Trump tariffs and statehood comments about Canada stir loyalty debate about NHL great Wayne Gretzky

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky laughs as he wears his new Hockey Hall of Fame ring during his induction ceremony at the Hall in Toronto, Nov. 22, 1999. (AP Photo/Frank Gunn)

BRANTFORD, Ontario — John Davidson has difficulty remembering the last time Wayne Gretzky visited his childhood home across the street in this small city a couple hours’ drive southwest of Toronto.

The modestly plain house with a one-car garage in a quiet residential neighborhood remains in the family, but the Great One’s visits have been fewer and farther between, especially since his beloved father Walter died in 2021. The backyard ice rink where Gretzky developed his generational talent has since been replaced by a pool.

Now 85, Davidson still chases away the occasional curiosity seeker, a far cry from the days when busloads of children would pull up, or the time Wayne and his wife Janet showed up with an entourage, three limousines strong. The retired steelworker then lowered his hand to his knee to indicate how long he’s known Gretzky, before saying: “Wayne’s changed a lot since he went down to the States.”

Like many in this city of 105,000 and across a nation of 39 million, Davidson has difficulty squaring the child he once knew, the player who won four Stanley Cups in Edmonton and re-wrote the NHL’s scoring records, and the person he sees now.

At 64, Gretzky is now the subject of a once-unimaginable debate over his loyalty to his native Canada due to his ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, whose brazen comments about the nation’s sovereignty have angered Canadians.

Pictures of Gretzky celebrating Trump’s election night victory at Mar-a-Lago and attending his inauguration don’t sit well at a time Canadians face an existential crisis in the wake of rising tariffs and the president’s comments about turning its northern neighbor into a 51st state. Many find it unsettling that Gretzky is silent on the topic, even with Trump suggesting Gretzky run for office for the eventuality of becoming the nation’s governor once it joins the U.S.

“I always thought the hell out of him,” Davidson said of Gretzky. ”Hate is a terrible word. Dislike is a better word.

“It disappoints the hell out of me. And I don’t think his father would appreciate it either,” he added. “A lot of people are pissed off with him right now because he went and kissed the ring.”

Gretzky did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Associated Press for this story.

Growing up

Gretzky’s on-ice exploits remain legendary and they begin at an early age. When he was 11, he scored 378 goals and 517 points in 85 games for the atom division Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers. By 13, he had already scored 1,000 goals, and was essentially chased out of Brantford by adults — even parents of his teammates — booing Gretzky for the attention he was generating.

His parents relocated him to play in Toronto, before Gretzky made the jump to the Ontario Hockey League, where in his only full season in 1977-78 he scored 70 goals and piled up 182 points, which still ranks second on the league’s list.

Though he played on four NHL teams, ending his career with the New York Rangers in 1999, befitting his No. 99, Gretzky is best known for his 10 seasons in Edmonton, including his first when the Oilers played in the World Hockey Association. Gretzky became an icon in Alberta’s capital for the championships and attention; his marriage to American actor Janet Jones in July 1988 was called “The Royal Wedding” and broadcast live across Canada.

Brantford is dubbed “The Telephone City” for once being home to Alexander Graham Bell, but Gretzky’s influence abounds. His charitable foundation provides for numerous local causes, including Special Olympics and distributing free hockey sticks to children.

Inside the four-rink, two-swimming pool Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre is the region’s sports hall of fame, featuring a large collection of the Great One’s memorabilia. Outside is a statue of Gretzky raising the Stanley Cup with three smaller statues looking on, representing his parents and a young Gretzky wearing a Red Wings’ Gordie Howe jersey.

All this in honour of a person who has been gone for a majority of his life, and makes his home in the U.S. Of his five children, daughter Paulina is best known for her marriage to top golfer Dustin Johnson. And while the Gretzkys are a far cry from the Kardashians, there is a Hollywood shine to the family that previously served as a mild curiosity to most Canadians.

