Fantasy Camp VIII will be held from March 24 – 29, 2010 at the Bellagio Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Teams are all set to hit the ice. Watch for exclusive video access during the Camp right here at Gretzky.com.
Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s
Imagine, if you can, being Colin Campbell these days.
Among your many tasks with the National Hockey League is the job of deciding when to levy supplementary discipline for a rule infraction.
Regardless of who that player is, and how heinous their on-ice crime may have been, immediately one of the thirty teams, and their fan base, and the media that covers them, will believe you to be a complete idiot.
If you choose to suspend that player, but only a couple of games, then the team, fans and media of the player aggrieved will also believe you to be a complete idiot.
If that player transcends his team, then more fans, and more media, will share that opinion.
As Colin Campbell, when you have had to let a number of on-ice incidents slide because of a variety of factors, then you are accused of applying a “wheel-of-justice” approach to discipline.
Regardless of the logic that you apply to each individual incident, your work as the league disciplinarian will be looked at as a whole, as the media and fans apply the auteur theory to your rap sheet.
You cannot win working under these conditions, because there is no way you’re going to come close to pleasing the majority of hockey people.
So, instead, you have to do what you think is right, what you think is just.
It doesn’t help things when you pass on slapping Matt Cooke of the Penguins on the wrist for his blind-side hit on the Bruins’ Marc Savard…and then only a week later, the league’s premier superstar, Alex Ovechkin, forces you to suspend him for a couple of games for basically a hit from behind on the Blackhawks’ Brian Campbell, on a nationally televised game between two of the league’s top teams.
It doesn’t help when the likes of Washington Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis publicly muses about the Ovechkin hit, and wonders why the NHL MVP is told to sit for a couple of games, but Cooke gets nothing. (Then again, as good an owner as Leonsis is, nothing is ever wrong with his team. Every loss can be explained. Ahh, newbies).
It doesn’t help when the chattering classes of the internet point out that your son, who plays for the Florida Panthers, will “benefit” from not having to face Ovie when they play the Capitals this week, as ridiculous a claim as there is, but some still went there (Ahh, idiots).
I don’t know about other North American sports, but it’s always amazed me how hockey fans honestly believe they each know what is best for the sport. That passion, as blind and as pig-headed as it often is, reminds me of the passion of European soccer fans. Now, we haven’t taken to the worst excesses of that species yet, though a stroll through the myriad of team-themed on-line sites may suggest those days are inching closer.
Personally, I seem to disagree with Colin Campbell on roughly a third of his calls, though all things considered, I thought the league would pass on a suspension for Ovechkin; a plausible argument can be made either way.
I also have a theory that many in the NHL, maybe even Campbell himself, like the very rough stuff, the play that goes over the line. No, they don’t want to see anybody seriously hurt, but a little ultra-violence never hurt the ratings now, did it?
What I do like about Campbell is that he sticks his chin out there after making a judgement, and stands by it. It doesn’t appear as though he sticks his finger in the air to judge which way the wind is blowing, despite what you or I might personally believe. The two-game suspension to Ovechkin might be an exception, but hey, we all answer to other people in whatever line of work we are in, so maybe his hand was forced.
Some will say that is a good thing. Some will say idiot.
The life of Colin Campbell.
- Mick Kern
Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s
We welcome walk-ins almost always, but we do have some black out dates that you should be aware of:
Thursday March 25th from 4:00pm to 8:00pm the Restaurant and Bar will be CLOSED for a private event. Please note that we do recommend that you call ahead for reservations, especially if you are coming with a larger group. See you soon!
Click here for more information on the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.
We are now accepting registrations for the 2010 Volunteer Group. The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, presented by Samsung, Canada’s only Nationwide Tour event, will be held at The Georgian Bay Club and the Raven at Lora Bay from July 8th to 11th.
A tournament is only as good as its volunteers, and that is why I am hoping you will join in making this event a huge success.
There are several committees available, such as player registration, transportation, walking scoring, and admissions to name a few. You can also get a group together (friends, golf course, charity group or sports group) and represent your group by Marshalling one or more golf holes.
We are requesting that each volunteer work a minimum of three days due to the schedule requirements of the Nationwide Tour. Each volunteer will benefit from the following volunteer package at no charge:
We invite you to join the excitement. Please feel free to spread the word and invite friends and family to join the volunteer group as we work to make the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic a success. Register Now.
Thank you!
Kelly Dixon
Volunteer Coordinator, Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic
Click here for more information on the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.
Even The Great One needs to fuel up, and when it comes to vino, he’s not averse to plugging his own vintage at the 2010 Winter Games. So when Wayne Gretzky showed up at Vancouver’s posh CinCin restaurant for a bite Friday evening, he left a heck of a calling card, reports Top Table Restaurant Group director Shelley McArthur. Full Story
Click here to register your team for the 2010 Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament
When filmmaker Kevin Smith first learned about the Gretzky family, he never imagined he would get the chance to stage a press conference with Canada’s most famous hockey dad.
On Wednesday, a dream came true, as he and Walter spoke to the press at Wayne Gretzky’s Restaurant in Toronto to announce their plans for the fourth annual Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament.
Wayne Gretzky Estate Winery was awarded Best of Show in the Assemblage Category for its 2007 Estate Series Shiraz Cabernet at the 22nd annual Cuvée wine Awards. This is the second year in a row for the wine to achieve a top score in this competitive wine category.
