If you went after Wayne Gretzky or did something nasty against him on the ice, it didn’t take long until some of his teammates came to his aid to defend him.
But when all-time great Bobby Clarke crushed Gretzky in The Great One’s early career, the telling-off didn’t come from an opponent but instead from his wife.
“Edmonton comes to town, and all those guys are really young but really good. We are up a goal late in the third period, and they pull their goalie. We’re defending, and I come up against Gretzky, and I crosscheck him really hard in the back. Down he goes. That time there’s a six-on-five, and there’s no penalty going to be called in those days,” he said on The Cam & Strick Podcast.
Wayne Gretzky got crosschecked
It wasn’t often someone went after the one and only Wayne Gretzky, but somehow, Bobby Clarke got away with it. But only until he got into the car to drive home after the game. As it turned out, his wife had something very important to tell him…
“So after the game, I’m heading into the car and driving home with my wife, and she’s pissed. And I said,” what’s the matter with you?” And she says,” How could you do that to that nice, young boy?”
“Gretzky at the time looked like my 12-year-old son. He looks so young. And I looked at my wife, and I said:” That nice, young boy is going to be kicking our ass for a long time.”
READ MORE: How Wayne Gretzky gave Doug Gilmour a hockey lesson