Trump and Gretzky

It’s unclear when Gretzky and Trump became friends, though it likely revolves around golf.

In the 1980s, Oilers players enjoyed occasional rounds of golf with Trump through his friendship with then-franchise owner Peter Pocklington. The relationship between Gretzky and the president likely grew stronger through Johnson, who has often golfed with Trump.

Gretzky’s ties with Trump might have raised a few curious head turns in the past, but never approached the turmoil it has reached today.

Recently, CTV reported, the face of Gretzky’s statue outside of the Edmonton Oilers arena had been smeared with feces, part of a polarizing debate that’s raised ire among his detractors and eye-rolls from his defenders.

“He’s done so many good things in both of these countries, he doesn’t need to explain himself to anybody,” said Brantford councilor Dan McCreary, whose ward includes Gretzky sports complex. He referred to Gretzky’s critics as being part of a “cancel culture” movement.

Though no fan of the president, McCreary called it “a deficit of leadership” in equally blaming Trump and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the fallout.

Not lost on McCreary is how Brantford sits in the crosshairs of the cross-border dispute. The city serves as a transportation hub — a two-and-a-half-hour drive from three border crossings — and with a manufacturing base linked to the auto industry, now facing potential fallout from U.S. tariffs.

“You might suggest that to him,” McCreary said when asked if Gretzky could put in a good word to Trump about his hometown.

Being Canadian

The effects of the trade dispute and surge in patriotism are apparent in Brantford. Grocery stores highlight Canadian-made products — from soup to nuts and maple syrup — and provincially controlled liquor stores have removed all U.S. wines and whiskeys from their shelves.

Meantime, the Gretzky name is everywhere. Bars feature signed posters. There’s a Gretzky party room in a chain restaurant around the corner from his childhood home. There’s the Wayne Gretzky Parkway, a winding five-mile, four-lane thoroughfare that’s suddenly become a sticking point.

A sense of national pride led to Kat Philp launching a petition to rename the road after Walter, who held the honorary title of Brantford’s Lord Mayor for his extensive community work.

The issue is not whose Wayne Gretzky’s friends are — “You do you,” Philp said. Instead, she feels betrayed by his failure to voice support for Canada.

“We always felt he was still Canadian. We don’t feel that way anymore,” said Philp, 50, who grew up playing hockey, attended Gretzky’s celebrity slow-pitch tournaments as a teenager and was proud in telling people she was from Gretzky’s hometown.

Pocklington, the former Oilers owner, is stunned by the backlash directed at someone he’s known since purchasing the 17-year-old player’s rights in 1978 and bringing him to Edmonton to usher in the franchise’s heyday before trading him to Los Angeles.

“Wayne is not a politician. He’s a hockey player. Period. And his heart has always been in Canada, with Canada,” Pocklington said from his home in Desert Palm, California. “I’m not sure he’d stand up in his own defense but I think he probably feels sorry for them more than anything.”

For all those defending Gretzky, including his wife Janet and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, what’s notable, too, are those who haven’t.

Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden declined an interview request, writing “This is something Wayne Gretzky needs to think through,” in an email to the AP. Canada-Russia 1972 Summit Series star Paul Henderson laughed, saying he stays out of politics. And there’s not been a peep from Mark Messier, Gretzky’s former teammate and current TV analyst.

Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek was among the exceptions as the debate over Gretzky’s legacy lingers with Alex Ovechkin closing in on the Great One’s NHL goal-scoring title.

“The whole world saw Wayne at a party at the American President’s home,” Hasek wrote in a text to the AP from his home in the Czech Republic.

“It is not surprising to me that Canadian people are asking about the attitude of a man who is a Canadian icon,” Hasek added. “To be honest, I am also interested in his attitude. He must know best why he does not express himself on this. Be sure to ask him.”

John Wawrow, The Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on trading partners are set to take effect on April 2, a day he has proclaimed as “Liberation Day” for American trade. CTV News will have extensive coverage across all platforms:

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