Is Wayne Gretzky still a Canadian hero?

For more than four decades, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has been celebrated as a national hero across Canada, with statues, arenas and freeways named in his honour. 

However, Gretzky's public alliances with U.S. President Donald Trump in the midst of the president's tariff-induced trade war with Canada has caused many hockey fans to disown the man they once called "the Great One." But will this political moment be strong enough to permanently alter Gretzky's place in our national history?

Today on Commotion, author Karl Subban, sportscaster Tara Slone and podcaster Paul Myers join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to reflect on the legacy of one of Canada's greatest icons.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Karl, not only are you a longtime hockey fan, but you're also the father of three NHL players — P.K., Malcolm and Jordan. Tell me what Wayne Gretzky has represented to you and your family.

Karl: We've had this dream and the dream really was for my boys to play in the NHL. Maybe I had it, then they sort of took ownership of it, you know? I saw Wayne Gretzky play at the Sudbury Arena.… He made this move on this defenseman; I think that d-player is still looking for his skates, OK? He captured us at that time, and he's captured the attention of so many Canadians. I met Walter Gretzky at one of the tournaments that P.K. was in, and he awarded P. K. player of the game. That photo is in my book, How We Did It. I've been referred to as "the ultimate hockey dad," and I look at people and say, "No, there's only one. That's Walter Gretzky."

Elamin: Karl, what you're getting at is there's a place that Gretzky occupies in the national imagination of people. And that wasn't just a thing that happened on the ice…. Tara, what was the key to Gretzky's popularity not just on the ice, but off the ice as well?

Tara: I think that he was very Canadian, you know? This Brantford kid, this sort of everyman … who has this superhuman talent. And so the juxtaposition of the two, I think, just captured our imagination. But then he is this Canadian kid who's done so well. He's painted by Andy Warhol. He has this Hollywood wedding. But really what he did, obviously, on the ice was at the time very much superhuman — and not to be forgotten, he also led a dynasty too, right? Which is something that actually Alexander Ovechkin doesn't quite have under his belt. The Oilers as a whole were sort of part of that great mythology.

Elamin: Right, because you require something like a dynasty to build a mythology. You can't be a one-off kind of thing. You build a story. 

Tara: I think so.

Elamin: Well, the story shifted a little bit because we went from 7-Up commercials and Stanley Cups to … a CBC News report from last month in Edmonton. Gretzky's statue was vandalized with what smelled like feces. That happened after months and months of public criticism at Gretzky for aligning himself with Trump, especially during the trade war, especially during all this talk of annexation threats. 

And then there was that moment, Paul, when at the 4 Nations hockey tournament in February, Gretzky gets selected as honorary captain of Team Canada, comes out, does not wear any team colours, then was seen giving the thumbs-up to the U.S. bench. Paul, how are you processing all that has happened in the last few months?

Paul: Well, I mean, the elephant in the room here is that I'm in the United States as a Canadian working in California. There's an old saying that nothing's more Canadian than an expat Canadian living somewhere else. And so I have a Canadian flag in my office. I have a clay Mountie in our dining room. We are cliché Canadians abroad. 

And when you see stuff like this and you hear it's Wayne Gretzky — of course, the first thing was when he appears with a MAGA hat and he's showing up at Mar-a-Lago — you're like, I don't really care what people's politics are. I may disagree with them, but he's allowed to do that. But then in that moment when there's a sovereignty issue, and when you were raised by the Canadian system — I mean, we all grew up with Walter Gretzky. Like, he was Canada's dad — until you, sir.

Elamin: Yeah, I was gonna say, Canada's dad to me is Karl Subban. But go on.

Paul: I'm there. But yeah, then it just felt like when that moment happens … nobody owes us anything, right? No celebrity owes us anything. But it would have been super nice, to use Canadian language, it would have been super kind of him to give us the thumbs-up. I mean if Elon Musk can speak up about the tariffs, and he's on that team, at least Wayne could have said, "Hey, hands off Canada, eh?" You know? I mean, that's what I was thinking.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman.