Podcast Episode Summary: "The Great Once"

Pablo Torre Finds Out | Host: Pablo Torre | Guest: Bruce Arthur | April 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this award-winning, deeply reported episode, Pablo Torre and Canadian journalist Bruce Arthur dive into the unprecedented political and cultural tensions between Canada and the United States, catalyzed by President Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric suggesting Canada become the "51st state" of America. Intertwined with these geopolitical questions is the personal and public saga of Wayne Gretzky—Canada’s most revered hockey player—whose relationships, actions, and silence have become national flashpoints. The episode explores the meaning of patriotism, the power of sports as a unifier and distraction, and even investigates how political figures like FBI Director Kash Patel find solace (and controversy) in rec league hockey.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

I. Setting the Stage: Canada on Edge

• Bruce Arthur highlights Canada's historical comfort and lack of existential national crises, contrasting sharply with the present moment's anxiety ([02:21]).
  • Quote:
    "We've been just really lucky as a country, and all of a sudden, we're not." — Bruce Arthur ([02:21])
• Pablo frames the episode as an attempt to understand both the fever of anti-American sentiment rising in Canada and the symbolism of Wayne Gretzky at the center.

II. The Gretzky-Trump Nexus: Myth Meets Politics

• The show details Gretzky's significance to Canadian national identity. Bruce argues there is no American equivalent to Gretzky’s symbolic importance ([09:15]).
  • Quote:
    "He is so much better than anybody else... Wayne Gretzky is myth in this country." — Bruce Arthur ([10:46])
• Pablo and Bruce dissect Gretzky’s long-standing relationship with Donald Trump, which deepened after Gretzky “became” an American post-trade to LA in 1988, creating both cultural and personal ambiguity about his nationality ([13:14]–[14:54]).
• The pressure grows as Trump openly muses about making Canada the 51st state, repeatedly invoking Gretzky in these statements. Canadian anger mounts as their favorite son appears noncommittal ([15:07], [16:22]).

III. Hockey as Geopolitical Battleground

• The Four Nations Cup hockey game between the US and Canada becomes highly charged, exemplifying the fraught national mood. For the first time, Canadian fans boo the American anthem ([17:18]–[17:57]).
  • Quote:
    "We have never booed the American anthem, man. We don’t do that...and we have never booed the anthem until this year." — Bruce Arthur ([17:27])
• Gretzky further fumbles public perception—walking out by the American bench and handing out red caps reading “Be Great,” which many see as echoing Trump’s MAGA hats ([18:04]–[21:00]).
  • Quote:
    "I want to believe that Wayne Gretzky is just political, Mr. Magoo, and has no idea what’s happening at any given moment...given how we led to this moment, the payoff of here are some red caps that say, ‘Be Great’...it’s just like, what is—am I taking crazy pills?" — Pablo Torre ([20:12])

IV. The Fallout: Rebranding the "Great One"

• Public backlash is swift and harsh: protests, petitions to rename arenas, and the worst—someone smears feces on Gretzky’s statue in Edmonton ([23:17]).
• Gretzky’s American wife, Janet, posts in his defense, but is bombarded with vitriol and deletes the post ([23:51]). Trump defends Gretzky on social media ([24:34]), but further outrage ensues in Canada.
• Bruce explains that Canadians’ anger isn’t about expecting Gretzky to influence Trump, but wanting Gretzky to assert his love and loyalty to Canada in this fraught moment ([27:03]).
  • Quote:
    "Nobody expects Wayne Gretzky...to go to Donald Trump and say, knock it off. No more 51st state. ...That’s not the point." — Bruce Arthur ([27:03])

