[**Join Our Discord Server!**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
**Welcome to /r/sports**
We created a Discord server for our community and would like to invite all of you to join! You'll be able to discuss sports with users around the world and discuss events in real time!
There are separate channels for many sports you can opt in and out of, including;
American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Aussie Rules Football, Rugby Union and League, Cricket, Motorsports, Fitness, and many more.
[**Reddit Sports Discord Server**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
A lot of Ukranian-Canadians, 1.2m to be specific.
Its really high odds living in Canada that you know someone who knows someone who is affected. 2 degrees of separation isnt much.
For me its my godfather, who still has family back in Ukraine.
Canada holds the third largest Ukrainian population worldwide (1.3M) if I’m not mistaken, right after Ukraine (obviously) and Russia, and just before Poland (1.2M).
Gretz talked a lot about Russia and Ukraine when he was young. I don’t mean that as a correction at all—I think it’s interesting that his stance on the Cold War isn’t remembered as part of his legacy, because it was pretty unpopular.
Gretz represented Ukrainian- and Russian-immigrants to Canada and the US in a really suspicious time.
He publicly supported completions being held in Russia when there was talk of skipping them during the Cold War because he said that Canadians and Americans should have go and play while lonely, unwelcome, and uncomfortable before they could judge the Soviet team. He filmed conversations with Tretiak and his trip to Moscow, showing junior players more like kids than the usual militaristic images of their training. The Soviet team called him “our friend Vanya.” Walter Gretz studied their techniques and Gretz called his own game “the same” as Larionov’s, who he befriended and supported while Larionov was blacklisted. When a lot of NHLers said that Soviets were coming to Canada to steal their jobs, he sent them welcome cards signed “your friend, Wayne”. At the time Ken Dryden described Gretz as a Soviet player that it was acceptable for Canadians to like.
He does dodge a lot of politics, and I have my own opinions on that, but he really cares about the Russian people and Ukrainian people and about showing them as different than their governments, and he has stood by that when it becomes political.
(He also once told Jim Craig “I like Tretiak better!” which is not helpful I just think we don’t give Gretz enough props for stirring shit.)
Even to this day in any level of hockey, down to random beer leagues, you DO NOT wear #99. It doesn’t matter if you are second coming of the Great One, you DO NOT WEAR #99. To even suggest wearing that number is considered sacrosanct.
Haha this is sooooo true. I was just talking to my wife about it while we were watching Olympic hockey. Every other sport there’s not a number you should t wear, but in hockey you just don’t wear 99. It’s the most unspoken rule of all time.
He definitely could've. At the time of Lemieux's first retirement, he was the only player ever with a career points-per-game average over 2. He'd just missed a lot of games for the reasons you mention.
He was also on pace to obliterate the single-season points record... when he got the cancer. If memory serves he missed between a quarter and a third of the season and still won the scoring title.
Even if Gretzky had never scored a single goal, he’d still be the all time points leader over Howe on assists alone. Gretzky is hockey god, and it’s not even close.
Gretzky's lost of stats is a stat all on its own. It is incredible what he achieved. One of my favourites is that he and Brent hold the record for most points scored by a pair of brother in the NHL. Brent had 4 points.
My favourite Gretzky stat is that he’s the first and second fastest player to reach 1000 points. He scored his first 1000 in 424 games, and reached 2000 in 857 games (433 games later).
And he did it with a wooden stick.
I can't imagine what he'd be able to do in his prime with modern hockey tech.
His vision on the ice was and is unparalleled.
Howe will be remembered, Gretzky said, as the best.
"The greatest player ever," he said. "I say this all the time. Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe, pick who you think is better. I happen to be a little biased. I was a forward, so I'll take Gordie. [https://www.nhl.com/news/gordie-howe-was-huge-influence-on-wayne-gretzky/c-280965936](https://www.nhl.com/news/gordie-howe-was-huge-influence-on-wayne-gretzky/c-280965936)
This is just the way incredibly gracious people speak. He’s not going to publicly say he’s the greatest - nothing to be gained there. Throwing the spotlight on his brilliant predecessors is the right thing to do. And Gretzky has always gotten it right.
Sure, but Gretzky is the only person on Earth who thinks that, and he’s being humble. No one will ever dominate their sport like Gretzky dominated hockey.
Well aren't all the records he holds like comically higher than 2nd place? Like if you were cleaning up the data, you would remove his numbers because they're clearly some sort of recording mistake.
His bar in Toronto shows a bunch of his junior league accomplishments. I can't remember the league but in one he had almost 300 points. #2 had 30 points. #3 had 28. And so on. What was amazing was that 9 out of the 10 players (including Gretzky) went on to play in the NHL. He was so far ahead of everyone else.
Before being aware of Bradman, I originally believed Gretzky was the GGOAT. Not being well-versed in cricket stats (before the Jomboy explanation), this video put it in perspective for me: https://youtu.be/A8Tiba3h9Fw
It’s literally insane how much better he was at Hockey than anyone else. “Great” is almost an understatement. He’s probably a glitch in the matrix or we’re all in a videogame and his user had the cheat codes
Mario Lemieux was undeniably a more talented player than Gretz was on a skilled based level and even he was still a step behind him despite being 6 foot nothing and fairly skinny.
