As Canada played through controversy at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, its most beloved and iconic sports star grabbed a microphone and stood up for the nation. The Canadian men’s national team had just come from behind to tie the Czech Republic 3-3 in a heated round-robin match. Wayne Gretzky, the executive director of Canada’s team, called media reports of unrest in the Canadian locker room “American propaganda.” “I don’t think we dislike those countries as much as they dislike us,” he said. “They want to see us fail. They love beating us. … We’ve got to get that same feeling toward them.” It was as fiery as hockey fans had seen the game’s greatest player since he’d retired a few years earlier. Canada was in pursuit of its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey in half a century. “Am I hot? Yeah, I’m hot,” Gretzky said. “Because I’m tired of people taking shots at Canadian hockey. … It almost sickens my stomach to turn the TV on because I’m such a proud Canadian and such a fan of our game and very proud of all the guys in the locker room, and it makes me ill to hear some of the things that are being said about us.” Gretzky’s emotional defense of Canada was an inspirational turning point for the star-packed Canadian team, which went on to win the gold medal on American soil.
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