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.
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 annually features a who’s who of hockey heroes and the eighth camp – scheduled for March 24-29 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas – keeps the tradition alive.
Officially confirmed for Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII are the NHL’s No. 3 all-time goal scorer and Hall-of-Famer Brett Hull, former New York Rangers captain and 2009 Hall-of-Fame inductee Brian Leetch, Hall-of-Fame defenseman and Stanley Cup champion player and coach Larry Robinson and former NHL veteran defenseman and noted tough guy Marty McSorley.
Hull, Leetch, Robinson and McSorley join Wayne and additional former NHL legends and celebrities at this one-of-a-kind hockey fan 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.
More professionals and celebrities will be revealed as the camp approaches, so please check back at www.gretzky.com for the next fantasy camp 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 registration is reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. Cost for the camp is $10,999. For more information and/or to register, please visit www.gretzky.com/fantasycamp.
Don’t miss out on this chance to bring your hockey dreams to life.
So this is it. The season has come and gone. Just like that. In the blink of an eye, it’s over. It seems like only yesterday we were sitting in Montreal watching the pre-game video presentation on the jumbotron HD video scoreboard. I was moved to tears that night. It was a celebration of hockey. The season was barely underway. There was so much hockey to be played. So much hope on the horizon.
Yes, the Coyotes went out in style … winning on the road in San Jose and back at home, in a shoot out, against Anaheim. We have documented what did and didn’t happen to this team here on this blog all season. But it’s not important what I say! The purpose of this is to chronicle what the Coach has to say. We try and record and post every word that he says.
It’s amazing to witness what he goes through as not only the Coach of the Coyotes, but still as one of the faces of the NHL. Through it all he always remains consistent in what he says and in his access. He measures his words and more often that not delivers exactly what a reporter needs, and then some. We should all be so lucky in the other sports that we might cover!
So, one last sit down. A one-on-one at the conclusion of the roller coaster ride that was the 2008-2009 season. Listen below for the full the interview with the head coach, Wayne Gretzky:
Enjoy the playoffs. See you back at the rink soon.
- Todd
Article by Don Schwartz, WG Authentic / Fantasy Camp
Once a year during the Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp these two numbers on the opposite end of the sweater spectrum will share a common place.
Both numbers have been retired for all future Fantasy Camps, only to be worn on the backs of those who made them famous. ‘99’ obviously belongs to the camp’s host, but participants can no longer request to wear No. 1 either. That number now belongs to long-time camper Don Ducasse, who had his jersey retired by Wayne at the conclusion of Fantasy Camp VII.
While Ducasse’s play between the pipes helped propel his team to this past camp’s Gretzky Cup championship, the goaltender’s special recognition came from his commitment to the camp and his passion for everything that makes hockey great.
“I thought it was really sweet,” Ducasse said of his jersey retirement. “You really can’t believe that it’s real. I really can’t believe it until I hear of someone else requesting to wear No. 1 and being told ‘Sorry, you can’t have that.’ Then I’ll think, ‘Wow, this is for real.’ But it’s a nice gesture and a great honor.”
Ducasse is one of a handful of participants who have attended each of the seven Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camps. What began as an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a break from his business became a life-changing event for both himself and his wife. While the recognition at this year’s camp was appreciated, it’s been the connections made throughout the years – both with campers and coaches – that have been the real prize for Ducasse.
“At the second camp, my wife and Eddie Mio’s fiancée and her child and my kid clicked, so we ended up going to Eddie’s house for the weekend and he ended up putting us on the South Beach Diet,” Ducasse said. “My wife’s now a marathon runner. Everybody’s always amazed. They say we’ve changed the most from the camps because at that first camp we were both heavier than what we are today. But that camp kind of changed our lives and we became better and more successful. Our entire lives got uplifted by going to that camp.”
A bit of fame has even come Ducasse’s way courtesy of the Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp. The first ever camp was filmed by the Fine Living Network for a series on fantasy camps. Randomly selected by the series producers to be a featured camper, the opportunity gave Ducasse what he thought was his 15 minutes of fame; fame that has now stretched into hours, courtesy of the series’ continuing airing on cable TV and select Air Canada flights. The second camp featured a commercial filmed by Ford, which once again included Ducasse, a dentist from the Toronto area.
