Whitehorse boy to meet Wayne Gretzky after contest win

It’s a dream made in hockey heaven – hitting the ice with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, and one lucky boy from Whitehorse is seeing it come true this weekend.

It’s a dream made in hockey heaven – hitting the ice with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, and one lucky boy from Whitehorse is seeing it come true this weekend.

Charlene Egglestone had completely forgotten the contest she’d entered her hockey-crazy son Tyler in months ago, until she got the call saying he had been chosen.

“I had entered him in it because Tyler is like (a) huge hockey fan,” said Egglestone.

The contest was put on by TSN and Samsung to find the biggest hockey fans from across Canada. Parents had to write a 250 word essay about why they thought their kid was the biggest hockey fan in Canada.

Egglestone says it was hard for her to describe her son’s love of hockey in just 250 words.

“You would have to see his room to believe it,” said Egglestone.

His room truly is an Oilers haven – every possible piece of Oilers memorabilia can be found in Tyler’s room. It’s like a museum for Oilers fans. Tyler’s extensive collection includes pucks and clocks, chairs, action figures and more. Even the walls have been painted to complement the navy blue, white and orange of the Oilers.

“Tyler doesn’t need Christmas ideas,” Egglestone said. “It’s more a question of does he have it (already).” She says Tyler is the ultimate Oilers fan, “and hockey in general.”

Egglestone wasn’t able to show a picture of Tyler’s room to the judges, but her essay won anyways.

Tyler will join 14 other Canadian kids who love hockey to meet Gretzky and three time Olympic medalist for woman’s hockey Hayley Wickenheiser.

Tyler says Gretzky is one of his favourite players of all time.

“Out of the Oilers, yeah,” he said. His number one Oiler right now is right winger Ales Hemsky.

Tyler says he couldn’t believe it when he found out he had won.

“(It was) really good. Surprising,” he said.

When Tyler was beeped to the office at school a few days ago for his mom to tell him the news, he had no idea what he was in for, but the surprise he got was a little more than what he expected.

“I think he was more in disbelief,” said Egglestone. “I don’t think it set in till the day after.”

Tyler agrees. “I kind of just stood there and didn’t believe her,” he said.

After he found out, Tyler got to tell his friends all about the contest. He says they were “excited and jealous,” that he was getting to play with Gretzky. Many of them asked him if he would bring back autographs for them, but Tyler had a quick answer for them: “No.” The ten-year-old plans to collect his own signatures and soak up the time spent with the living legend.

The initial shock of learning he would be meeting Gretzky has subsided and the realty has set in for Tyler, who’s playing his first year of pee wee hockey as centre with Whitehorse Minor Hockey. He has been playing hockey since he was four, and hopes to some day have a career in the sport.

Tyler says he likes the speed of the game the most.

“It’s a fast sport,” he said. 

He will set off for Calgary Sunday with his mom, who is looking forward to the trip as much as her son.

“I was so excited, I still am,” said Egglestone.

She is looking forward to her son meeting Gretzky, and hopes that he will act as a good role model for Tyler.

“I think its going to be so much fun for him,” she said.

The quick trip will include meeting Gretzky and Wickenheiser, followed by a scrimmage and autograph session.

Tyler is most looking forward to the ice time and the autograph session.

Egglestone thinks Tyler might not say much around his idol when he finally gets to shake his hand.

“I think Tyler will be quite quiet,” she said.

It’s a reaction many might have upon meeting the living hockey legend.

“For so many people Wayne Gretzky, especially for dads, he’s such a big part of hockey,” said Egglestone.

Gretzky remains the only player in hockey history to have his jersey number, 99, retired by all participating franchises in the NHL. He started out playing for Tyler’s favourite team the Oilers in 1979 and led the team to four Stanley Cups. He played for three more NHL teams, the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings and finally played his last game in 1999 for the New York Rangers. He played for Team Canada at the Nagano Olympics and was Team Canada’s executive director at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 where the team won their first gold medal in 50 years. Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999. He is the only NHL player to have 200 points in one season, which he did four times.

Wickenheiser is a three time Olympic medalist, including two golds and one silver. She was chosen as tournament MVP for both gold medal games. Wickenheiser is the only woman to have scored a goal in a mens professional hockey league, which she did while playing in Europe, and the first woman to play professional hockey in a position other than goalie. She has six gold medals from Woman’s World Cup hockey. She also represented Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympics for softball.