Yesterday, Wayne Gretzky stepped down from his position as Vice Chairman of the Oilers. He was with the Oilers? Yes, he apparently was busy with the commercial side of the Oilers Entertainment Group and a close advisor to Oilers owner, Daryl Katz. The move came within a day of the Oilers being swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. These two events aren’t related.
In addition to his Vice Chair position, Gretzky also served as a mentor to Connor McDavid since he was brought on in 2016, the year after McDavid was drafted number one overall. The same year, his brother, Keith Gretzky, joined the organization as Director of Scouting. He has since ascended to Assistant GM.
— Wayne Gretzky (@WayneGretzky) May 25, 2021
So, Gretzky claims that the pandemic prevents him from giving his all. But really, it’s that TNT is offering him $3M per year to become their lead analyst.
Big news from Edmonton, Wayne Gretzky stepped away from his role as vice chairman of the Oilers, after less than five years.
Gretzky is being heavily courted by TNT and his good friend Charles Barkley for an analyst role with the network next season.https://t.co/i6s0kJHqNY
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 25, 2021
He better be damn insightful for that truckload of money. Then again, his name has so much caché he doesn’t need to be good.
Tomorrow, we’ll examine some of the other hires for next season.
Morning all. Been a fan of the Canes since they made hockey fun again with the Storm Surge and The Bunch of Jerks. Good on them and the fans for this last night. While racism in hockey and among hockey fans is still a big problem, it’s nice to have a glimmer of hope that we can be better than what we are:
Ah, that’s good. Good to hear the crowd approved, too. Always a danger with things like that that the less enlightened will ruin it.
Maybe the South will become part of the enlightened world…. there’s probably a better chance for the Red Wings to win the Cup this year…. But I will hope and pray
Morning folks.
Not sure what the betting odds were on that series, but I’d bet the Oilers are pretty shocked at getting swept!
Speaking of betting – in the Worlds, GB are playing Belarus today. We lost in OT to Denmark yesterday but looked genuinely the better team for the second half of the game. The bookies give us a 3.5-goal start. I dobt bet anymore, but if I did I’d be having the weeks rent on us to cover that spread.
And now I’m remembering why I dont bet anymore!
So this morning, the vet came to x-ray Ziggy the budgie and finally find out what’s going on with his legs.
To Xray him they had to anaesthatise him first, and sadly he never woke up
Some consolation is that the xray showed some pretty serious abnormalities, which wouldnt have been fixable anyway. Very sad but life is cruel sometimes. Not looking forward to telling Leah …
Oh, I’m so sorry. You guys tried so hard to get him healthy.
I’m so sorry to hear about Ziggy. All the hugs to Leah.
Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
I’m sorry to hear about Ziggy. My love to you and the family. I hope John will be okay.
Yeah, John’s not been quite himself. The vet advised us to show him the body for a few minutes so he could understand what’s going on.
The plan is to get him a new friend. They are social creatures. Zig’s personality transformed when he had John to play with.
As, sorry. I know you and your family were attached to Ziggy. Striped Condolences.
Good morning!!
Hmmm, yeah. I would take the money. Thing is, the great one has never been great in front of a camera. I’d rather see somebody like Andy Brickley. Personality and a person with great attention to hockey detail. Brick, or someone like him , who didn’t have the advantage of Gretzky like skills. Superstars don’t look at the game the same way, IMO. They see what they could do with their super human skills.
Did you ever see the Saturday Night Live with Gretzky?….. Awkward
BTW, how did I drop longwinded from my name?
Oh yeah it’s Stripes…
Brick is fantastic as a colour guy. I don’t watch a lot of soccer, but some of the ex-players they get in for the role just trot out cliches and dont offer anything in the way of ‘insight’.
Not everyone who’s good at doing something is good at teaching it, or explaining it, I guess.
It’s also one of the reasons that stars aren’t good coaches. People who played but didn’t get all the minutes have the luxury of watching and learning the game in a different way. Of course, then there are the players who are like on ice coaches, as well, but they”re a different breed.
My brain is very bad at getting words out.
Not everyone who’s good at doing something is good at teaching it, or explaining it, I guess
Larry Bird and a host of others have discovered this!!