“Native Americans Should Be on There”: Wayne Gretzky’s Bold Statement at 2023 Winter Classic Leaves Hockey Community Divided

The debate of who deserves to be on the Hockey Mount Rushmore has been going on for a while now. Recently, the Great One Wayne Gretzky shared his opinion on the matter during the 2023 Winter Classic. When asked if Sidney Crosby deserves to be on the list, his bold statement certainly divided the room on the internet.

However, his statement during a discussion with his TNT crew left the NHL fandom divided. While some fans favored Gretzky and his opinion, others shared their own. For the unversed, in sports, Mount Rushmore is used to honoring the four greatest players of all time in the history of the particular sport.

Fandom divided after Wayne Gretzky makes a bold statement at the 2023 Winter Classic

The crew named four legends, including Gretzky, who will be on the traditional NHL Mount Rushmore. The others were Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr. While Gretzky didn’t deny it, he added that there shouldn’t be a limit to the number of players to be honored. However, something about this didn’t sit well with the fans.

In a Facebook post uploaded by Hockey Beast, one NHL fan wrote, “Native Americans should be on there since they were here first.” However, some fans came forward in support of Gretzky’s statement. One fan commented, “This guy is awesome. So nice to see a superstar who is NOT bitter. See MJ. Lol.” Adding a subtle reference to Gretzky’s jersey number, another supportive fan wrote, “it’s an obvious statement and i think 99% of us agree!”

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However, a few fans did not share the same feeling. A third fan commented, “Wayne’s smart enough to realize that the elite players today would have been right up there with him in terms of offensive production if they played in the early 80’s when all goalies still stood upright for 59 minutes a game. If McDavid played then he’d be averaging 150+ points a season.”

A fan not in favor of the list wrote, “Bobby Orr doesn’t deserve to be on there and I’m tired of pretending he does.” There was even a user who thought Gretzky didn’t deserve a spot on the list. “After I heard the statement, it made me sick. Players like Gordie, Hull and Ovechkin, played both ways. Scoring and also hitting, 2 way players. Gretzky was an offensive machine, no defensive skills,” read their comment.

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It definitely looks like Gretzky’s comment has reignited the debate. Who according to you are the four NHL Mount Rushmore candidates? Let us know in the comments.