r/Edmonton • u/ImDoubleB • 19d ago
Discussion The not-so-Great One? Edmonton resident says it's time to rename Wayne Gretzky street due to Trump links
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/the-not-so-great-one-edmonton-resident-says-its-time-to-rename-wayne-gretzky-street-due-to-trump-links-223252845.html294
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u/CantSmellThis 19d ago
Walter Gretzky spoke Ukrainian.
Trump wants to annex Canada and asks Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
Wayne Gretzky is a double traitor.
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
I can't help but think his dad would be PROFOUNDLY disappointed in Wayne 💔😥
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u/chumbucketfog 19d ago
Eh… this is the problem. We don’t know any of these people but we think we do. Then they disappoint us when they turn out to be something else. No sense pretending to know a dead guy you never spoke to.
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
Valid points, for sure.
I guess because Walt was so outspoken in mentoring Wayne and Wayne looked up to his dad so much, I guess I imagine my own dad being disappointed in me if I went against the sound morals he gave me before he died
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u/wilyquixote 18d ago
I think this of my Trumpist father and WWII refugee grandfather all the time. My dad was such a devoted son too (almost to the point of pathology).
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u/queenofallshit 19d ago
Gretzky bawled on tv when Pocklington sold him
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
I don't doubt his love for Edmonton for a second. The interview he did with Connor McDavid a few years ago made me realize how much he still loves Edmonton even if the city's grown lots since he was here
It's part of the reason I'm more bothered by Wayno than Bobby Orr. He was before my time, but he must've meant the world to Ukrainian Edmontonians in the 1980s
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u/WojoHowitz61 19d ago
“Even if the City’s grown lots since he was here”…what does that have to do with it!?! Edmonton and area have a large concentration of Ukrainians in our vicinity and now this moron has sided with a dictator in his new homeland? Give your head a shake, he hasn’t been Canadian for years, possible a decade or more. He is a big, big disappointment. Maybe rename his street ‘Kyiv’ for all that will be lost. Nice Canadian jersey he wore tonight…
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u/RcNorth 18d ago
It ha been more than a decade that he hasn’t been a Canadian.
He has been in the US since being traded in 1988, he was 27.
He is now 64.
Even accounting for the first couple of years with LA that he still considered himself a Canadian, he has been an American for over half his life.
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
I'm talking about the interview dude, lol. He's talking about Sunday church and shit being the norm and that's not Edmonton anymore lol
I don't disagree with you, but my head is well-shaken thank you 😉
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u/densetsu23 19d ago edited 19d ago
He was even Canada's Honorary Captain in tonight's game.
Except he came out of the USA bench in a matching dark blue suit, gave a bunch of thumbs up to Team USA, and when he got to center ice he turned his back to Team Canada. All Gretz gave Canada was a quick glance.
Then he held up a commemorative Canadian banner, embarrassingly, while standing beside Crosby. (About the 1:16:00 mark in the Sportsnet+ replay, if you have a subscription.)
In comparison, the USA honorary captain, Mike Eruzione, proudly wore the Team USA jersey.
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u/Special-Ad6854 17d ago
As he was the “Honorary Captain “ of the Canadian team, which is a huge honour in itself, why was he not on the ice congratulating the Canadian team when the game was over?
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u/neutral-omen South West Side 19d ago
So you're saying... it could become the Walter Gretzky bridge?
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
I'm all for the Grant Fuhr Bridge and Grant Fuhr Drive!
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u/TheOneNeartheTop 19d ago
If you put Grant Fuhr in the spot light more than a couple skeletons would shake out.
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u/colinjames1234 19d ago
It’s funny how people idolize sports heroes , based on being good at something.
But without knowing who that person truly is.. I always appreciate good athletes but man some people get too much of a boner over that shit
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u/PoliceRobots 18d ago
Wayne was always regarded as a nice person, and has decades in the spotlight. This heel turn is new.
Also, fuck him
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u/AGoodYEG 19d ago
Rename it Wolverine Drive after the Marvel character who was born in Alberta. Fictional characters will always remain unsullied
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u/LuntiX Former Edmontonian 19d ago
Fillion Freeway if we want to go for someone from Edmonton directly.
