Wayne Gretzky backs Carney's ban on Russian athletes at Edmonton and Red Deer's World Juniors
Gretzky said the prime minister's stance reflects what Canadians feel, as Russia faces a return to international hockey.
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Wayne Gretzky says Prime Minister Mark Carney is right to keep Russian hockey players out of the 2027 World Junior Championship.
The federal government will use its immigration powers to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from entering Canada, which keeps Russia out of the tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer. Carney announced the ban Tuesday, while the war in Ukraine continues.
Gretzky spoke to reporters Friday at an Upper Deck event in Toronto. "I understand the stance the prime minister has taken, and good for him," he said. "He's 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."
The ban answers a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that the International Ice Hockey Federation must reinstate Russian teams into international competition, starting with the upcoming World Juniors. Russia and Belarus have been excluded from IIHF events since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Gretzky, whose paternal grandmother was from Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine, also spoke against the war. "Nobody likes war, right? We definitely don't want to see this. We hope it ends. We wish it didn't start," he said.
The 2027 World Junior Championship begins Dec. 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer.
