The NHL legend weighed in with his views on players ‘icing the puck’ during Friday’s clash between Edmonton and Florida, yet ended up leaving many confused with some of his commentsWayne GretzkyNHL legend Wayne Gretzky ripped into the Carolina Panthers for icing the puck during Friday’s Stanley Cup clash with the Edmonton Oilers(Image: X/Twitter – TNT Sports)

Hockey icon Wayne Gretzky left viewers baffled after producing a bizarre rant on the Florida Panthers’ reliance on icing the puck from their defensive zone against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

The two NHL giants went head-to-head in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Finals series in Canada, with the visitors emerging victorious with a 5-4 overtime win at Rogers Place to level the tie at 1-1 following a 4-3 defeat in the first match. The Panthers are aiming to defend their title, which rewarded them with a trip to the White House earlier this year.

Last month, however, Panthers vice-chairman Doug Cifu was suspended indefinitely by the NHL for “unacceptable and inappropriate” social media posts. Just days later, NHL referee Chris Rooney was forced to exit Florida’s game with the Toronto Maple Leafs after suffering a horrific injury that left him spewing blood onto the ice.

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On Friday, however, Gretzky was struggling to accept an aspect of Florida’s play as the game headed to overtime. When asked by NHL on TNT studio host Liam McHugh to break down what he was seeing from the Panthers, he certainly didn’t hold back.

“I thought Florida was fantastic the first 13 minutes of that period,” Gretzky began. “They were playing defensively by playing in the offensive zone. They started to flip pucks out and started to ice pucks.

“At 4-3, they had the puck in the slot area, 1-on-1, all they had to do was flip it out to the side. They ice the puck, now there is a faceoff in their zone. Edmonton regroups, they get another whistle in their zone. Another faceoff won, and all of the sudden it’s 4-4.

Edmonton OilersThe Edmonton Oilers took advantage of some sloppy play from the Florida Panthers to win Game 2 of their Stanley Cup series

“I know analytics say you shoot the puck down the ice, but I’m not a believer in that. I’ve seen too many games cost by guys icing the puck. And then, it’s not their fault on the goal itself. But, just get the puck out and play smart. I don’t understand icing the puck.

“Rick Tocchet and I argue about this all the time. I’m just not a believer in icing the puck. That icing, I think, was one of the factors in them (Edmonton) getting the game tied.”

Given there isn’t an overwhelming amount of data to suggest that icing the puck is an overly positive or negative thing to do, which Gretzky was implying here, his comments certainly raised an eyebrow or two for those watching from home.

In response to a clip of Gretzky’s analysis uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) by Awful Announcing, many NHL fans were quick to offer their thoughts on what they’d just heard come out of the 64-year-old’s mouth.

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“Haha that’s not what analytics says at all,” one person laughed. “Wayne needs to stop talking. He has no clue what he is saying when it comes to hockey,” another said.

Some, however, were in partial agreement with “the Great One”. One social media user posted: “Somewhat agree with Wayne but a face off gives u a 50-50 to get possession opposed to 100% giving opponents possession.”

Another added: “Gretzky is mostly right, especially in the final minute. If you just chip/flip the puck out of the d-zone, it takes the other team valuable seconds to gain entry again with the puck. It’s also hard to win faceoffs when the o-team has an extra skater.”