Great One immersed in Oilers’ run
But Gretzky arm’s-length from bench
There’s Camera 1. Camera 2. Camera 3. And Camera Gretzky. It’s been a long time since Wayne Gretzky was a Stanley Cup playoff sensation, but so far, he’s been making highlight reel after highlight reel.
Employed again by the Edmonton Oilers, the greatest player ever to play the game has been i nto t he games beyond belief.
Now partner and vicechairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group, Gretzky has been captured by television cameras time after time with a wide assortment of expressions that have been so pronounced, they keep showing up on Twitter as screen grabs.
“It’s an emotional game and I’ve always been sort of an emotional guy,” Gretzky said of his reactions caught by the cameras as he gets set for another series opening Wednesday here against the Anaheim Ducks.
“It’s exciting. Back in Edmonton, the city is on fire. The Oilers are playing with a great deal of passion. You can’t help but get caught up in that passion. That’s what it’s all about.
“This whole group has been so great. Everybody has done a great job of getting on the same page. The games are a lot of fun to watch. I’m not good at camouflaging my face. You can tell by my face if we scored a great goal, or if something really went wrong and we got scored on. I need to get one of those baseball gloves like a pitcher to hide my face behind.”
When Oilers owner Daryl Katz and vice-chairman Bob Nicholson called a news conference on opening day to announce that Gretzky was coming on board, The Great One figured it would be like this when the team made the playoffs.
“When I get into something, I’m full bore,” he said. “I’m not on the edges or outside. My emotion and my passion for this team is always front and centre, and I knew it would be like this.
“Over the last six or seven years being out of it and just watching the games, the only comparable, I would guess, would be watching Dustin,” he said of PGA golfer and son- in- law Dustin Johnson who married Gretzky’s eld- est, daughter Paulina, the girl Edmonton fans remember best for singing at the 2003 Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium.
“I get really excited when Dustin’s doing well, and it’s tough when it’s not going so great. You live and die with every shot when he’s on TV. We were at the U. S. Open tournament that he won, I left on the Sunday morning because I had to go to Australia.
“I was there from Wednesday through Sunday morning, so everybody watched him win except for me. So this year I went down to Austin, Texas, for the match play event and said ‘ I’m not leaving until I see him win.’ He was five-up with six holes to go and all of a sudden won by one- up on the last hole. I was there to see him get his trophy.
“But I knew going in that I was just going to love it. Hockey is the greatest game in the world. They’re all good kids. It’s a good organization. ( GM) Peter Chiarelli really runs a good ship. His track record speaks for itself. He won a Stanley Cup in Boston. He knows what he’s doing.
“There have been some moments where I probably didn’t look like it, but it’s been a happy time. I’m enjoying the ride. It’s been a long time.”
Gretzky has been on the charter flights, at the morning skates and all the team functions. But to say he’s involved wouldn’t be accurate from a team game- to- game point of view.
“I’m here for support. Todd’s (McLellan) the coach, and I don’t get involved in that. I think that’s interfering and I stay away from that stuff. I’m here for encouragement and to really show our support as an organization and the city, but I stay out of Todd’s way.
“Listen, he’s one of the best coaches in hockey.”
Gretzky has developed a special relationship with Connor McDavid, c onsidered by many to be the second coming of Gretzky, but doesn’t try to coach him.
“The only thing I’ve really told Connor this year was what everybody was telling me when I was 20. ‘ You’ve got to shoot more.’ I told him ‘ Everybody was telling me when I was 20 that I didn’t shoot enough. I think you need to shoot more.’
“Now, the game is completely different. It’s a faster game now. The players are stronger. Now every inch you get on the ice is something because you are fighting for every inch you can get.”