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.
Purchase your limited edition numbered Wayne Gretzky Wine Stopper presented in a classic branded pine box with a bottle of his award winning estate series cabernet merlot. Contact the winery today for pricing and shipping instructions. Contact Us