“I still get patients who call me up and say, ‘Gee-whiz Don, I was falling asleep on the redeye from Vancouver and I heard your voice and started watching the TV show,’” he said. “The second year I go and film a commercial with Wayne and I figure ‘Gee, I can hardly wait to go the next year to see what’s going to happen.’”
While each of the first six camps gave Ducasse plenty of lifetime memories, one moment that continued to escape him was victory. Each camp saw another team raising the Gretzky Cup in celebration – or simply holding bragging rights in those early years. He even went winless during his first camp.
Not that it ever bothered Ducasse.
“If anything, I never thought about winning,” he said. “I thought ‘I wonder what’s going to happen to me this year’ because every year something neat would happen to me. So I never really thought about winning.”
Of course, once the moment happened, the winning goaltender reflected upon some words spoken by his fellow retired jersey honoree.
“I thought about something I had read about Wayne,” Ducasse said. “A reporter had asked Wayne ‘What was it like when you won your first Stanley Cup?’ and he said ‘Well, I had won the Stanley Cup so many times before it just felt normal. Every time you played road hockey in the driveway as kids or you’re playing shinny, it was always Game 7 of the Stanley Cup and you scored and you won. You imagine it so many times that when you finally win you feel ‘Well, I’ve been there and done that.’
“Now, I never imagined winning the Gretzky Cup, but when I did win I kind of thought, ‘I guess Wayne was right,’ Ducasse added. “That you’ve gone through it in your mind so many times that you think ‘oh, that’s nice.’”
Seven years of Fantasy Camps have treated Ducasse well: memories, friendships, life-altering changes, television fame and now a championship. Is there an eighth time in his future?
“Every year, I tell Wayne, ‘Don’t do it again, I can’t afford it, quit doing it,’” Ducasse joked. “But it never really ends. You end up developing friends and contacts for life. You do see the guys occasionally. Guys do e-mail occasionally. If you embrace it and let it embrace you, it’ll change your life and give you friends for life.”
Article by Don Schwartz, WG Authentic / Fantasy Camp
So is it a good thing that your team hasn’t taken any penalties in the last couple of games, or is it a bad thing? That is the question. The answer?
Click to listen:
The other question will be answered later tonight. Can the Coyotes come with up the timely goal. The huge power play goal at the critical moment when it is needed most. The problem? Nashville has given up just one ppg in six of their last 7 games.
Check it all out tonight on AZ TV!
- Todd
This had the look and feel of one of those workmanlike road wins. The Coyotes got a goal early from Shane Doan, the 25oth of his career, and never seemed out of control of the game. The Blues looked flat. It looked like all the Coyotes needed was that second goal. After all, they scored on their first shot of the game!
They would never score again. St. Louis did … twice. Their first goal was the back breaker of all back breakers. The Blues scored from the red line on a dump in. A goofy bounce of the puck and it was in.
The Coyotes had a chance soon thereafter to get that goal back when they went on a four minute power play. You guessed it: a shorthanded goal. OUCH.
Hear Coach Gretzky’s post game:
The hole gets deeper and the trade deadline looms…
See ya in Nashville on Thursday night on AZTV.
- Todd
The Coyotes continue their road trip with a visit to St, Louis. Listen now to Wayne’s comments after practice, plus his pre-game interview:
- Todd
How about that! The Coyotes came out with jump and jam and rolled the Kings in LA to start the first of 3 straight games on the road and it couldn’t have come at a better time, The Kings had the lead for a moment or two in the second, but midway thru the period they started an onslaught that amounted to five straight unanswered goals.
Olli Jokinen finally got on the score sheet, in a big way, with a hat trick which sets the table nicely for a two game road trip to St Louis and Nashville which begins on Tuesday on AZ TV. For a bit the Coach shortened his bench to three lines and it worked.
Click to hear more from Wayne:
Is this the start of what must be a streak? We will find out in St Louis on Tuesday.
- Todd