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When Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer was asked about Wayne Gretzky’s visit to the locker room after the team’s series win over Winnipeg on Saturday, he dropped a bit of a bombshell.
“What if I told you he said he was hoping that Dallas would win, do you think that’d make headlines in Edmonton?” DeBoer asked.
Would it make headlines, in Canada, if the greatest hockey player of all time said he was rooting for the Stars over his former team? Yeah, that’s probably a safe bet.
“He didn’t,” DeBoer added to reporters with a laugh, putting that thought to rest quickly.
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So Gretzky probably won’t be up in the American Airlines Center stands singing along with Pantera when Dallas takes on Edmonton in the Western Conference finals, but The Great One paid his respects to the Stars on Saturday and stopped by to congratulate them on a clutch win. A clip of Gretzky’s visit to the locker room went viral, featuring a brief conversation between himself and captain Jamie Benn.
The Great One himself stopped by the @DallasStars' dressing room to congratulate the team on making the Western Conference Final! 💫 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Owz6MDLAiL
“Don’t worry about scoring goals, you’re playing unreal,” Gretzky told Benn.
“I’m just a checker now,” Benn replied with a wry smile.
Benn and DeBoer were asked about Gretzky’s visit on Tuesday during a pre-conference finals news conference, and both mentioned how special it was just to be graced by the presence of the NHL’s all-time leading points scorer.
“Obviously pretty cool that Wayne came in our room after the game,” Benn said. “Talked to us, talked to the guys. He said we’re going up against a pretty good team now. Had to ask him who he was cheering for, it felt right. He didn’t answer, obviously.”
Gretzky played with the Oilers for nine seasons from 1980-88 and scored nearly 600 goals in that span.
“That’s my era, that’s the guy we all grew up watching,” DeBoer said. “He’s a special guy when you get him one-on-one, or in a coach’s room behind the scenes. You can see his passion for the game, he can sit and talk hockey, tell stories all night.”
DeBoer knows, though, that Gretzky’s rooting interest is probably spoken for.
“I think we all understand his allegiance to Edmonton, we appreciate that,” the Stars’ coach said. “It was great to see him.”
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
R.J. works on the sports desk as a digital producer after having originally joined the DMN as a college blogger and high school football freelancer. He graduated from UT-Arlington in 2019 where he worked for the student publication 'The Shorthorn.'
