Gretzky returns to NHL as centennial ambassador
Last served as coach/ owner of Coyotes
Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro met with Dunedin officials Monday night regarding proposed upgrades to the club’s spring-training facility that would help keep the franchise in the only spring home it’s ever known.
Toronto has conducted spring training in Dunedin, Fla., since its inception in 1977.
“In reality, I think it was more symbolic in nature than actually a constructive step but it was a first step,” Shapiro said during a conference call Tuesday. “It afforded the opportunity to talk about what’s most important to us in a springtraining facility moving forward.
“Everything so far has been extremely positive. I’ve been optimistic and have a positive outlook but I also would think we’re a long way from expressing it with certainty ... There’s the reality that we have a long way to go.”
The Blue Jays would like their current spring home to be upgraded into a state-of-the-art, year-round facility. Shapiro wouldn’t provide financial details or discuss time frames but did say ideally the Jays would like to secure a 25-year lease at a revamped spring home.
The reported Tuesday the Jays, city, county and state will partner to do about $81-million US in renovations and rebuilds. In return, the baseball team would agree to remain in Dunedin for 25 more years.
According to the news paper, Pinellas County would fund more than half the project, roughly $46 million. It would come from Tourist Development Council bed tax dollars raised through a six per cent tax allocated to marketing and capital undertakings.
The Jays would provide about $15.7 million with the state kicking in approximately $13.6 million and the city the remaining $5.6 million.
While he wouldn’t divulge specific figures, Shapiro did provide a similar breakdown during Tuesday’s call.
“The largest burden would be taken on by the county,” Shapiro said. “We would be second and then the state would be similar to us and the city would, obviously, be a partner both from a geographic perspective giving us a little more land and would also contribute a smaller amount.
“It’s just a proposal but we do feel good that it’s founded, it’s rational and it’s fair.”
Toronto’s current lease deal expires after next season but the
said the city hopes to have the project completed by the spring of 2019. That’s what Shapiro is hoping for as well.
“You can sit here with complete clarity know that we’re not going to be in a new facility in ‘17,” Shapiro said. “There’ll be some point during next year that we’ll have to get started or know that it’s not going to be ‘18 either ... Certainly before ‘19 would be my hope.
“The tone we tried to strike (Monday night) was one of understanding that we all have to compromise some and a partnership is going to be key to getting it done. In this case the partnership is the Blue Jays, city, county and state. (This) was the first step in asking the city commission to approve our efforts to move forward with funding proposals to both the state and county.”
TORONTO — Wayne Gretzky already planned to attend this season’s Winter Classic, all-star game and Heritage Classic, so it was a no-brainer for the Great One when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman asked him to take an official role in the league’s centennial celebration.
As the “ambassador” for the festivities, Gretzky returns to the NHL in an official capacity for the first time since 2009, when he served as part-owner, coach and head of hockey operations with the Phoenix Coyotes.
“I’ve always said this thousands of times: It’s the greatest game in the world. Everything I have in my life is because of the National Hockey League and the game of hockey. So when the commissioner called me a couple months ago and asked me if I wanted to be involved I said ‘Absolutely,’ ” Gretzky said Tuesday, sharing a stage with Bettman at Air Canada Centre.
The NHL’s all-time leading scorer, Gretzky will make appearances at various centennial events this year and next. Gretzky was already planning to attend the Winter Classic in his former NHL home of St. Louis as well as the allstar game in Los Angeles, the spot of his famed second NHL team.
He’ll also join Mark Messier, Teemu Selanne and Dale Hawerchuk for the Heritage Classic alumni game next month in Winnipeg.
“I know his love of the game and I also know his respect for the history and traditions of the game,” Bettman said. “It didn’t take a lot of discussion. There was no armtwisting.”
Since retiring in 1999, Gretzky has remained a powerful voice on current players and trends so Tuesday’s designation only made his role official, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly added.
Indeed, Gretzky opined on the World Cup of Hockey (he was a fan), Canada’s domination on the international stage, as well as generational talents like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
“I think Crosby’s the best player in the game,” Gretzky said. “I think he’s the best player because he works the hardest. Even though he’s talented and he’s got a lot of God-given talent, he’s still the hardest working guy on the ice.
“And I like Connor McDavid. I think this kid’s going to be a tremendous superstar and a great player for our sport for a long time.”
He was asked later to defend his position that Crosby and not Alex Ovechkin was the league’s best player.
The NHL’s centennial celebration will begin with the Centennial Classic on Jan. 1, an outdoor game played between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings at BMO Field in Toronto. Among the other events is an unveiling of the 100 greatest NHL players in history during all-star weekend in Los Angeles.