Wayne Gretzky has been left with a broken heart over all the criticism he has received from fans recently, according to his wife.
Gretzky’s wife of over 36 years, Janet, shared a post on Instagram Thursday that she has since deleted. Her post shared a copy of an opinion piece written by hockey legend Bobby Orr in the Toronto Sun. Orr’s opinion piece was published on Feb. 22 and defended “The Great One.”
“For the life of me, I cannot understand why the ‘haters’ have decided to go after Wayne because he ‘didn’t wear a Canadian jersey’ during his introduction at the final match. I, for one, thought that he looked very dignified while representing Canada with class and professionalism,” Orr wrote.
“Remember, this is a man who wore the Maple Leaf on multiple occasions with pride. As both a player and administrator, he has brought nothing but glory to his homeland year after year, decade after decade.”
Gretzky has received criticism for a few reasons. One, some Canadians did not feel he was patriotic enough when he served as an honorary captain for Team Canada prior to their 4 Nations Face-Off final game against the US. Gretzky was criticized for wearing a navy blue suit rather than a Canada jersey or Canada colors, and for waving to the US team. Moreover, Gretzky’s apparent friendship with US president Donald Trump, who has posed as an opponent to Canada, has angered some Canadians.
In her Instagram post that shared Orr’s column supporting her husband, Janet Gretzky wrote that it has “broken [Wayne’s] heart” to read and see the mean comments about him. In her post, Janet also thanked Orr for his support.
Janet Gretzky says it has “broken (Wayne’s) heart” to read and see the mean comments about him and he would “do anything to make Canadians proud.” pic.twitter.com/jBcYJFPJvk
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) February 27, 2025
In addition to Orr, President Trump issued a statement of support for Gretzky in which he said he didn’t want Canadians saying anything bad about the former hockey star.
Gretzky, 64, is a native of Brantford, Ontario. He represented Canada on its national team beginning as a junior in 1978.