Gretzky Winery also was awarded gold medal designation for the 2007 Estate Series Cabernet Merlot. The gold medal designation indicates the general consensus among the judging panel that while not the top scoring wine in the category, the wine was of a superior quality level that it could win at International competition.
2010 continues to build on the success the winery experienced last year, winning top awards in 3 different national competitions in 2009. This is the third best of Show award for the Gretzky Estate Series Shiraz Cabernet in the last year alone. As an added benefit to wine fans hoping to get a bottle, the wine is being released today to Vintages stores across Ontario.
Cuvée is the annual awards competition for the Ontario wine industry, commonly referred to as the ‘Oscars’ for Ontario Wines. The red carpet gala was held Friday February 19th in the Grand Ballroom of the Fallsview Casino. The competition, judged by an independent panel of experts and Ontario Winemakers is a ‘blind’ tasting of the province’s best VQA wines.
This year, 45 winemakers tasted over 200 wines from 56 wineries to determine the winners. In addition, during the judging process, judges are asked to indicate if wines merit a Cuvée Gold designation, demonstrating international standards for excellence in quality.
Click here for more information on Wayne Gretzky Estate Winery.
The two men known respectively as “Mr. Hockey” and “The Great One” are hopeful that Team Canada can win gold at the Vancouver Olympics, but they say it will be a tough competition.
Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky spoke out about the chances for the men’s hockey team when they gathered in Saskatoon for a sports celebrity dinner Friday.
“They’ll win,” Howe said when asked for his prediction in an interview with The Canadian Press before the gala. “Unless they lose,” he quipped.
“But I think they’ve got a strong a port of hockey players.”
Howe said he saw the team practise and thought they were very good.
“They’ve got some of the elderly statesmen who have been around the game for a while and if that rubs off on the younger ones they’ll be doing fine.”
Gretzky’s prediction came before a crowd of more than 1,200 people at the dinner where Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a well-known hockey historian, refereed a conversation between “The Great One” and “Mr. Hockey.” Gretzky said the game will come down to two things.
“One, goaltending. I always told Marty Brodeur ‘You don’t like hearing this Marty but the pressure’s on you’ and he would always tell me ‘I know.’ Secondly, if your best players play at the calibre they’re capable of playing at under high scrutiny then they’ll be fine,” said Gretzky.
Gretzky said Team Canada is a favourite to win a gold medal, but unfortunately will play against some tough teams, including the Russians, the Czechs, the Swedes and the United States.
“Competition’s going to be great and I think it’s going to be exciting and I think it’s going to be great for the country. Hopefully we’re in that gold medal game and get a chance to win gold again.”
“It is our game. It is our country,” said Gretzky.
“This will be the one place in the world that come February 28th will shut down in the afternoon so everybody can watch a hockey game and you just don’t get that in any other country.”
The 40-minute long conversation with Howe and Gretzky was like a dream for hockey fans as the men talked about the future of the game and its past. Gretzky recalled that he was 10-years-old when he first met Howe, his hockey idol. The men would later face off on the ice.
“The first game we played I was 17-years-old and I remember skating around the warmup and thinking ‘Oh my goodness I’m playing against Gordie Howe,”‘ said Gretzky.
“Gordie was over there and he was looking at me, he was winking to me and he was telling me ‘Good luck.’ So the first shift I go down and I lifted his stick up and I got the puck and I’m going back the other way and he came down the ice and he gave me a whack in the hand and I went ‘Oh my goodness.’ And he got the puck and he went back the other way.”
“I said ‘I’m never taking the puck from him again.’ That was it,” laughed Gretzky and the crowd.
Toward the end of the conversation, Harper asked the men about their worst or toughest moment in their long hockey careers.
“My first punch on Rocket’s nose,” joked Howe. “No, not really. I think Rocket was mad at me. I beat him at golf.”
Howe said in the interview that he’s too old to skate for Team Canada now, but joked that “maybe” the team can win without him.
“I hope they do,” said Howe. “If they play well and everything falls in line they’ll do it. If they don’t they should be respected for the effort they’re putting in.”
Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII announces that Hall of Fame forward Denis Savard is the latest legend of the game to be confirmed for the camp, set for March 24-29 at the Bellagio hotel and resort in Las Vegas. Learn More
Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII announces that Hall of Fame forward Denis Savard is the latest legend of the game to be confirmed for the camp, set for March 24-29 at the Bellagio hotel and resort in Las Vegas. Savard – a 17-year NHL veteran and All-Star with Chicago, Montreal and Tampa Bay – joins fellow Hall of Famers Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Larry Robinson, as well as noted tough guy Marty McSorley, as former professionals joining Wayne and other celebrities at this one-of-a-kind hockey experience.
Attendees at Fantasy Camp VIII not only get to skate alongside these greats of the game, but also have plenty of off-ice opportunities to mingle with these professionals and hear stories and tales that any hockey fan would treasure. Additional professionals and celebrities will be revealed as the camp approaches, so please check back at www.gretzky.com/fantasycamp for the next announcement.
In addition to the on-ice action, Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII also features five days of luxury hotel accommodations, hockey equipment, fantasy camp apparel, special gifts and entrance to VIP events, such as an opening cocktail reception, closing ceremony and a private poker tournament. Space is limited and filling up quickly. Cost for the camp is $10,999. Click here for more information and/or to register.
Don’t miss out on this chance to bring your hockey dreams to life.