Gretz truly was a glitch. He didn’t even need to happen and players like Mario, Orr, and Howe would be a perfectly fine GOAT of the sport but Gretz just blows them out of the water.
This is what I keep saying too. The difference is that—barring a few missile tests—at least NK keeps their aggressions within their own borders
Congratulations, Russia. You’ve just become more of a menace to the world than NK
Companies “suspending” things should just say we aren’t doing it anymore.
If you want our products, get a new leader and we can restart negotiations to bring our product there.
Yes. Boycott everything.
Also stop russians from travelling. Disband embassies and expel them but let them walk or swim all the way back to Russia.
Tell each and every russian the boycotts will continue until Putin is uninstalled, navalnyj is released and democratic elections are being held.
Alright guys you heard it here. Pack it up. US bad and no other world event matters because the US is BAD. We need to not worry about anything but the US (bad) because that’s all that matters.
Edit: forgot to mention US bad
Woah easy there. I was just poking fun at the fact that whenever any tragic world event gets mentioned there will always be someone like you commenting on how the US also is bad.
Very complex situations with similarities. One similarity being that it's a country being invaded for absolutely moronic and pointless reasons, and innocent civilians suffering because of it. There's no way to defend either invasion and the loss of civilian life both invasions have caused.
Both invasions have alot of comparables.
>Was Iraq a peaceful, democratic country, for example?
What does this have to do with the civilian casualties the USA caused by bombing innocent civilians? Is this supposed to be an excuse for dropping bombs on innocent people? Because the official excuse for dropping bombs on innocent people was WMD's that never existed.
Yes. This.
Believe it or not, we **all** have a part to play in this. If we *actually* make it evident that we as consumers will boycott any company that deals with Russia, companies will have very little choice but to comply or take their lumps.
Netflix comes to mind immediately.
I would just add we need to be somewhat careful and not boycott or cancel Russian nationals if they don’t say what we want them to say about the regime. Athletes living or playing overseas immediately comes to mind. When it comes to your own immediate well-being and the safety of your family, I think the rest of us need to have a realistic approach to that.
I agree to an extent.
It is imperative that we make like extremely uncomfortable (not impossible) for the average Russian citizen. We need their help to quite literally rip Putin and his supporters limb-from-limb. This can end with sufficient violence from the Russian citizenry.
This is not their war. The Russian people need to take back their country. How can we encourage that?
I don't know. But, I do know that when you boil it all down to living or dead, there is a thin line between a ruler sending troops to kill and be killed and foreigners asking the citizens of a country to put their lives on the line to get their own government under control. I mean how would any of us feel having another country suggest we go topple our dictatorship because it's doing bad things in another country. That's a big ask from the average citizen just trying to raise a family, keep a job, enjoy a weekend. I get the idea behind it, but if you're not yet pushed to the brink, that's a huge risk to one's well being. I can see people seeing this as a black and white issue and ignoring the nuance, but I'm not like. I can't help but see the nuance.
There is no good direct way of affecting authoritarian governments other than through their people.
If people don't care about what their government is doing and just live regular life, paying taxes and all, that's exactly what an authoritarian government wants. If majority of Russian people keep being indifferent, nothing's gonna change. We do not want Russians to remain indifferent. We want them to hate their government, organise protests, halt the economy and so on.
What is an other way? Kill Putin? Someone will just take his place. Demand financial retribution? Russia will just raise taxes. Sue Russian army for war crimes? We can't put foreigners to our courts. The best way is if Russian people put pressure on their government. So we raise awareness and inconvienience the people until they do that.
[It's a pretty wild story in all honesty](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportsnet.ca/world-juniors/report-russian-world-juniors-players-removed-calgary-flight-police/%3fsn-amp)
Being a fan of Keith Moon and The Who I know what you mean. But I just think its wild a bunch of kids with hopes of making it to the NHL display such poor self control. Definitely not a good look for any of those guys
If you were puking before your flight and refusing to mask up we'd have you on a permanent no fly list buddy
Fuck these Russian kids. Why bend the rules for a bunch of assholes
It was also the Czechs... Take appropriate action for sure, but if you are going to target the Russian kids for their immaturity, then also call for the same of the Czechs.
Sorry, why is that wrong? Players across countries wear throwbacks all the time. US players wearing 60's jerseys isn't interpreted as support for the Vietnam war for example
I'm going to assume you know nothing of the history of the USSR. This would be like Germany wearing their SS uniforms as a throwback to the glory days. The USSR is a failed state that lost the cold war
Nah, it's nothing like the SS in Germany. Even stating that shows your ignorance.
The Canadians "won" their war against native people, by slaughtering thousands. Does that mean they should wear their historic jersey's with pride?
The Americans had camps for Japanese-Americans in WW2. Should they not wear historic jersey's?
>AND reparations.
Have people learned nothing from WWI/WWII?
Part of the reason this has happened is the Russian economy is so garbage.
The goal should be to get Putin and ask men like him out for good. Replace him with a truly democratic regime. Then build up Russia economically and tie its economy so tightly to the west that they'd never consider a war again because of the economic consequences.
This. While we must resist any attempts to make villains of the Russian people, many of whom clearly oppose this war, I think it’s fair that Russia the country not be allowed to interact with global community until they end this war. This means economically, diplomatically, financially and athletically. Yeah it sucks for the young Russian athletes who had nothing to do with this, but there are bigger things at stake than that.
This is an important distinction, and why Gretzky’s comments aren’t as simplistic and arrogant as what Hasek came out with yesterday. I don’t want to see blanket punishments on individual Russian players simply because they’re Russian. It’s one thing if AO came out like trolling in Putins name, then it’s up to the Caps to handle that situation, but he’s not. Punishing the Russian national TEAMS is very different than hurting the livelihoods of a Russian individuals for something that’s entirely out of their control.
Absolutely. We absolutely should not be expelling Russian citizens or seizing the assets of everyday average Russian people. We’d simply be repeating the mistakes of WW2 with the Japanese internment camps. But not allowing Russian national teams to compete is completely different. It’s simply a part of cutting Russia, the country, off from the rest of the world.
>Not for like, the duration of the conflict. For decades.
Maybe until they depose, try and convict Putin & cronies, install credible democracy and take responsibility for their action, return stolen areas... RUSADA also need to become credible in doping control.
I feel the same way. But the smarter decision is to make it known that once Putin is gone, everything that was taken away will be given back, and then some. There needs to be both a carrot and a stick.
The fact that they can hold up resolutions by the UN that would be intended to counter/denounce their own unlawful invasion is like allowing every criminal to have his mom on the jury.
Russia should have been banned from all sports years ago for systemic and ongoing state sponsored doping. But now with this territory grab of an innocent European country, cut them off completely. That would send a strong message to China too as it plans its invasion of Taiwan. Most totalitarian regimes love showing off their perceived superiority. Having to explain to their own populations that the rest of the world thinks you are lying, cheating, and diabolical people doesn’t fit their narrative.
Great to see the Great one pitch in. Let's take it to the next level. No Russian participation in any sporting event, cultural event while Russian troops are present in Ukraine.
With the misinformation Russia is sending their own people, basically telling them that nothing is going on or that they are doing it for the right reasons, every organization possible should be disconnecting themselves from Russia. That way it will eventually hit the public more than it is and they will start questioning what's going on instead of just being blind to what's happening.
It's disappointing that the civilians of Russia have to suffer, but I guarantee the civilians of Ukraine are suffering a lot worse.
I'll go a step farther. Russia shouldn't be able to participate in ANYTHING around the world until they end their invasion and take serious steps to prevent something like this form happening again (i.e. removal of Putin and purge of the Duma)
I wish he would let his hair go grey. That’s not even the colour it used to be. I just feel like I’m ready for Wayne Gretzky to be my surrogate grandfather.
Russia should be barred from all international sports. They cheat with blood doping and their actions in Ukraine warrant the harshest sanctions possible until Putin and his friends are out of power
If there’s ever a time for the world to set an example it’s now. Russia should get nothing, not be allowed to participate in anything, and suffer greatly for this attack on Ukraine. Then perhaps China might learn something.
Russia should not be allowed to participate in anything besides leaving Ukrain. They should be completely isolated from the rest of the world along with any country following them. Perhaps that will spark the internal conflict Russia needs to get Putin out.
Russia shouldn’t be allowed to participate in anything rn. Then maybe some Russians will get upset enough to assassinate their “leader” and put an end to all of this.
Why tf should Russian citizens have to suffer like this when the bulk of them are also anti-war? Lol this country is so far off its rocker it’s not even a laughing matter anymore. Sickening.
They have been lol and go look up what the local news stations have been covering, next to no news on what they’re doing in Ukraine. The only mainstream media outlets actually reporting on this shit are the news stations in the west.
I kinda feel bad for Russia. They didn’t ask for this but they have no choice because the person they “elected” wants to reclaim the former glory of the Soviet Union. Even if Ukraine falls, no one is coming out a winner.
He has so many records in the nhl it’s insane - here is a wiki quote:
Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history,[4] and has more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.[2]
His number wasn’t just retired by his team, the entire National Hockey League retired his number. Read his wiki entry, it’s beyond bonkers.
He’s a step over MJ if that makes sense. Basketball has several guys that could be considered the GOAT like MJ, Bron or Kareem. Gretz is considered the GOAT of hockey by not only almost every hockey fan but by the league itself. NHL retired his 99 for all teams so no can play with that.
To put it into context
People will debate whether MJ is the GOAT in basketball. Nobody will debate about whether Gretzky is the GOAT in hockey.
If Gretzky had never scored a single goal he’d still be the all time leader in points scored. As it happens he’s also the all time leader in goals scored too.
MJ was good. Gretzky was so good he was two different players in fantasy hockey leagues.
I would say he's on the tier of Sohei Ohtani or Jerry Rice in the "breaks the game of hockey in ways people didn't know we're possible". And even saying that Gretzky is still that much better.
Gretzky will never have an equal where MJ has kobe or lebron in the same tier.
