Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player that ever played. That's my humble opinion and I'm sure it's shared my many. Each interview he gave was special. He rarely used cliches when speaking or the preferred words of today's athlete's; um or ah. When Gretzky spoke, he had things to say and they were worth listening to. He demands respect because of how he acts and what he says.
Now, I hated him for a while when he played for the Los Angeles Kings. During the '92-93 Conference final, he cut the Leafs' Doug Gilmour with a highstick and should have been assessed a 5-minute major penalty and maybe an ejection from the game. No penalty was called and Gretzky went on to play some of his best hockey in the next two games. The Kings went on to beat the Leafs in game 7 but then lost the Stanley Cup to Montreal. I resented Gretzky for not having a penalty called against him and to this day I have a big hate-on for the referee that didn't call the penalty, Kerry Fraser.
All this leads me to the point of this posting. Gretzky had no peers during his playing days. He was the greatest and he carried himself in similar fashion. He has now agreed to coach the Phoenix Coyotes, the team in which he is also part owner. I'm leery of this move because if the team does poorly under his tutelage (the Coyotes are not a great team as is), will his reputation and legend suffer? Will the fan who never saw him play only think of him as a horrible coach?
This could happen if Gretzky's Coyotes have a poor season. However, when has Wayne Gretzky never been the best at what he does? I'm hoping he succeeds. Here's to a Coyotes/Leafs Cup final with the Leafs winning ... as payback for '93.
A man can dream can't he?
Click here to see Gretzky's incredible stats.
3 comments:
Yeah, I dig what you're saying (no one likes to have their heros tarnished), but the man can't be kept in a bubble. He's young, he has something to offer -- maybe something great. Isn't in better to looking forward to seeing what he can do as a coach, despite the chance he might fail, then to see him gather dust on the pedastal you've placed him on?
You're right. Just like when he played, he'll probably see things that others can't. Moreover, I hope he stresses offensive flair over boring, defensive-minded coaching schemes.
I had no idea Ricci was in Phoenix!
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