Last night’s 4 Nations finale was everything that hockey fans could have wanted, and more! From an incredible amount of hype surrounding the USA-Canada championship match to a nail-biting overtime victory for the visitors, there simply wasn’t any shortage of drama. And yet, Wayne Gretzky couldn’t have more attention to himself despite all the action on the ice at the TD Garden.

Wherever The Great One goes, the hockey community’s gaze follows. Everything the 4x Stanley Cup winner does sends ripples among the fans. When the NHL GOAT sent a thumbs-up towards Team USA before the 4 Nations championship game yesterday it made the Canadian fans fume about how that was a sort of betrayal against his nation. But Gretzky also had something for Connor McDavid & Co, although it doesn’t seem to be earning him any cookie points.

Wayne Gretzky didn’t come empty-handed for Team Canada

B/R Open Ice took to X on February 21 to share the former Oilers legend’s gift for Team Canada after they won the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off trophy. “Wayne Gretzky bought hats for all of team Canada, which were given to the players after the game,” the post reads. The accompanying pics from the Canadian dressing room show several stars including Seth Jarvis and Nathan MacKinnon sporting Wayne’s gift on their heads while another of their teammates can be seen having a hearty celebratory drink wearing the “Be Great” hat.

But that wasn’t Gretzky’s only involvement with the Canadians for last night’s high-stakes game. The official Hockey Canada Instagram page also shared a brief clip of how the national icon showed up in the dressing room before the game began to read out the starting line-up for the night. “There’s nothing more fun than playing for the country,” Wayne could be heard telling the players after the locker room greeted the legend with a loud round of applause.

But while the Canadian players extended a warm welcome to Gretzky, the fans weren’t keen to follow suit. Instead, they were irked by how the hockey phenome showed up at the 4 Nations championship match without donning a national team jersey. “Remove his honorary title,” one fan went to suggest as far. But while some would want to cut Wayne some slack after seeing that his country didn’t escape his mind altogether, others weren’t on board with the idea still.

Canadian fans dismiss Gretzky’s hand-out

“Before the game Gretzky was giving thumbs up to the American players and gave just a limp wave to the Canadian players,” one fan just couldn’t forget the difference in Gretzky’s interaction with players from his own country as compared to the stars from the opposition camp. “Canada knows what side he’s on and it’s not ours,” the fan grunted, claiming that a national icon like Wayne should have taken more care to exhibit his allegiance at the match. The slugfest that ensued last Saturday when the two nations locked horns for the first time in the tournament helped to set up the stage for the finale, and this fan thought that made it all the more important for Gretzky to stand by the Canadian boys. But that didn’t happen, and this fan wasn’t up for giving the retired NHL icon a hall pass.

“The great one feels a lot less great these days,‘ another fan also felt as if Wayne Gretzky was losing his place in the hockey community with his little enthusiastic cheer for the Americans, while the Canadians looked everywhere for support in the foreign land. “He let us down more than any player could. Our nation is devastated by his betrayal,” a third fan also couldn’t digest how Wayne could have been the biggest motivation for the Canadians at the 4 nations finale but chose to play the diplomat by sending his good wishes to Team USA as well.

While Wayne’s achievements have sealed his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s not like Canada has any shortage of incredible stars who have taken the sport to new heights. Olympic gold medalist Hayley Wickenheiser is one such name that the community reveres as one of the greatest of all time, and many fans thought she should have been the person to deliver the pre-game pep talk instead of Gretzky. “Should have been Hayley Wickenheiser speaking to our team,” posited one fan on Instagram. “Wayne can go to the US locker room,” a similar sentiment was reflected on X.

What about you? Did you also not like the Great One being in the Team Canada locker room? What did you feel about his differing gestures to the teams last night? Tell us in a comment!