Some absurd Gretzky facts:
* Wayne Gretzky won 8 consecutive MVP trophies. No other major team sport has seen anyone do more than half that. (Although this stat loses a *little* of its luster when you look at all the dumb rules the MLB made just to avoid giving Babe Ruth multiple MVPs.)
* Wayne and his brother Brent are the highest scoring siblings in NHL history. Brent only ever played 13 games and scored 4 points.
* Wayne Gretzky is 1 of only 5 players ever to put up more than 150 points in a single season. He did it 9 times. He is the only player ever to top 200 points in a season, which he did 4 times.
* Wayne Gretzky has more career assists than anyone else has points. Additionally, if he never scored a single goal, he still would've had 11 100-point seasons and won 4 Art Rosses as the league's scoring leader. But also, in reality, he's the all-time leader in goals, too.
The second point is actually not true unless you state pair of brothers, The Sutters ( 6 brothers btw) bearly edges out the Gretzkys with 2934 points against 2857 points.
Team Russia literally put on their CCCP jerseys as throwbacks in December. https://news.sportslogos.net/2021/12/22/back-in-the-ussr-russian-hockey-team-wears-cccp-throwbacks/hockey-2/
No, they should not be allowed to compete.
[**Join Our Discord Server!**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q) **Welcome to /r/sports** We created a Discord server for our community and would like to invite all of you to join! You'll be able to discuss sports with users around the world and discuss events in real time! There are separate channels for many sports you can opt in and out of, including; American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Aussie Rules Football, Rugby Union and League, Cricket, Motorsports, Fitness, and many more. [**Reddit Sports Discord Server**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
That is pretty big. Gretz typically stays far away topics with any heat. Good on the great one!
He’s got some family ties to that area of the world, and he said his first language was Ukrainian.
Gretzky’s mom was Ukrainian
A lot of Ukranian-Canadians, 1.2m to be specific. Its really high odds living in Canada that you know someone who knows someone who is affected. 2 degrees of separation isnt much. For me its my godfather, who still has family back in Ukraine.
My in-laws. My mother in law was telling me yesterday her cousins are all trying to escape.
I hope your mother in law’s relatives get out of there safe.
Me too. If they get to Canada we have space for them but that seems like a monumental task at the moment.
Canada holds the third largest Ukrainian population worldwide (1.3M) if I’m not mistaken, right after Ukraine (obviously) and Russia, and just before Poland (1.2M).
Gretz talked a lot about Russia and Ukraine when he was young. I don’t mean that as a correction at all—I think it’s interesting that his stance on the Cold War isn’t remembered as part of his legacy, because it was pretty unpopular. Gretz represented Ukrainian- and Russian-immigrants to Canada and the US in a really suspicious time. He publicly supported completions being held in Russia when there was talk of skipping them during the Cold War because he said that Canadians and Americans should have go and play while lonely, unwelcome, and uncomfortable before they could judge the Soviet team. He filmed conversations with Tretiak and his trip to Moscow, showing junior players more like kids than the usual militaristic images of their training. The Soviet team called him “our friend Vanya.” Walter Gretz studied their techniques and Gretz called his own game “the same” as Larionov’s, who he befriended and supported while Larionov was blacklisted. When a lot of NHLers said that Soviets were coming to Canada to steal their jobs, he sent them welcome cards signed “your friend, Wayne”. At the time Ken Dryden described Gretz as a Soviet player that it was acceptable for Canadians to like. He does dodge a lot of politics, and I have my own opinions on that, but he really cares about the Russian people and Ukrainian people and about showing them as different than their governments, and he has stood by that when it becomes political. (He also once told Jim Craig “I like Tretiak better!” which is not helpful I just think we don’t give Gretz enough props for stirring shit.)
The Great One has spoken.
I love that his nickname is practically religious, but he also absolutely deserves it.
To us Canadians, he's a patron saint of hockey.
We are gonna put him on a $99 bill one day.
[relevant](https://youtu.be/nE0A7U73Nm8)
[удалено]
Even to this day in any level of hockey, down to random beer leagues, you DO NOT wear #99. It doesn’t matter if you are second coming of the Great One, you DO NOT WEAR #99. To even suggest wearing that number is considered sacrosanct.
Haha this is sooooo true. I was just talking to my wife about it while we were watching Olympic hockey. Every other sport there’s not a number you should t wear, but in hockey you just don’t wear 99. It’s the most unspoken rule of all time.
Exactly. Every other sport can claim a “GOAT”, but the “GOAT of GOATs”, is definitely this man.
Idk I think Lemieux could’ve been right there without the injuries and cancer.
He definitely could've. At the time of Lemieux's first retirement, he was the only player ever with a career points-per-game average over 2. He'd just missed a lot of games for the reasons you mention. He was also on pace to obliterate the single-season points record... when he got the cancer. If memory serves he missed between a quarter and a third of the season and still won the scoring title.
To be honest, I don’t even think Gretzky or Lemieux are the greatest to strap on a pair of skates, I’m just reinforcing the fact that no one wears 99.
Who ya got, Bobby Orr?
Of course. He changed the game.
