Wayne Gretzky endorses Carney’s decision to ban Russia from world juniors

Wayne Gretzky praised Prime Minister Mark Carney for banning Russian players from the World Junior Hockey Championship in Alberta next month after a sports court ruled the country should be readmitted to international play despite its war in Ukraine.

“Nobody likes war, right? We definitely don’t want to see this. We hope it ends. We wish it didn’t start,” said Gretzky, whose family has Ukrainian heritage.

“I understand the stance the Prime Minister has taken, and good for him that he made that stance, and he’s made it clear. And I think a lot of the players and the people of Canada feel the same way.”

Gretzky made the comments at an event in Toronto hosted by the Hockey Hall of Fame to announce that it had renamed its archive and resource centre after the player’s much-admired late father, Walter.

Earlier this week, Mr. Carney said Canada would defy a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ordering the International Ice Hockey Federation to include Russian men’s and women’s national teams in five coming tournaments.

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Russia and Belarus have been banned from international play since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, aided by Belarus. The world juniors, which runs Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2027, in Edmonton and Red Deer, is the first one on the schedule.

The event on Friday included the unveiling of new Gretzky hockey cards issued by the Upper Deck trading-card company, which is a major sponsor of the Hall of Fame and a naming partner of the newly renamed resource centre. Upper Deck also announced that Gretzky had been named its second Legacy Partner. It named Michael Jordan its first Legacy Partner last summer.

Gretzky did not directly answer whether he hoped the Upper Deck and Hockey Hall of Fame initiatives might help his reputation among Canadians, who have been sharply critical of his close association over the past couple of years with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“I can’t do anything about that,” he said. “Your friends are your friends, right? People can have their own opinions. That’s what life is all about, and you just take it with a grain of salt, and people are entitled to what they believe in and what their opinions are – simple as that.

“You know, my dad always told me, you treat people how they treat you, and that’s how I live life.”