Commentary I used to think it was a pretty good thing to be a Canadian. I could see that I lived in a free country, relatively free of violence. The people were prosperous but full of community spirit and charitable to those less well off. We weren’t the kind of country that picked fights but…

BRANTFORD, Ont.—Wayne Gretzky remembered his father, Walter, as a man with “a heart of gold” today at his funeral in Brantford, Ont. Known as Canada’s hockey dad, Walter Gretzky died Thursday at age 82 after battling Parkinson’s disease and other health issues in recent years. Wayne Gretzky, the oldest of the family’s five children, delivered…

TORONTO—Walter Gretzky, the father of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, has died. He was 82. Wayne Gretzky said in a social media post Thursday night that his father battled Parkinson’s disease and other health issues the past few years. “It’s with deep sadness that Janet and I share the news of the passing of my dad,”…

Walter Gretzky, the ultimate Canadian hockey dad who taught and nurtured the Great One, has died. He was 82. The father of Wayne Gretzky became a name himself, a constant in Wayne’s world. As Wayne’s star ascended, Walter remained a blue−collar symbol of a devoted hockey parent in a country filled with them. Wayne Gretzky…