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“If they can do it in the sunshine, it makes it all better. In another five years, they can retire to Miami or whatever.”

It’s a chicken-and-egg argument. Players had no issue playing in Edmonton when Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier were winning Cup after Cup in the 1980s. And Toronto was a prime attraction for free agents when the Leafs were a perennial playoff team in the 1990s. But can you really blame anyone for wanting to avoid Canada these days?

Four of the six worst teams in the NHL — and seven of the bottom 10 — are based in Canada. Some are rebuilding, some are re-tooling and others have been spinning their wheels for years. None of them is in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup anytime soon.

And yet, even in Toronto where the baseball and basketball teams are in the playoffs, the fans haven’t gone anywhere. If anything, they are becoming hungrier by the day. That’s a situation that can be intimidating, even for the greatest players.

“There’s no question that playing in a place like Edmonton or Toronto is little bit different than other places,” said Wayne Gretzky. “Even a place like New York or Chicago, as popular as the sport is there and as much success as they’ve had, there’s so many other doors opened for people whether it’s the NBA team or NFL team or baseball. And so it’s not 100-per-cent focused on the hockey team. In places like Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto people generally focus in on hockey.

“When you’re successful and winning, they’re the greatest places to play. When it’s not going so well, it can be a little bit tougher because people live and die it. They want the teams to be successful and they’re very loyal and tremendously backing of their local teams. It’s a matter of passion with them.”