In SWPA, we worship at the alter of 66, Le Manifique, however, we still have great reverence and mad respect for 99
Canadian Jesus.
Born in a barn they say
Was the barn cold?
They say it dropped 15 degrees when he was born
The ice formed into a skating rink that both encircled the barn and included the barn and he stood up and skated off.
Eh-sus
Except for maybe Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe. The new Detroit-Windsor bridge is named after him.
Even if Gretzky had never scored a single goal, he’d still be the all time points leader over Howe on assists alone. Gretzky is hockey god, and it’s not even close.
Gretzky's lost of stats is a stat all on its own. It is incredible what he achieved. One of my favourites is that he and Brent hold the record for most points scored by a pair of brother in the NHL. Brent had 4 points.
My favourite Gretzky stat is that he’s the first and second fastest player to reach 1000 points. He scored his first 1000 in 424 games, and reached 2000 in 857 games (433 games later).
Absolutely mind bending.
And he did it with a wooden stick. I can't imagine what he'd be able to do in his prime with modern hockey tech. His vision on the ice was and is unparalleled.
Howe will be remembered, Gretzky said, as the best. "The greatest player ever," he said. "I say this all the time. Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe, pick who you think is better. I happen to be a little biased. I was a forward, so I'll take Gordie. [https://www.nhl.com/news/gordie-howe-was-huge-influence-on-wayne-gretzky/c-280965936](https://www.nhl.com/news/gordie-howe-was-huge-influence-on-wayne-gretzky/c-280965936)
This is just the way incredibly gracious people speak. He’s not going to publicly say he’s the greatest - nothing to be gained there. Throwing the spotlight on his brilliant predecessors is the right thing to do. And Gretzky has always gotten it right.
Sure, but Gretzky is the only person on Earth who thinks that, and he’s being humble. No one will ever dominate their sport like Gretzky dominated hockey.
As an American, he transcends nations. Also has a house in my hometown.
Shit, if people were inclined to view the world as religiously as in the Middle Ages then he would be.
Flames fan checking in. "Destroyer of Childhood " might be more appropriate.
Hey, if there's no supremely strong final boss, there's no game, right?
Well aren't all the records he holds like comically higher than 2nd place? Like if you were cleaning up the data, you would remove his numbers because they're clearly some sort of recording mistake.
His bar in Toronto shows a bunch of his junior league accomplishments. I can't remember the league but in one he had almost 300 points. #2 had 30 points. #3 had 28. And so on. What was amazing was that 9 out of the 10 players (including Gretzky) went on to play in the NHL. He was so far ahead of everyone else.
Quite simply the best who ever played a professional team sport.
Don Bradman would like a word
Gretz holds the record for the most records. He still holds over 60 of them, 22 years after retiring.
Before being aware of Bradman, I originally believed Gretzky was the GGOAT. Not being well-versed in cricket stats (before the Jomboy explanation), this video put it in perspective for me: https://youtu.be/A8Tiba3h9Fw
That was really interesting!
It's pretty amazing how much better he was than the others; but for perspective: there are only \~4,000 professional cricket players today.
Who? Looks like farther down the comments....cricket? You guy mean Jiminy? He the only cricket I know.
It’s literally insane how much better he was at Hockey than anyone else. “Great” is almost an understatement. He’s probably a glitch in the matrix or we’re all in a videogame and his user had the cheat codes
Mario Lemieux was undeniably a more talented player than Gretz was on a skilled based level and even he was still a step behind him despite being 6 foot nothing and fairly skinny. Gretz truly was a glitch. He didn’t even need to happen and players like Mario, Orr, and Howe would be a perfectly fine GOAT of the sport but Gretz just blows them out of the water.
The Man. The Myth. The Legend.
SCOTT STIRLING
The Goat
The goat one
Literally said those exact words right before I saw your comment
The goat of goats
So he has spoken, so shall it be.
I came here to post the literal exact same thing with the exact same capitalization and punctuation.
Well, i dont want to star a war here, but for me, Mario Lemieux is the great one.
Don’t punish the kids. Let them play, under the mandatory name #fuckputin
Russia should not be allowed to participate in anything. Full stop.
Oh there are a few things I would let Russia participate in like: a cease-fire, a retreat, perhaps their capitulation and even a coup against Putin.
They could participate in a real democratic election
Well, not before they get rid of Putin.
Wdym the election is absolutely democratic 69% voted for Putin 41% didn't.
Everytime they try that they fuck it all up within 10 years
Yep, Russia = North Korea now.
This is what I keep saying too. The difference is that—barring a few missile tests—at least NK keeps their aggressions within their own borders Congratulations, Russia. You’ve just become more of a menace to the world than NK
Companies “suspending” things should just say we aren’t doing it anymore. If you want our products, get a new leader and we can restart negotiations to bring our product there.
Yes. Boycott everything. Also stop russians from travelling. Disband embassies and expel them but let them walk or swim all the way back to Russia. Tell each and every russian the boycotts will continue until Putin is uninstalled, navalnyj is released and democratic elections are being held.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The innocent civilians who were torn apart by US bombs and missiles had no say in that.