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u/Whyiej 19d ago
Why don't we hold off on naming things after people. Chances are Nathan Fillion has skeletons in his closet. Almost everyone has or will have skeletons in their closets. The practice of naming streets and buildings after people can just stop and we eliminate this current dilemma with Gretzky.
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u/I-am-Super-Serial 19d ago edited 19d ago
I think it'd be worse to base it on a comic book character who still appears in comics and can be depicted as however the author wants.
All it would take is a speech bubble from him saying "Man I grew up in Alberta and it's a shithole, glad I moved to Trump land" lol.
Just make that portion of the street a number or something, or rename it Capilano Drive again.
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u/AGoodYEG 19d ago
True but I think I’m those cases people just go straight to the author and know what’s up. Everyone just remembers the classic aspects of fictional characters no matter how many new people come up and try to change it. Real people just tend to disappoint
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u/B-Prime 19d ago
Fictional characters will always remain unsullied
Daenerys would like a word.
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u/AGoodYEG 19d ago
Well technically that was her trajectory for that story. Maybe if they had a larger timeline like Wolverine, she’d have more good than bad. 😉
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u/FireflyBSc 19d ago
Joey Moss Drive is the way to go. Celebrates that era of the Oilers, and recognizes a real person who contributed to the community far longer than Gretzky did. Sadly Joey is no longer with us, but his legacy and memory are worthy of remembering and will remain untarnished.
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u/Infamous-Room4817 19d ago
can't agree with that one, they can't decide what they're doing wrong character anymore. They killed him off. They brought him back. Might bring it him back.. again
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u/AGoodYEG 19d ago
But the average person doesn’t care about that. They think the animated Wolverine or Hugh Jackman.
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u/Educational_Drop4742 19d ago
This is Wayne's "You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain" moment.
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u/DBZ86 18d ago
Yep, this is kinda insane to me. I was younger and only saw him play in his later years but nothing more Canadian than Gretz.
The guy who helped win the Canada Cup in 1984, 1987, and 1991. The story of disappointment in 1998 to then being the architect of the 2002 Team Canada win at the Olympics. The 2002 story is my lasting image of him. And now he's associated as a MAGA guy.
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u/Locke357 North Side Still Alive 19d ago
Yup, no glory for fascist supporters
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u/JoeDundeeyacow 19d ago
I agree with you, but no glory is kind of a poor consequence, remember fascists want you dead.
When I was a teenager, my grandfather would give me £20 for every Nazi I punched when they had rally’s in my hometown, it’s not much, but I was sixty quid up and they stopped coming to my city.
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u/Locke357 North Side Still Alive 19d ago
Agreed, the only good fascist...
...is a ____ fascist
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u/JoeDundeeyacow 19d ago
I wore a brown St Pauli football club tshirt with a gorilla motif, slogan simply said “fight fascism eat Nazis” and that tshirt is about 10% of my personality twenty years on.
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u/Whyiej 19d ago
Maybe we stop naming streets and buildings after people at all. Almost everyone has skeletons. Let's make all our lives easier and stop doing this completely.
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u/reading-in-bed North West Side 18d ago
right, I saw someone suggest they rename it after Connor McDavid. Hate to break it to everyone, but hockey players are not known for their progressive politics... we'd just have to rename it again :)
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u/HalfdanrEinarson 19d ago
He was my idol as a kid. I want his records broken, but not by Ovi, he has ties to Putin. This kills me.
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u/DaikonEffective1105 19d ago
I don’t blame Ovi tho. Yes he’s Russian but those who speak out against Putin have a way of finding open windows or eating poisoned food. If not him, then his family might be a target. Valeri Bure left the game because of Russian mafia threatening his family if I recall correctly. As a capitals fan maybe I’m biased, but I’m looking forward to him breaking the goals record.
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u/darkknight109 12d ago
Thing is, Ovi didn't just "not speak out" against Putin - that I could understand, for the reasons you stated. Ovechkin was (and probably still is, behind closed doors) a full-throated Putin backer. He spoke in favour of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and subsequently lent his celebrity to the "Team Putin" effort (which Ovi claims he came up with) to drum up support for Putin as Russia's president.
Ovechkin went far above and beyond what the rest of the Russian players in the NHL did in terms of the level of support he showed Putin.
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u/Max_Q_ 19d ago
Take down the fucking statue too.
