The Great One might give coaching another shot.
Sean Burke, Canada's general manager for the upcoming Spengler Cup tournament, approached Wayne Gretzky about guiding the team in December.
"It was a nice surprise when Sean called," Gretzky told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday. "I thanked him. I was excited about it. Team Canada is pretty special. I think the Spengler Cup is the oldest tournament that we know of. It's a pretty nice honor. I told him I needed some time (to sort things out). The only problem for me is that it's over Christmastime. It's a tough decision to make."
"So, we're talking about it and debating it," he added. "But it's a great honor that he reached out."
The hockey legend has never coached Team Canada but represented his country numerous times. He also built the Canadian squad that won Olympic gold in 2002, as well as the Canadian team that won the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.
Gretzky served as Arizona Coyotes bench boss from 2005 to 2009. The club went 143-161-24 during that time before he stepped down ahead of the 2009-10 campaign.
More recently, he coached the Metropolitan Division All-Stars, including Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, to victory in the three-on-three format at the 2017 festivities in Los Angeles.
The 2019 Spengler Cup will take place from Dec. 26 to 31 in Davos, Switzerland.
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