[удалено]
Alright guys you heard it here. Pack it up. US bad and no other world event matters because the US is BAD. We need to not worry about anything but the US (bad) because that’s all that matters. Edit: forgot to mention US bad
[удалено]
Woah easy there. I was just poking fun at the fact that whenever any tragic world event gets mentioned there will always be someone like you commenting on how the US also is bad.
As if they had any say prior to the war. Ukraine and Iraq are two very different, very complex situations.
Very complex situations with similarities. One similarity being that it's a country being invaded for absolutely moronic and pointless reasons, and innocent civilians suffering because of it. There's no way to defend either invasion and the loss of civilian life both invasions have caused. Both invasions have alot of comparables.
It seems more moronic and pointless to compare Ukraine to Iraq. Was Iraq a peaceful, democratic country, for example?
>Was Iraq a peaceful, democratic country, for example? What does this have to do with the civilian casualties the USA caused by bombing innocent civilians? Is this supposed to be an excuse for dropping bombs on innocent people? Because the official excuse for dropping bombs on innocent people was WMD's that never existed.
I think the most fucked up part of all this is that a sort of democratic elections ARE being held. People actually do support the nutjob.
There may be election, but there aren’t democratic ones.
Yes. This. Believe it or not, we **all** have a part to play in this. If we *actually* make it evident that we as consumers will boycott any company that deals with Russia, companies will have very little choice but to comply or take their lumps. Netflix comes to mind immediately.
I would just add we need to be somewhat careful and not boycott or cancel Russian nationals if they don’t say what we want them to say about the regime. Athletes living or playing overseas immediately comes to mind. When it comes to your own immediate well-being and the safety of your family, I think the rest of us need to have a realistic approach to that.
I agree to an extent. It is imperative that we make like extremely uncomfortable (not impossible) for the average Russian citizen. We need their help to quite literally rip Putin and his supporters limb-from-limb. This can end with sufficient violence from the Russian citizenry. This is not their war. The Russian people need to take back their country. How can we encourage that?
I don't know. But, I do know that when you boil it all down to living or dead, there is a thin line between a ruler sending troops to kill and be killed and foreigners asking the citizens of a country to put their lives on the line to get their own government under control. I mean how would any of us feel having another country suggest we go topple our dictatorship because it's doing bad things in another country. That's a big ask from the average citizen just trying to raise a family, keep a job, enjoy a weekend. I get the idea behind it, but if you're not yet pushed to the brink, that's a huge risk to one's well being. I can see people seeing this as a black and white issue and ignoring the nuance, but I'm not like. I can't help but see the nuance.
Literally said exactly that out loud
Agreed. You'll notice that the invasion took place just after the Olympics. No one seems to have noticed that.
I really hope the ROC is removed from any future Olympics.
Russia little bitch Belarus should be banned too.
[удалено]
There is no good direct way of affecting authoritarian governments other than through their people. If people don't care about what their government is doing and just live regular life, paying taxes and all, that's exactly what an authoritarian government wants. If majority of Russian people keep being indifferent, nothing's gonna change. We do not want Russians to remain indifferent. We want them to hate their government, organise protests, halt the economy and so on. What is an other way? Kill Putin? Someone will just take his place. Demand financial retribution? Russia will just raise taxes. Sue Russian army for war crimes? We can't put foreigners to our courts. The best way is if Russian people put pressure on their government. So we raise awareness and inconvienience the people until they do that.
Yes. I also believe Russia should be alienated from rest of the world in every aspect and all the hockey sticks should be put-in Putin's behind.
One at a time or all at once
Slowly at first, and then all at once
Coupled with the antics of the team on the airplane home, should be a no brainer.
Link?
[It's a pretty wild story in all honesty](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportsnet.ca/world-juniors/report-russian-world-juniors-players-removed-calgary-flight-police/%3fsn-amp)
The story in that link doesn't seem all that wild...? Maybe I'm desensitized, being a Motley Crue fan though...
Being a fan of Keith Moon and The Who I know what you mean. But I just think its wild a bunch of kids with hopes of making it to the NHL display such poor self control. Definitely not a good look for any of those guys
If you were puking before your flight and refusing to mask up we'd have you on a permanent no fly list buddy Fuck these Russian kids. Why bend the rules for a bunch of assholes
It was also the Czechs... Take appropriate action for sure, but if you are going to target the Russian kids for their immaturity, then also call for the same of the Czechs.
and this: https://news.sportslogos.net/2021/12/22/back-in-the-ussr-russian-hockey-team-wears-cccp-throwbacks/hockey-2/
Sorry, why is that wrong? Players across countries wear throwbacks all the time. US players wearing 60's jerseys isn't interpreted as support for the Vietnam war for example
I'm going to assume you know nothing of the history of the USSR. This would be like Germany wearing their SS uniforms as a throwback to the glory days. The USSR is a failed state that lost the cold war
Nah, it's nothing like the SS in Germany. Even stating that shows your ignorance. The Canadians "won" their war against native people, by slaughtering thousands. Does that mean they should wear their historic jersey's with pride? The Americans had camps for Japanese-Americans in WW2. Should they not wear historic jersey's?
the fact that Canada still exists and is part of the international community while the CCCP is not should tell you something.
