Great One Weighs In On Hockey's Future
13/09/2008 06:41
TORONTO - Wayne Gretzky doesn't believe the new Russian hockey league poses a threat to the NHL and won't be surprised to see another NHL team eventually end up in Ontario.
Those are just two of the issues he touched on during a wide-ranging speech to the Economic Club of Canada on Friday afternoon.
The Great One told the crowd he was offered an opportunity to go to Europe after retiring from the New York Rangers in 1999 but didn't see any point in playing in a second-tier league. He believes many of today's stars will have the same reaction if they're approached by a KHL team.
"The bottom line is there's only one National Hockey League," said Gretzky. "When I retired I got an offer to go play in Swizerland and it was a crazy amount of money. I remember thinking, `You know what, it's all fun and that's great but there's only one National Hockey League.'
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s nice to see Gretz not pull any punches when it comes to what he thinks is the best professional hockey league in the world.