On Second Thought, Wayne Gretzky is an American

Recently at both Can't Stop the Bleeding and Canucks and Beyond, bloggers have had some fun at the expense of Senator John McCain and his ghost writer when they pointed to a Newsweek article where he made what seems like a very obvious mistake -- one that Salter rushed to correct:

If the need arises and the range is close, Mark Salter will edit John McCain in midsentence. After 19 years at each other's side, neither man gives it a second thought.

When a writer for The New Yorker was interviewing them last year about their latest best-selling book, the talk turned to hockey and the Arizona senator's admiration for Wayne Gretzky, who coaches the Phoenix Coyotes. "Wayne Gretzky is one of the all-time best American athletes!" McCain proclaimed. But even before his boss finished speaking, Salter had spotted a slip-up: the hockey legend is from Ontario. "Yes," Salter interjected, "Gretzky is one of the best American athletes ... from Canada!"

As you might expect, both bloggers were quick to ridicule McCain and Salter. Wrote Jason Cohen at CSTB: "Hey, the Americas are the Americas, correct," while Alanah McGinley chimed in with, "[P]erhaps we can add that Alexander Ovechkin may be one of the best American athletes from Russia. Or then there's Mats Sundin --- shall we just call him the best Canadian athlete ever born in Sweden?"

Pretty funny, eh? After all, Gretzky was Executive Director of Canada Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team at both the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics. Just how much more Canadian can you be? But the question is a little more complex. That's because shortly after Gretzky married the former Janet Jones on July 17, 1988, he -- like so many other Canadians playing in the NHL -- obtained American citizenship. So for more than 20 years, Gretzky has been a dual citizen of both Canada and the U.S.

And when you know that, a more appropriate analogy might be: Peter Nedved is one of the all-time most infuriating Canadian hockey players -- from the Czech Republic.