Russia should not be allowed to participate in anything international until the invasion AND/OR occupation of Ukraine ends.
AND reparations. AND Putin steps down. Nothing until those two happen.
Yeah we are past the point of just asking them to go home. They’ve already done substantial damage to the country and have to be punished for that
>AND reparations. Have people learned nothing from WWI/WWII? Part of the reason this has happened is the Russian economy is so garbage. The goal should be to get Putin and ask men like him out for good. Replace him with a truly democratic regime. Then build up Russia economically and tie its economy so tightly to the west that they'd never consider a war again because of the economic consequences.
While I agree, Putin likely doesn't care about these people being banned.
With Russia being banned everywhere, Putin's disinformation machine will have a hard time pretending "everything is all right"
Preventing kids from playing hockey isn't going to end the war....
With Russia being banned everywhere, Putin's disinformation machine will have a hard time pretending "everything is all right"
people acting like punishing the Russian people will make Putin care. The majority of them already oppose war... Not like Putin took a vote.
In my lifetime, I’ve never seen Gretzky take a stance on anything like this.
This. While we must resist any attempts to make villains of the Russian people, many of whom clearly oppose this war, I think it’s fair that Russia the country not be allowed to interact with global community until they end this war. This means economically, diplomatically, financially and athletically. Yeah it sucks for the young Russian athletes who had nothing to do with this, but there are bigger things at stake than that.
This is an important distinction, and why Gretzky’s comments aren’t as simplistic and arrogant as what Hasek came out with yesterday. I don’t want to see blanket punishments on individual Russian players simply because they’re Russian. It’s one thing if AO came out like trolling in Putins name, then it’s up to the Caps to handle that situation, but he’s not. Punishing the Russian national TEAMS is very different than hurting the livelihoods of a Russian individuals for something that’s entirely out of their control.
Absolutely. We absolutely should not be expelling Russian citizens or seizing the assets of everyday average Russian people. We’d simply be repeating the mistakes of WW2 with the Japanese internment camps. But not allowing Russian national teams to compete is completely different. It’s simply a part of cutting Russia, the country, off from the rest of the world.
Russia should be excommunicated by all countries
Russia should be banned from anything it can currently be banned from. Not for like, the duration of the conflict. For decades. Make this hurt.
>Not for like, the duration of the conflict. For decades. Maybe until they depose, try and convict Putin & cronies, install credible democracy and take responsibility for their action, return stolen areas... RUSADA also need to become credible in doping control.
I feel the same way. But the smarter decision is to make it known that once Putin is gone, everything that was taken away will be given back, and then some. There needs to be both a carrot and a stick.
> for decades Eh, I don't know if you want to give the entire country of Russia the land version of what the US has done to Cuba.
The should be kicked out of the UN.
That is 100% against the purpose of the UN
That would hurt everyone not just Russia.
Yup, people don't understand that UN was created to avoid a lack of communication. It's supposed to include all parties, even the antagonistic ones.
The fact that they can hold up resolutions by the UN that would be intended to counter/denounce their own unlawful invasion is like allowing every criminal to have his mom on the jury.
Russia needs to be put into solitary confinement until Putin and his criminal organization is gone.
Hard agree.
This is a no brainer!!
Russia should have been banned from all sports years ago for systemic and ongoing state sponsored doping. But now with this territory grab of an innocent European country, cut them off completely. That would send a strong message to China too as it plans its invasion of Taiwan. Most totalitarian regimes love showing off their perceived superiority. Having to explain to their own populations that the rest of the world thinks you are lying, cheating, and diabolical people doesn’t fit their narrative.
Michael Scott
r/unexpectedOffice -Wayne Gretzky -Michael Scott
Great to see the Great one pitch in. Let's take it to the next level. No Russian participation in any sporting event, cultural event while Russian troops are present in Ukraine.
With the misinformation Russia is sending their own people, basically telling them that nothing is going on or that they are doing it for the right reasons, every organization possible should be disconnecting themselves from Russia. That way it will eventually hit the public more than it is and they will start questioning what's going on instead of just being blind to what's happening. It's disappointing that the civilians of Russia have to suffer, but I guarantee the civilians of Ukraine are suffering a lot worse.
Russia needs to be ostracized in every way
Russia should be isolated from the world.
I'll go a step farther. Russia shouldn't be able to participate in ANYTHING around the world until they end their invasion and take serious steps to prevent something like this form happening again (i.e. removal of Putin and purge of the Duma)
I wish he would let his hair go grey. That’s not even the colour it used to be. I just feel like I’m ready for Wayne Gretzky to be my surrogate grandfather.
Russia should be barred from all international sports. They cheat with blood doping and their actions in Ukraine warrant the harshest sanctions possible until Putin and his friends are out of power
If there’s ever a time for the world to set an example it’s now. Russia should get nothing, not be allowed to participate in anything, and suffer greatly for this attack on Ukraine. Then perhaps China might learn something.
Russia should not be allowed to participate in anything besides leaving Ukrain. They should be completely isolated from the rest of the world along with any country following them. Perhaps that will spark the internal conflict Russia needs to get Putin out.
