The world lost its hockey dad on March 4, 2021, when Walter Gretzky passed away at the age of 82.
One of my unique interactions with the hockey icon was actually at Gretzky's Restaurant in downtown Toronto back in 2002.
While working for RinkRatTV which aired on LeafsTV and locally on MCTV, I was covering a northern Ontario Timbits team which traveled down to the GTA to play during the intermission of a Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers contest; an event I was invited to be current Battalion sales executive John McLellan, who was working as regional marketing manager for Tim Horton's in the northeast of Ontario back then.
Walter was taken to a hidden room where he did an interview and we talked all things hockey. It was special.
"It was just so wonderful to go to the rink and watch the kids compete and see Wayne do all the things that he did, game after game, time after time, but not just Wayne I also had 3 other boys who also did the same thing it’s just wonderful to be able to watch them," Walter told me on that day.
"I would always try and make it fun for the boys, for Wayne, Keith, Brent, that was the most important thing and I gave them every opportunity and it just worked out."
While listening to the stories about him and Wayne, the one thing that stood out was his friendliness. After the interview, Walter tried to leave the restaurant but was greeted by dozens of excited young minor hockey players in the parking lot.
What stood out was he waited until all the kids came by and never refused one autograph or greeting from any and every young hockey player.
It is no surprise that on the day that Walter passed, that hundred of Facebook pics showed a friendly Walter Gretzky posing for a photo.
That was just the guy he was. A great example and a great hockey dad you will be missed but will be remembered for his passion for the game, and his love for people - especially young hockey players who want to be just like 99.
