A talented athlete is not a “national treasure”. It’s just sports. Gretzky was always kind of a blank slate, a super-talented athlete with very little depth of character. He was a master of the sports interview, giving his 100%, thanking his team-mates, making the obligatory charitable gestures, hauling his money off to the bank.
Now we see more of his character and it’s not pretty. It’s tacky and tasteless and self-serving and tone-death. Unless you think that maybe Gretzky never cared all that much what Canadians thought of him anyway.
What idiot made him “honorary captain” of the Canadian team at the Four Nations tournament? (Answer: someone in the NHL League Offices.)