A 100% Canadian, The Great One leaves politics to politicians

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When he first went south of the border to play for the Los Angeles Kings after the famous 1988 trade from the Edmonton Oilers, Wayne Gretzky vowed they could take the Canadian out of Canada but could not take Canada out of the Canadian.

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“I made a promise to my mom and dad, when I went to the United States, I would stay a Canadian citizen.”

Some 37 years later, he has honoured the covenant he made with Phyllis and Walter Gretzky, of Brantford, Ont.

“At the end of the day, I am Canadian,” Gretzky said in an interview Tuesday. “I never got an American citizenship, or an American passport, and I never will.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t love the United States. He does.

“I have an American wife, five American kids and seven American grandkids,” he said with a chuckle, adding he tells them while he’s proud to be Canadian, they, too, should be proud they are American.

But they all know he’s the Canadian in the house. What I didn’t know was that Gretzky was not a dual citizen since that has been widely reported.

This is “100 per cent” false.

“I can’t even use the number 99 because it’s 100% not true,” said Gretzky. “I never did that, and I never will. I am a Canadian, through and through.”

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And, as for suggestions he’s involved with anything political — with President Donald Trump or Prime Minister Mark Carney or former prime minister Justin Trudeau — that, too, is not accurate.

“It’s not my lane,” Gretzky said of the political world. “I have met pretty much every president (and prime minister) since 1980. I like to think we are friends. I don’t profess to ever tell them anything about politics.”

So, when there’s a picture of him at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago or with any Canadian political leader, it’s based more on friendship than political support.

“I’m a retired Canadian hockey player. That’s what I am. I am not a politician,” said Gretzky, adding that during his  20 years in the NHL, things were never political in the locker room. “When the Berlin wall came down, we thought it was great for the world” and that’s “about as political we we’ve ever got.”

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However, that was then-president Ronald Reagan’s greatest achievement – someone Gretzky met at the White House.

“We were at the NHL all-star game, and they told me, ‘You are going to sit beside Gordie Howe and President Reagan,’” he recalled. “I didn’t know what to do. There was four forks and knives and spoons and I said “Gordie what do I do?’ Gordie said, ‘I will follow the president and you follow me.’”

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A few years later, the all-time points leader — who on Sunday saw his long-standing career goals record fall to Washington Capital’s legend Alex Ovechkin — said the Edmonton Oilers were invited to 24 Sussex in Ottawa by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

“I said to Paul Coffey and Mark Messier, ‘Can you believe we are standing in this house?  This is incredible.’”

Photographed at the Trump’s victory party at Mar-a-Lago, Gretzky had been friends with the President long before he won last November’s election.

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“I have known President Trump since 1996 when we came to New York,” he said.

Gretzky said he and wife, Janet, met Trump 29 years ago when he joined the Rangers. Trump gave them advice on where to live and they have been friends ever since.

But when it comes to Trump looking out for United States’ interests, Gretzky said he defers to others to talk to the president about that.

“I told him many times I have no interest in politics. He knows that,” said Wayne, who talked to Trump Monday when he called looking for Ovechkin’s phone number to congratulate him. “That’s between (Trump) and the prime minister to battle out. It has nothing to do with any athletes or Wayne Gretzky . . . like I told the partner of my wine company. He didn’t tell me how to play hockey and I don’t tell him how to make wine.”

While this stance was appropriate, there definitely was some backlash from some in the public who misunderstood Gretzky’s role.

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And No. 99 said he is OK with that.

“First of all, Canadians are proud,” said Gretzky. “They defend each other. And when they are getting taken advantage of, they speak out. We protect our domain. My dad always called Canada God’s country.”

But he was surprised some questioned his loyalty to Canada.

“Yeah, it was kind of out of left field. But I understand,” he said, adding “people are very protective of their country and they should be.”

That said, “people who know me, know I am Canadian” and he was “disappointed” that some “don’t know how strong a Canadian I am.”

Don Cherry certainly knows. Bobby Orr, too. And Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

“Listen. You can’t make everybody happy in life, right,” he said. “Sometimes the facts are not true. In this point in time, the facts weren’t true.”

But he’s not angry about it or feeling any further backlash.

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In fact, he’s getting a lot of love for the way he acted when Ovechkin broke his record.

Gretzky wore a No. 9 pin to make sure everybody didn’t forget Gordie Howe, who’s record he broke all  those years ago. And like Howe’s wife, Colleen, gifted a piece of jewellery to his Gretzky’s wife, Janet passed a ring along to Ovechkin’s wife, Anastasia.

“It was a small ring with eight diamonds and said Ovi, 895,” said Gretzky.

Wayne was also remembering his wonderful mother and father in this moment who always preached for him to be a humble, classy Canadian — something he showed Sunday while representing the NHL and his country of Canada.

“To me there’s no fight,” he said. “I am Canadian. At the end of the day that’s all that matters.”

Part Two tomorrow: Wayne pays tribute to former teammate Greg Millen, recalls the time he had Soviet stars over for a beer and BBQ and how he ended up wearing No. 99.

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