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Great talk Gretzky expresses concern over his native country
Posted: Sunday February 06, 2000 08:42 PM
By David Vecsey, CNNSI.com TORONTO -- Wayne Gretzky was typically diplomatic when discussing the government's and NHL's responsibilities toward small-market and Canadian teams, but he did make it quite clear that he supported his countrymen's outrage over the recently killed proposal to offer Canadian-based NHL teams government subsidies. "If I was making 30-grand a year and working my butt off, the last thing I'd vote for is giving guys who make $5 million a year a tax break," Gretzky said during a press conference between periods of Sunday's NHL All-Star Game. "The whole country is based on hard-working 9-to-5 parents who do the best they can to provide for their families. There's a small percentage of people making over a million. And people can't understand why people who make $5-6 million U.S. need a tax break." Gretzky said he is as befuddled as everybody else about what to do about the situation, however, and called for the commissioner's office, the NHLPA and the government to continue working together in order to keep the NHL alive in the country that made it great. As far as the on-ice state of the game, Gretzky agreed that today's NHL does lack the excitement of that of his heyday, but stopped short of calling for widespread reform or radical rule changes. In fact, his answer is simple: Get kids back out on the frozen ponds and let them use their imaginations. "The thing that the Beliveaus, the Howes and Orrs had was creativity and imagination," Gretzky said. "And that creativity was founded because as kids they were going out on the ponds for 10 hours a day. "There may be too much trapping instituted at the Pee-Wee and Bantaam levels, and that may be one of the things we have to look at." Gretzky also addressed his interests in front-office positions and/or ownership, as well as how he has had to pace himself in accepting all the accolades being offered around the league. The league retired No. 99 when he retired, but of his former teams, only the Edmonton Oilers have had an official ceremony so far. "I talked to the Rangers organization about my sweater," he said. "I felt that Mark Messier deserved to have sweater hung up before anyone else. So I'm going to wait for that. "And the LA. situation has just been a case of not having the right dates." And will Gretzky join Michael Jordan in the ownership business? "I've talked to a few teams, but it has never gotten past the point of serious discussion about when I can get involved."
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