V. Investigating the Mysterious Kash Patel: Hockey, Power, and Escapism

• Pablo embarks on a “talkumentary” dig: Why is Trump’s FBI Director, Kash Patel—a noted conspiracy theorist—present in Gretzky’s hockey entourage? ([28:23])
• Pablo reveals Patel’s obsession with rec league hockey, playing defenseman for the “Dons” in suburban D.C. Despite his powerful DC roles, Sundays are carved out for hockey—the FBI “knows to leave him alone” ([31:45]).
  • Quote:
    "FBI officials quote, know to leave him alone on Sundays. It's a well carved out thing." — Anonymous teammate, as reported by Pablo Torre ([32:12])
• Hockey as escapism is explored, but the proximity between sporting life and the national security apparatus is both absurd and concerning ([33:39]–[36:39]).
• Congressional Hockey Caucus founder Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) discusses the limitations of sports as political bridge-building in today's climate ([39:56]–[40:47]).
  • Quote:
    "Sport can be a great uniter, a great healer...But I would tell you, even hockey has problems bridging the divide with some folks." — Rep. Mike Quigley ([39:56])
• The blurred lines: “hockey guy” camaraderie contrasts with the existential consequences of the actions and policies of those off the ice ([42:31]).

VI. Sports as Bread and Circus: Distraction and Daring

• The episode closes with Bruce and Pablo lamenting how sports—once a unifying civic ritual—now risks serving as displacement and distraction from dire political threats ([44:03]–[45:57]).
  • Quote:
    "The bread and circus thing becomes more and more acute the closer you get as an empire falls apart." — Bruce Arthur ([45:29])
• Bruce notes Canada’s new rallying cry is not Gretzky, but “Elbows Up,” inspired by legendary enforcer Gordie Howe, signaling new national toughness ([47:21]–[48:47]).
• Both acknowledge the resilience of people, both Canadian and American, and end with a renewed, if rueful, appreciation of shared values and justified anger ([48:49]–[49:16]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Canadian comfort and crisis:
  "Being in Canada...nothing has ever gone that wrong on a national level in the country...we've been just really lucky as a country, and all of a sudden, we're not." — Bruce Arthur ([02:21])

• On the myth of Gretzky:
  "Wayne Gretzky is myth in this country." — Bruce Arthur ([10:46])

• On Canadian anger at the 51st state notion:
  "It's hard to explain to Americans how pissed we are right now at America...and there's Wayne." — Bruce Arthur ([15:07])

• On sports as unity, and its limits:
  "You can bridge gaps with sports at its best. Absolutely...now the rules have changed. And I gotta tell you...it's not us that change the rules, man. We didn't change how this game works." — Bruce Arthur ([41:04])

• On the danger of distraction:
  "The bread and circus thing becomes more and more acute the closer you get as an empire falls apart." — Bruce Arthur ([45:29])

• On Canada’s new mindset:
  "Canada wants to be Gordie Howe right now. That's the song we're singing to ourselves." — Bruce Arthur ([48:47])

Important Timestamps

• [02:21] Bruce Arthur recounts Canadian historical safety and emerging distress.
• [09:15] Bruce explains the mythic stature of Wayne Gretzky.
• [13:14]–[14:54] The Gretzky-Trump friendship: golf, status, and politics.
• [17:18]–[17:57] Canada and the U.S. at the Four Nations Cup; the unprecedented booing of the anthem.
• [20:12] Pablo critiques Gretzky’s symbolic miscues.
• [23:17] Gretzky statue vandalized in Edmonton.
• [27:03] Bruce on what Canadians truly expect from Gretzky.
• [31:45] Pablo investigates Kash Patel’s role in rec league hockey.
• [39:56] Rep. Mike Quigley on sports as a limited unifier.
• [44:03] Bruce and Pablo discuss sports as “bread and circus” in crumbling empires.
• [48:47] Bruce coins Canada’s new mantra: “Elbows Up,” channeling Gordie Howe.

Tone and Style

The episode is marked by Pablo's signature mix of curiosity, humor, and journalistic rigor, paired with Bruce Arthur’s clear-eyed, passionate candor about Canadian culture and identity. The discussion flows from the absurd to the heartfelt, tied together by a sense of urgency and lament for what sports and international relations have become in the current geopolitical climate.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in sports, politics, or the delicate relationship between national myth and contemporary reality. It mixes investigative storytelling with intimate conversation, and illuminates the complicated legacy of Wayne Gretzky and the fragility of Canadian-American friendship in an age of political turmoil and performative patriotism.