“They Want to See Us Fail”: Wayne Gretzky Put Behind the Infamous ‘American Propaganda’ to Achieve a Massive Honor in 2002

On 18 February 2002, during a press conference at the Winter Olympic games, Canadian Ice Hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky went on a rant about the unfair treatment and judgment the Canadian team was met with at the tournament. It might’ve been just a rant to the listeners. However, for his team, the speech was enough to fire up their hunger to win.

Throughout the interview, Gretzky was visibly upset. However, the Great one did a great job of keeping in check his barely controlled anger. Gretzky’s speech is duped as “the speech that propelled the team to a gold medal.”

Wayne Gretzky’s speech at the Olympics

Gretzky started by talking about the pressure on the Canadian team. He added that the expectations from them are far greater than that of any other team. And the fact that the team hasn’t won since the 50s further tenses the situation.

Wayne’s triggering point was when one journalist asked him if it was the lack of respect that the Canadian team has for the international games that they take longer to roll in. On this, the NHL Legend said that they do acknowledge and respect international players. However, they can’t say they receive the same respect in return.

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Gretzky said, “I don’t think we dislike those countries as much as they hate us. And that’s a fact. They don’t like us. They want to see us fail. They love beating us. They might tell you guys something different, but believe me, when you are on the ice, that is what they say.”

The reason behind Gretzky’s anger and the ‘American Propaganda’

The biased judgment during the game that night was the reason why Gretzky was so visibly upset. Commenting on that he said, “I think the guys should be suspended for the rest of the tournament. If it was a Canadian player that did it, it would’ve been a big story, but a Czech player did it so it’s okay. I just don’t understand it. You guys saw it. If I’m wrong, I would tell you I’d apologize.”

He added, “There was a spear and a crosscheck in the same play. I don’t get it.” Furthermore, Gretzky rubbished the claims that the veteran Canadian players were unhappy about the coach’s coaching style. He added that it was “American Propaganda” to create a story about the Canadian team. However, he was quick to clarify that by “American Propaganda” he wasn’t referring to the American team but to the people outside.

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He concluded his speech by saying that the only people rooting for the Canadian team to win are the Canadians themselves. It was the Canadians against the rest of the world situation for them. Hearing Gretzky’s speech sparked something within the Canadian team. While the team wasn’t off to a great start, their performance took a u-turn after the speech. The Canadian team ended up with a gold at the 2002 Olympics Games.