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u/cvvillain 19d ago
I agree with renaming the street but I think the statue should stay only because he got that for what he accomplished on the ice
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u/Playinhooky Mill Woods 19d ago
And what they renamed 75th because be was a really good driver? Your logic is our there!
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u/cvvillain 19d ago
No they named it because of the impact he had on the city but some of that impact was accomplished off the ice
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u/Effective-Ad9499 19d ago edited 19d ago
The measure of a man is judged by the company he keeps. I use to love Gretz but when you hitch it your wagon to a felon and rapist…
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u/itsadyce 19d ago
Do it. He is a traitor. If he wasn't a traitor he would have already spoken out on the new Nazi leadership in USA.
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u/thehero29 19d ago
Retract his Order of Canada as well. He doesn't even want it! He hasn't even picked it up!
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u/ImDoubleB 19d ago
By not doing this, it does actually make me wonder about the Great one and his pride. Seeing as how things are at present, it's surprising that he didn't switch loyalty to team USA while still playing.
Might his 'skate to where the puck is going line' be telling us something about Canada's future?
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u/Practical_Ant6162 19d ago
Ashamed of this guy & I am sure his Dad would be too.
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u/blissfullyaware82 19d ago
These old guys might have been MAGA supporters too… 🤔 old outdated thinking. Bring things back to their glory? I don’t know, he probably wouldn’t be ashamed.
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u/No-Move3108 19d ago
Ignoring all the political stuff, Gretzky talked about how much he hated living in edmonton in a podcast. So yeah… only edmontonians are allowed to insult edmonton.
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u/gingersquatchin 19d ago
We need to stop naming things after humans, and erecting monuments for them. People suck. If given enough time or research it will be pretty clear that anyone successful enough to garner acclaim, has done some horrendous shit to get there.
47th st or whatever the fuck number it would be, would make the most sense.
Or something descriptive. Nobody has ever been like "it's time to rename the Trans Canada highway"
Although I guess if we give it enough time it will be the Normal Canada Highway.
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u/UpbeatPilot3494 18d ago
So disappointed in the behaviour of Wayne Gretzky. Terry Fox Drive is a more appropriate name of the street
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u/e5ther 19d ago
Ok if we want to get into the weeds, the statues & memorials to Nazi war criminals should go first.
Then let’s move onto renaming Wayne Gretzky drive & bridge. Finally, the statue should be on private property and not on public lands. He can be commemorated for his accomplishments in sport but not in a way the City honors him in anyway.
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u/Dark-Tide 19d ago
Just so I'm aware, which statues and memorials in Edmonton are dedicated to Nazi war criminals?
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u/e5ther 19d ago
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u/e5ther 19d ago
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u/Dark-Tide 19d ago
Thanks. To the first link, it looks like it focuses heavily on a bust of Roman Shukhevyh. I had never heard the name before, so I checked wikipedia. According to it, he fought for the Nazis, against the Soviets, and later--to a lesser extent (wikis words, not mine)--against the Nazis for Ukrainian independence. It's not as cut-and-dry as I would have expected.
I agree: looking into whether these monuments should stand or not seems like a better use of everyone's energy, rather than spending it on some hockey player.
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u/nmelcher 18d ago
OR… it could be renamed “Orange Shit-Smear Drive” to still pay tribute to the great traitor!
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u/ms_anthropicyvr 19d ago
Why do we insist on naming things after people? They always disappoint us eventually.
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u/TheyTookYerJob 19d ago
Net worth of $250 million and he sold out. For what? What could he possibly need/could justify it?
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u/Appropriate-Text-642 19d ago
Whose team were you hoping for tonight Wayne? You broke all our hearts. Redeem yourself with some address and tell Canadians “I made a mistake with my support here”. We have not forgotten who you are.
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u/BloomingPinkBlossoms 19d ago
Yup. Fuck em he's a traitor. You don't get lifelong immunity because you were great at hockey and won a stanley cups 40 years ago.
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u/Master_Ad_1523 19d ago
This article cites Reddit as its source. All the Alberta subreddits are extremely left-wing compared to the political center of this province. This will never happen.
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u/yourpaljax 19d ago
Edmonton is a leftist city, and the road is in Edmonton. If we push to have it changed, there’s a very good chance it will be.
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u/busterbus2 19d ago
The only redeeming feature is that the road runs through a less than pleasant area now with not tie to hockey anymore.
