he’s getting for opting not to report to the Coyotes training camp.
Memo to hockey fans in Canada, the United States, the very few that might be left or even ever existed in Phoenix, and anywhere else where Wayne Gretzky may have impacted your life:
Shut up, back off, move your hand away from the "you owe me" button, let go of those "tug on the Canadian heartstrings" cords and, most importantly, hang up on anyone calling for Gretzky to "own up" to his obligations as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, the most trampled team in professional sports.
The Great One owes you nothing. Can you understand that? Nothing. He's done his time as Canadian icon, it was wonderful, I was fortunate enough to cover virtually all of it and it was one hell of an enjoyable ride, but that was then and this is now and if Canadians insist on living through their hockey heroes, well, find a new one. The Great One's time is over.
(In a polite aside here might I suggest a kid from Cole Harbour, N.S. At 21 he's good bordering on great, he's also charismatic, polite and respectful of both the game and the people in it (except for a certain network demagogue). He's already got a Cup ring on his finger, a slew of NHL trophies and a rival, a Russian rival that all the xenophobes love to hate. What's not to like?)
Gretzky's done his time building and improving the perception of the game in the United States. True, he is still the most recognizable player the game has in a country that has never truly embraced the sport, but that's a testament to his appeal. Here's a man who has been gone from the playing ranks for a decade, more time than it took George W. Bush to screw up the world, and despite the fact that he avoids the hockey media centres, he remains the most recognizable face in the game there.
But that's a problem of America and the NHL's inability to sell the game in the post-Wayne Gretzky era and you simply can't blame Gretzky for that.
I've seen and read most of the criticism of Gretzky since he opted not to report to the Coyotes training camp during the interminable court fight for control of the failed franchise and I get it, I really do.
I understand the perception that he's "run out" on his team. I get and still believe in the concept that it should always be team first, second and third and everything else in a decidedly different place. I can even warm up to the idea that Gretzky could have and perhaps should have done better by the organization as both a coach and a managing partner by putting a little more emphasis on getting the best people available to work for the organization and not running it as a FOG (Friends of Gretzky) Program with the hiring of certain general managers, assistant coaches and consultants.
But there's a point that's being overlooked here and it's an important one: Gretzky has rights. He has a deal; a deal he committed to and did so in good faith. The deal was that he would both coach the team and help manage the franchise and he honoured that every day and to the best of his ability. Some might argue they deserved more for the money, a reported $8 million a season, but Gretzky gave what he had right up until a variety of events and personalities conspired to throw the franchise into chaos.
Jim Balsillie, the Canadian billionaire attempting to buy the Coyotes out of bankruptcy court and move them to Hamilton, Ont., is a part of that group. So too, and perhaps to an even greater degree, is the NHL. Majority team owner Jerry Moyes has a role and there may be people behind the scenes who've contributed as well, but in the bigger picture this is a fight about money, money Wayne Gretzky legally contracted for, money you can reasonably argue he deserves. True, he's getting it now, even without coaching, according to a spokesman for the club. He's getting paid apparently by both Moyes and the NHL, the two warring parties who are funding a franchise that can't begin to fund itself, but Gretzky isn't just the coach, he's a minority partner and he's still the face of the franchise. That has value and he still has a role, a powerful role in whatever happens both in the battle for control and regarding what happens after it is revamped.
He is Wayne Gretzky and neither the NHL nor the various factions fighting for control can afford to truly make him an enemy.
Gretzky knows that and I suspect that it has a lot to do with his actions. True, by staying away he actually does a service to the franchise and the players on the ice by not being a part of the daily distractions, but on a larger and more obvious level his actions are a part of the power of his persona. His staying away is about business, the business of being Wayne Gretzky and if we're truthful with ourselves would we be doing anything different?
These are tough times and, good times or bad, wouldn't any one of us use every means, legal and perhaps political, to fight for what we believe we are entitled? What Gretzky is doing is using the power of his persona to fight the fight, to make it abundantly clear to the NHL and anyone else involved with the future of the Coyotes that it would be in their best interests not to have Wayne Gretzky as an enemy.
Ice Edge Holdings, the group that dropped out of the bidding, knew that. They tried to strike a deal with Gretzky and according to some reports he was agreeable to it. If they somehow manage to purchase the team from the NHL-- should the NHL get control -- it's likely Gretzky will be an ally and not an enemy. Imagine the problems the NHL would have if they pushed Gretzky into the arms of Balsillie or left him out of hockey and with plenty of bad things to say about the people who put him out.
I've read pieces where Gretzky was compared to Dany Heatley in terms of being selfish, but I couldn't disagree more. Heatley signed a deal and then reneged on it, keeping the money but forcing his way out of Ottawa to the detriment of the Senators' new coach, his former teammates and the organization as a whole.
Gretzky signed a deal and the NHL and others have made it clear that they won't honour it once they have complete control of the team. He's not the bad guy here; he's the one who's defending his financial interests in a franchise that brought him in largely to trade on his name.
Let's be honest here, who among us wouldn't do the same?
