6 embarrassing things Wayne Gretzky wants you to forget

Wayne Gretzky might have cemented his legacy as one of the world’s greatest athletes but there are some very ugly and embarrassing things in his past he probably doesn’t want you to remember. Here are six of the best.

In 2010, Gretzky took part in Canada’s Olympic Torcy Relay during the opening ceremonies from the back of a pickup truck and looked super awkward as throngs of fans fawned over him. 

When Gretzky made it to the stadium to light the Olympic flame, the torch malfunctioned and he stood awkwardly with Steve Nash and Catrina Le May Doan on live TV in what has to have been one of the most embarrassing moments of his public career life. 

Another super awkward moment in Gretzky’s life was the time his wife Janet publicly rejected his kiss during a 2016 playoffs game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals. 

Screenshot from YouTube @SPORTSNET

All eyes were on the Gretzky's when the stadium's kiss cam put them up onto the jumbotron, Ol’ Wayne leaned in for the kiss with puckered duck lips but his wife just stared off into the distance. 

Screenshot from YouTube @SPORTSNET

As if that moment wasn’t awkward enough, Gretzky then tapped his wife on the shoulder to get her attention but Janet made it clear she was not going to take part in this oldest of hockey spectating traditions. The whole thing was super cringy…

Screenshot from YouTube @SPORTSNET

One thing you definitely don’t know about Gretzky was that he was a big supporter of Canada’s Conservative leader Stephen Harper and endorsed him during his 2015 federal election against Liberal Justin Trudeau, even though he couldn’t vote in the election. 

The endorsement caused quite a stir in Canada and Gretzky faced a huge backlash from fans and citizens who once considered the man to be one of Canada’s greatest national heroes. 

“I was thoroughly sickened when I read Wayne Gretzky’s endorsement of Stephen Harper,” Norman Lawson wrote to the editors of the Toronto Star at the time.

“Wayne Gretzky describes Harper as an ‘unreal Prime Minister.’ He got that right, but his understanding of it is so off,” wrote Beatrice Cleary.

Wayne might have been the greatest hockey player of all time but his record as a coach proved that not everyone who's good on the ice can transition those skills into coaching a Stanley Cup-worthy team. 

In 2005, Gretzky made his triumphal return to the NHL as the new head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and after four seasons it was an absolute disaster. Gretzky had a win-lose-tie record of 143-161-24. 

The Coyotes didn’t make it into the playoffs in all four seasons Gretzky helmed the team and Bleacher Report noted that his “record was just under .500,” which was pretty trash… 

This one wasn’t really Wayne’s fault but it is certainly something he doesn’t want you to remember, especially since it was tied back to organized crime. 

In 2006, Janet was at the heart of an investigation that eventually showed she had placed bets in a gambling ring run by Pheonix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet.

The investigation revealed the gambling ring had ties to the Bruno-Scarfo crime family and CBS News reported that Gretzky had been caught on a wire tape “discussing how the hockey great's wife could avoid being implicated.” 

Sure Gretzky’s son Trevor failed as an athlete in Major League Baseball and his brothers didn’t have great professional careers, but the biggest familial embarrassment for Wayne has been the racy social media posting habits of his daughter Paulina. 

Paulina’s social media accounts used to be filled with hundreds of unsavory photos from her days as a party goddess, something no father would be happy about.

Gretzky’s daughter toned things down since marrying Dustin Johnson—a media nightmare in his own right. But the coupling almost didn't happen since Gretzky threatened to nix it if Johnson didn’t stop sleeping around and clean up his hard-partying ways, according to New York Post.