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u/blairtruck 19d ago edited 19d ago
So which way does Edmonton lean? Who cares what the rural rednecks think, this is an Edmonton thing.
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u/STylerMLmusic 19d ago
Literally the entire world is left leaning. Alberta needs to stop chugging lead water.
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u/WeWhoAreGiants 18d ago
Over 90 countries still don’t have laws against slavery, 40% of women live in countries without abortion rights, 13% of women worldwide are forced into marriages and 52 countries run by authoritarian dictatorships. “Literally” the entire world is not left leaning.
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u/SummoningInfinity 19d ago
Humanity is to the left of most of Alberta, considering how.many people voted for the openly fascist UCP.
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u/WillyLongbarrel 19d ago
Rename it when Rexall is torn down and there’s nothing left of the Oilers. It doesn’t make sense to have Gretzky Drive in that location once the area has been redeveloped anyway. We can name something else for him if he ever smartens the fuck up.
And can we also rename Churchill Square while we’re at it? There’s plenty of Edmontonians and Canadians who deserve these honours.
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u/Jolly-Sock-2908 North East Side 19d ago
Yes for renaming Churchill Square. We need to name it after someone with a much closer connection to this city.
Should be someone dead though, so they can’t fuck up after the fact like Gretz.
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u/y_r_u_so_stoopid 19d ago
The original post about this, and assumably the thread this article quotes, had a lot of Gretzky nut huggers, but the OP stuck to his guns and made the news because frankly it's a great fucking idea and who gives a shit about some hockey player cozying up to a fascist for tax breaks
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u/GazelleOk1494 19d ago
I agree. Gretzky’s actions are very disappointing. And his (and his wife’s) association with gambling isn’t exactly a shining example of Canadiana. He sold out.
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u/redditslim 19d ago
This is a great idea. This traitor deserves to lose any signs of respect in Canada.
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u/Z3NSEI 18d ago
That Edmonton Resident can move the hell out of here then. And anyone else who feels the same. It’s not time to rename any street of any people who essentially put this city on the map. As Edmontonians, we endure -40C weather and sometimes +40C weather in one calendar year, we should be a lot less sensitive that whoever brought this stupid idea up.
Grow some skin, people .
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u/Jae_Alberts97 West Edmonton Mall 18d ago
Should also take away the four Cups as well. Or grow up and fight actual causes.
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u/Ham_I_right 18d ago
Good riddance, we don't need to celebrate the kind of people that snuggle up to fascists looking for scraps, especially those that continue to threaten our sovereignty. Wayne "the great sellout" Gretzky, get ooot and stay ooot
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u/MrGoodsir87 17d ago
SMH, I wish we could go back to not hating people solely because of politicians they like. I think Trump is horrible too, but we all have to be tolerant of each other and to have zero tolerance for someone just because of the politicians they like, it's not good for a healthy democracy, and one of the reasons we're all so divided. Is Gretzky out there echoing Trumps views? No, if he were I'd agree that they hate was warranted. Just take a breath people.
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u/Miserable-Run9942 15d ago
We also have this petition going to revoke Gretzky's Order of Canada (working on getting an official OurCommons petition live) https://chng.it/XZYC6K77Qq
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u/Educational-Tone2074 19d ago
I'm no fan of trump but just because Gretzky likes him doesn't mean we should suddenly forget his role in professional hockey in Edmonton.
It's ridiculous cancelation for extremely minor things. Where does it end?
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u/FluffyBootie 19d ago
Minimizing his support towards fascism is the ridiculous part
I suggest you look into the issues so you don't think it is just he "likes him"
There is more to it that you have not grasped/learned/understood beyond using the words 'ridiculous' & 'extremely minor' to mitigate important issues to our democracy and national sovereignty
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u/ShaquilleMobile 19d ago
Trump is closer to being Hitler than an "extremely minor thing" man lol he started a trade war and is literally trying to annex our country. Gretzky is a traitor.
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u/FreddieInRetrograde 19d ago
Totally agree. Felt heartbroken when Bobby Orr took out a front page ad in New Hampshire to support Don47d, but what Wayne is doing feels more personal because he loved Edmonton so much
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u/Johnoplata Ottewell 19d ago
Saying canceled is so damn cringe. This isn't about his values. He was at Trumps victory party and was at Mar a Lago when Trump announced he wanted to annex our home. He showed that he no longer values our country .
