Wayne Gretzky lands on hot seat as comments resurface following Stan Bowman’s hire in Edmonton

Stan Bowman’s hire in Edmonton as the new general manager of the Oilers got people talking for the past few days and even got a petition going out to get the new executive out of the organization.

That’s because, as you probably know, Bowman was banned in 2021 from holding executive positions in the NHL after an independent investigation revealed that they had mishandled allegations of sexual assault raised by a former player, who later identified himself as Kyle Beach, regarding the team’s video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.

When Bowman was introduced as the new Oilers’ GM on Wednesday, he spoke of his involvement in the Beach story and explained the work he put it to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy, co-founder of the Respect Group, attended the press conference and has given his endorsement of the former Blackhawks GM to the Oilers organization.

Bowman has the support of the Oilers’ organization at this time, which got fans wondering how Wayne Gretzky was feeling about the whole thing. While he hasn’t made any comment on the hire at this time, fans were quick to remember how the Great One once spoke about the situation in Chicago, just before the Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard last summer as the first overall pick, and his comments sure make it sounds like he wouldn’t be thrilled about the Oilers’ decision to hire Bowman. Gretzky had said:

“I’m sitting here thinking, as a parent ‘My son is 18 years old and he’s going to maybe be drafted by that team…I want to know my 18-yr-old son is going to be protected.”

I can only imagine that parents of prospects, especially the ones already selected by Edmonton, will be asking the same question… So, why didn't Gretzky say something about this before Bowman was announced as the team's new GM? I'm pretty sure, he could have stopped it... Fans have voiced their frustration with the Great One on letting the hire take place.

The only thing they can lean on for now is that, during the press conference on Wednesday, Bowman and president Jeff Jackson both expressed how the incident that happened in Chicago will never happen in Edmonton.

I guess only time will tell, but in the meantime, we get a taste of how Gretzky might truly feel about all this.