Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community……
When Walter Gretzky passed away in early March it was a fitting testimonial to the man that so many people had kept, and then posted photographs through the years with Canada’s favorite and most beloved hockey dad
Everybody had an encounter. Everybody had a story.
Here’s mine…..
In 1982 I was the Coffee Boy for a CBC TV Show called ” MacLean At Large “, an interview program hosted by Bob MacLean.
As Coffee Boy, you could imagine how low on the corporate totem pole I was.
Still, it was exciting to meet so many prominent people from that era who made stops on the show; Burton Cummings, Charles Templeton, Hall & Oates and many more….
In 1982, Wayne Gretzky was smashing NHL records scoring 92 goals and picking up 212 points. He was amazing and you can imagine how excited ” MacLean At Large ” was to have him booked as a guest in mid April following his regular season assault on the NHL Record Book.
But the Los Angeles Kings wrecked the program schedule by extending their playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers to 5 games, eventually stunning the Oilers and in the process keeping Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton and far away from Toronto and his scheduled interview ( Keep in mind this was LONG before ZOOM was invented )
In Wayne Gretzky’s absence, the producers arranged to have his father, Walter be at the studio for the interview.
Walter Gretzky arrived with a longtime friend and to my utter amazement in the Green Room, he barely mentioned his extraordinarily talented and famous son, Wayne, but rather seemed vastly more interested in the Coffee Boy; who he was, where he grew up, how his studies at Ryerson were going, what were he wanted to go in the future.
I’ve never forgotten that and like everyone he encountered, we’ll remember Walter Gretzky in a positive light.
For Pete’s Auto Body I’m Fred Wallace