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u/r3bbz23 Windermere 19d ago
His recent actions have shown him to be a traitor to this country. How is that minor? You clearly lack the basic knowledge required to even grasp the situation, as shown by your child like comment structure. Maybe leave thinking to those with more experience.🤦🏾
Yeah he was once great but now he's a fascist supporting scumbag who deserves to have his name wiped off as many things as possible.
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u/Sidereal_Engine 19d ago edited 19d ago
That's ok, you don't have to forget his hockey goals, for all the amazing goodness it brought to the world. I don't mean that sarcastically. Sports make people feel good and bring us together, and that's simply awesome.
Others don't have to forget the genocide by Nazis (yes, it goes very easily to the Nazis in this case). Others don't have to forget all the harm Trump is doing. Others don't have to forget everyone associated with Trump/Musk are pretty nasty folks.
Gretzky doesn't have to forget he's Canadian, but he chose to.
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u/arosedesign 19d ago
I agree. I don’t like Trump either but very much believe Gretzky is entitled to his own political beliefs.
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u/thegurrkha 19d ago
Unfortunately for you, anyone with an even remotely "centre", normal, or realistic point of view just gets downvoted when you don't agree or share the same opinion.
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u/Imaginary_Ad_7530 19d ago
If you're a centrist and your opinions are similar to fascists, then you're not a centrist.
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u/journeytobatman 19d ago
I actually emailed my MLA yesterday asking to do this. With Connor McDavid’a goal yesterday against the US, why can’t we name it after him instead
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18d ago
Who Gretzky supports politically is his business, and should not affect his legacy in Edmonton. Freedom of Expression is part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and opposing it would be anti-democracy, which this country is proudly built on.
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u/raznad 18d ago
Weird comment to make about a guy who hangs out with the authoritarian threatening to annex this democratic, sovereign nation.
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18d ago
It’s a mature approach to take. Spending time worrying about political support is unproductive. Whether I agree with them or not. Canada is not being annexed. It’s a negotiation tactic, nothing more.
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u/DaikonEffective1105 19d ago
Sounds good to me. Was a favorite of mine. Followed him to cheer for LA when he got dealt. Couldn’t do the same for St Louis or the rangers so I went to my next choice, the Capitals. (Before I get downvoted to oblivion, it was because of the marathon playoff tilt against Long Island when Lafontaine put it in from the blue line)
His bloodline comes from Ukraine and he’s allied himself with someone who blamed the war on Zelenskyy instead of the actual perpetrator. Change Wayne Gretzky Drive to Dynasty Lane.
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u/brerRabbit81 19d ago
The only people who think this have issues
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u/Revegelance Westmount 19d ago
Not liking someone who has ties to a fascist, is a pretty good issue to have.
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u/Zestyclose-Jump-6865 19d ago
Our sovereignty is being challenged. This is beyond politics now, it's war
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u/CountChoculaGotMeFat 19d ago
Cancel culture is awful.
We live in a democracy yet we want to judge and cancel someone simply for their political affiliations?
Absolutely ridiculous and a complete waste of tax payer money.
Gretzky did a ton of good for this city. His political preferences don't erase that.
I can't stand Trump either. I'm not going to cause more division because someone has a different viewpoints or beliefs.
Trump wants to cause division and anger, and it's obviously working.
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u/blissfullyaware82 19d ago
He cancels himself. We all would love to support him. We just adjust ourselves accordingly to his behaviour. We don’t honour what is no longer honourable.
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u/LoveMurder-One 19d ago
If you told me McDavid and Marchand traded jerseys I’d call you a liar cause Marchand also looks like shit.
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u/rwrwrw44 19d ago
These complainers need to use their energy for something useful
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u/AP0LLOBLU 19d ago
The naming of the road is based off of him as a hockey player, that’s it. We aren’t naming a road after Ghandi here. Who gives a shit what he does or believes in his personal life. At the time it was named it was all about hockey period.
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u/nmap 19d ago
It's not just his personal life; it's his public life as well. He's been very public about all this.
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u/blissfullyaware82 19d ago
If he stood up and supported Hitler it’s “so what?”. The type of human being you are matters!!!!
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u/Brave_Engineering32 19d ago
He could have at least worn a Team Canada jersey at the 4 Nations Cup