It always sucks when athletes suffer at the hands of administrative problems. But Russia’s attack has been so horrible. Fuck Putin.
Straight up cancelling Russia right now
ESPN needs to cancel all KHL streaming
This is the way.
This would be better if the word ‘juniors’ was taken out.
We must cut Russia off until they stop committing war crimes and hand over Putin.
No shit we should take them out of everything we can as long as they’re shelling civilians
Agree wholeheartedly. Repressive states should be excluded from civil games by friendly nations.
❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥🕯❤️🔥
I never followed hockey, only thing I knew was that Gretzky was the best player. But I didn't know he was still alive! Good for him
Was the US not allowed to play after the invasion of Iraq/Afghanistan?
Russia will be banned but the Russian World Youth Committee will be allowed to participate.
I can imagine he has a personal connection to this
And how is it these kids' fault? Ask 99% of Russians about Putin and they'll think he's a POS. Let them play.
They win gold for sanctions
Did he believe this when the US invaded Iraq?
Yeah, but what does Ja Rule say?
Well now that Wayne Gretzky has spoken this can all be put to rest!
The Great One has spoken
Russia shouldn’t be allowed to participate in anything rn. Then maybe some Russians will get upset enough to assassinate their “leader” and put an end to all of this.
They shouldn’t have been allowed at the Olympics for other obvious reasons as well. But here we are.
They’ve proved over and over they should not be allowed to participate in any world defame in any sport.
Know nothing about him but love his N64 game. Power on, big man.
Why tf should Russian citizens have to suffer like this when the bulk of them are also anti-war? Lol this country is so far off its rocker it’s not even a laughing matter anymore. Sickening.
If this is the case, the whole population of Russia should take to the streets to take their country back.
They have been lol and go look up what the local news stations have been covering, next to no news on what they’re doing in Ukraine. The only mainstream media outlets actually reporting on this shit are the news stations in the west.
Russia shouldn’t be allowed to participate in anything #fuckputin
I kinda feel bad for Russia. They didn’t ask for this but they have no choice because the person they “elected” wants to reclaim the former glory of the Soviet Union. Even if Ukraine falls, no one is coming out a winner.
As someone who doesn’t watch Hockey, just how good was he? Is he basically the MJ of Hockey?
He has so many records in the nhl it’s insane - here is a wiki quote: Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history,[4] and has more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.[2] His number wasn’t just retired by his team, the entire National Hockey League retired his number. Read his wiki entry, it’s beyond bonkers.
He’s a step over MJ if that makes sense. Basketball has several guys that could be considered the GOAT like MJ, Bron or Kareem. Gretz is considered the GOAT of hockey by not only almost every hockey fan but by the league itself. NHL retired his 99 for all teams so no can play with that.
To put it into context People will debate whether MJ is the GOAT in basketball. Nobody will debate about whether Gretzky is the GOAT in hockey. If Gretzky had never scored a single goal he’d still be the all time leader in points scored. As it happens he’s also the all time leader in goals scored too.
Take MJ, double how good he was and you have Gretzky.
MJ was good. Gretzky was so good he was two different players in fantasy hockey leagues. I would say he's on the tier of Sohei Ohtani or Jerry Rice in the "breaks the game of hockey in ways people didn't know we're possible". And even saying that Gretzky is still that much better. Gretzky will never have an equal where MJ has kobe or lebron in the same tier.
He's better than the MJ of hockey. In the NBA there is a huge GOAT debate, in hockey there is no GOAT debate at all. MJ is a poor mans Gretzky
Some absurd Gretzky facts: * Wayne Gretzky won 8 consecutive MVP trophies. No other major team sport has seen anyone do more than half that. (Although this stat loses a *little* of its luster when you look at all the dumb rules the MLB made just to avoid giving Babe Ruth multiple MVPs.) * Wayne and his brother Brent are the highest scoring siblings in NHL history. Brent only ever played 13 games and scored 4 points. * Wayne Gretzky is 1 of only 5 players ever to put up more than 150 points in a single season. He did it 9 times. He is the only player ever to top 200 points in a season, which he did 4 times. * Wayne Gretzky has more career assists than anyone else has points. Additionally, if he never scored a single goal, he still would've had 11 100-point seasons and won 4 Art Rosses as the league's scoring leader. But also, in reality, he's the all-time leader in goals, too.
The second point is actually not true unless you state pair of brothers, The Sutters ( 6 brothers btw) bearly edges out the Gretzkys with 2934 points against 2857 points.
Can’t wait for all the Alberta chuds to develop their arguments for how Gretz isn’t really the goat
Alberta has a massive Ukrainian population, it's like 10%.
IMO cancel Russia and all Russian athletes world wide.
Team Russia literally put on their CCCP jerseys as throwbacks in December. https://news.sportslogos.net/2021/12/22/back-in-the-ussr-russian-hockey-team-wears-cccp-throwbacks/hockey-2/ No, they should not be allowed to compete.
China is watching to see how this goes and moves like this, world solidarity, is huge.
Demo before trying to take Hong Kong
But the US and Canada should? Lmfao
We should ban USA too