Here’s a Concept why don’t Canadian Gretzky slurpers wipe the Jizz off their chin before writing about him !!!

He was a HORRIBLE COACH & hired a bunch of his Buddies to jobs at astronomically high salaries & even hired his agent to be GM of the Coyotes & Barnett was a utter Failure

He is as much to blame as anyone for Phoenix being in the Position they are in, But with having your head so far up Wayne ‘s ass that when he eats they Burp They can’t see it

Posted by Evilpens on 11/05/09 at 12:08 PM ET

+1…

Getting tired of all the Gretzky love.  Yes he legend as a player is unquestionable… but he is a terrible coach and should have canned himself a long time ago.

Course all the media wonkers are now having the same love fest for Crysby… so you can’t win.

Posted by givermang on 11/05/09 at 12:32 PM ET

No matter how you cut it there has never been a market for hockey In Phoenix. Gretzky may not have been great as a coach, but not even he could conjure up a market that never existed to begin with.

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 11/05/09 at 12:44 PM ET

ANSWER:

Who cares?

Posted by Primis on 11/05/09 at 12:52 PM ET

The article was written for a Canadian audience.  A high percentage of that readership are interested in Gretzky, particularly in light of what happened, or didn’t, in Phoenix.

Take the time to consider both the source and the intended audience before publicly displaying your ignorance.

After all that, if you still don’t care, well, good for you.  Do you imagine most people care that you don’t care?

And on that note, I have to agree that there is a Gretzky overload up here in Canada.  There has been arguably since 1978.

Consider these factors, though.  We are a relatively small country population-wise.  Hockey is truly a major part of our culture, though it’s a stretch to suggest that all Canadians give a damn about the game.  Nonetheless, enough do.  It’s practically a daily presence in our news, never mind the sports section, something it will never be in most of the States.

And Gretzky remains the biggest name this small country has ever produced.  As such, anything connected to him is newsworthy.  Even when it shouldn’t be.

In the age of the internet, national borders are easily erased.  So you get stuck reading articles not “meant” for you…though really, you don’t have to read them.

Posted by Mick kern from Toronto on 11/05/09 at 02:09 PM ET

Foolish names and foolish faces often appear in public places.

Posted by mike from austin on 11/05/09 at 02:42 PM ET

I tend to agree with Evilpens although not in his angry spirit. Had the Coyotes been in the playoffs during any of Coach Gretzky’s years they might have had a strong following but instead the overpaid losing coach help sink the team.  The team didn’t have money to pay their bills and Gretzky made $7 million a year, sorry if I don’t feel Gretzky’s pain. As a Canadian living in Florida I find the Canadian sports media really lacking in knowledge when it comes to hockey outside of the Canadian teams. I watch Center Ice and read Canadian media and some of these Canadian hockey journalists are a joke, they really are uninformed about American teams. Not all but a good majority are very ignorant but I get a good laugh and shake my head wondering how they got the jobs they have.

Posted by Bo from FL. on 11/05/09 at 02:46 PM ET

A note to Mick kern , I would disagree with you. The biggest name Canada has ever produced is Neil Young. More people world-wide know Neil Young than Wayne Gretzky.

Posted by Bo from FL. on 11/05/09 at 02:56 PM ET

Bo, agreed.  There is a almost a pride in parts of the hockey media up here to practically ignore the States-based teams.

Though I should clarify that; my observation has been that most of that willful ignorance is on part of local media, not national.  The writers for, say, the Hockey News, or the Globe and Mail are as informed as anyone in the media anywhere.
And again, remember who these different media serve.  Much like this fine website, which has a high level of Detroit Red Wings’ supporters, these reporters write for who’s paying the freight.

The breakdown thus blame game due to Gretzky’s salary is not completely accurate.  His renumeration was not the reason the team is in trouble, obviously As they say, the optics are bad, but Gretzky was a partner in this team, was he not?  I think so, not sure anymore.

Regardless, he got a lot of breaks about his coaching from the established hockey media on both sides of the border.

Posted by Mick Kern from Toronto on 11/05/09 at 03:01 PM ET

NEIL YOUNG!!!!

You are correct in that statement, good sir.  Though I bet a lot of those people think of him as an American.  Man, he’s been down there forever.

Gretzky is the same way.  Seems to be the Canadian dream.

Make it big, leave for the States.

The list is endless.

Posted by Mick Kern from Toronto on 11/05/09 at 03:03 PM ET

The article was written for a Canadian audience.  A high percentage of that readership are interested in Gretzky, particularly in light of what happened, or didn’t, in Phoenix.
Take the time to consider both the source and the intended audience before publicly displaying your ignorance.

Saying this is a Canadian thing and Americans should ignore it is bogus. Both countries are part of the same league, what Canadian media says about hockey in the US does matter, because it affects decisions and perceptions. Americans are sick and tired of the disdain presented towards our support and love for the game by a good share of Canadian writers. We all get Center Ice and the internet, we get to see the provinicialism for the game that comes from up north. Duhatschek is not some obscure beat writer from Thunderbay. The fact that very little if any media from Canada has discussed the negative impact that Wayne had on the Coyotes and how that lead to the bankruptcy does deserves criticism. 

We have endured months of trashing of sunbelt teams by the Canadian media, then to have this melodrama about Wayne’s money, it is more than many fans here can stomach.

Posted by Timbits on 11/05/09 at 10:45 PM ET