‘Good for him’: Gretzky supports Canada Prime Minister Carney’s stance on Russia World Juniors ban
The overturning of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s ban of Russian participation continues to be the dominant topic in the hockey world, especially with the first tournament already around the corner in the 2027 World Junior Championship in Alberta.
So as Wayne Gretzky met with the media on behalf of Upper Deck to announce a new partnership between the two, with Gretzky now a legacy partner with the trading card company, it felt inevitable for one of the faces of Canadian hockey to weigh in on the subject.
“Nobody likes war, right?” Gretzky said to the media. “We definitely don’t want to see this. We hope it ends. We wish it didn’t start. I understand the stance the Prime Minister has taken, and good for him. He’s made that stance and he’s made it clear, and I think a lot of the players and the people of Canada feel the same way.”
This comes just days after Canadian prime minister Mark Carney announced that Russia and Belarus will be barred from competing in Canada as long as the war between Russia and Ukraine is ongoing. The federal government said in a statement released on Tuesday that they would use all of their immigration powers to prevent Russian and Belarussian athletes and officials from entering Canada, particularly if competing under their national symbols.
Gretzky has unique ties to the conflict considering that he has ancestorial ties to Ukraine. Along with a mix of Polish and Belarusian roots, Gretzky has heritage from Ukraine, as his paternal grandmother is from Ternopil Oblast.
However, the topic is also of particular interest with Gretzky due to his well-known and controversial relationship with American president Donald Trump, who also has close ties with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. Considering all that, it wasn’t exactly a given that Gretzky would back a more politically center-leaning prime minister in Carney.
“Your friends are your friends, right?” Gretzky said when asked about Trump. “People can have their own opinions, that’s what life is all about, and you just take it with a grain of salt. People are entitled to what they believe in and what their opinions are, simple as that. My dad always told me, you treat people how they treat you, and that’s how I live life.”
Gretzky had spoken to the media with Upper Deck at the Ford Performance Center on Friday, announcing not only a partnership as a legacy member with the brand, but also to announce the renaming of the Hockey Hall of Fame resource center at the facility, which will now honour his late father Walter as the Walter Gretzky Upper Deck Resource Center.