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It was just over 10 years ago, in September 2009, that Wayne Gretzky stepped down as head coach of the Coyotes.
It feels like a long time ago already but The Great One coached four years with the Coyotes from 2005-2009, dealing with ownership instability while dipping his toes in one facet of the game he hadn’t tried his hand at yet.
Could he be back behind a bench soon?
Perhaps.
Sean Burke has approached him about coaching Canada’s entry in the Spengler Cup, Dec. 26-31 in Davos, Switzerland.
Burke, Canada’s GM for the 2018 men’s Olympic team, is Canada’s GM for the Spengler Cup squad.
“It was a nice surprise when Sean called,” Gretzky told me Tuesday. “I thanked him. I was excited about it. Team Canada is pretty special. I think the Spengler Cup is the oldest tournament that we know of. It’s a pretty nice honour. I told him I needed some time (to sort things out). The only problem for me is that it’s over Christmastime. It’s a tough decision to make.
“So, we’re talking about it and debating it,” added Gretzky. “But it’s a great honour that he reached out.”
It’s not clear yet if Gretzky can swing it, there are family plans at hand (he’s a grandfather as many know) during the holidays of course, plus other commitments, but he is certainly looking into what it would take to make it happen.
Gretzky means it when he says it’s a huge honour. Playing for Team Canada was always as good as it gets for Gretzky, from leading the 1978 world junior tournament in scoring at the age of 16, to all those memorable Canada Cup moments, to the excitement of being part of the first NHL Olympics in 1998 at Nagano (even if No. 99 was left on the bench during Canada’s semifinal shootout loss); and in retirement, of course, Gretzky was the architect of two Canadian Olympic squads in 2002 (gold) and 2006 (QF exit) plus the 2004 World Cup of Hockey entry (won the tournament) also rank up there for him in his illustrious career.
Coaching Canada, which would be a first, is an idea that I think is quite appealing to Gretzky. The Spengler Cup has a long, storied history. Everyone who has been there as a player, coach or fan raves about the tournament (I’ve never been, it’s on my bucket list).
Imagine being one of those European-based Canadian players selected to the Spengler Cup roster and finding out Gretzky was your head coach for the event? You’d be pretty jazzed, I think.
Will Gretzky be able to swing it schedule-wise? Not sure. We should know before too long, though.
Gretzky went 143-161-24 as Coyotes coach. I think it tells you something about him that he was willing to give it a try when his legacy in the game was already enshrined for life. There was no need to ever put it on the line again. But he took a risk and tried his hand at a very demanding role.
His players had to adjust to the greatest player ever being behind the bench.
“When you’re around him, even from his first day behind the bench, his passion for the game and his competitive spirit was so obvious,” TSN hockey analyst Mike Johnson, who put up 54 points (16-38) under Gretzky in Phoenix in 2005-06, said Tuesday.
“I wasn’t sure what his demeanour would be like but I was impressed how invested he was in the game, how he cared about it like we cared about it,” added Johnson. “He was all-in. I wasn’t sure how that would be since he had accomplished everything else in the game.”
Talking to the coach was also unique. I mean, it’s Wayne Gretzky, after all.
“I thought he was quite good talking and connecting to players,” Johnson said. “It was almost harder as a player because it’s Wayne Gretzky, you have to get over who you’re talking to. But he was comfortable talking to you. And he was comfortable talking about things that weren’t great in your game, too. He would let you know, either way. Which I thought was a good thing.”
Again, we’re talking the Spengler Cup, not a return to the NHL. But I think it would be fun to see Gretzky coach Canada.
saw this on The Athletic