Chapter 99:
Just Another Day
On January 9, 2023, the following showed up in my inbox:
“Dear Mr. Muller,
We are excited to celebrate our Dad’s 60th birthday with you at the Leafs game on Sunday January 29th. The party will take place in Suite 612. Dinner and drinks will be served at the game.
In order to transfer each individual ticket, please respond privately with your preferred contact info (cell or email). All tickets will be transferred on Sunday morning before the game.
We would like to surprise our Dad with these plans and enlist your help in being able to do so. We plan on arriving to the game at 5:00 pm – it would be great if you can try to come at around 4:50 to ensure a big surprise!
We are beyond excited that our Dad will be able to celebrate with so many of his close friends and look forward to seeing you there!
Best,
Joel, Shimmy, David, and Jordan Jesin”
It took me about sixty seconds to check with Joyce, make sure we had nothing doing that evening, and for me to respond that I would be thrilled to be there to celebrate Eddie’s birthday at the Leafs game.
On Sunday, January 29, Joyce and I headed up to YYZ on Air Canada. The plan was for me to go straight to the arena from the airport, while Joyce went to Ancaster to visit my Mom.
We boarded the flight, stowed our carry-ons, and then Joyce mouthed something to me. I couldn’t make out what she was saying. She walked over and whispered, “David, I think that is Wayne Gretzky sitting behind me”. I said, “Don’t be silly!” and peeked over Joyce’s seat to the seat behind her. There I saw someone with his head down wearing a white cap with a logo I had never seen before: a stylized W and a stylized G. The man looked up. There he was, Wayne Gretzky. The Great One. GOAT. Wow.
No one else around had recognized him. Joyce signaled to me that she wanted to get a photo with him. She sheepishly leaned over and said to him, “Mr. Gretzky, may I get a photo with you?” He said “sure”, stood up, and I took a photo of the two of them. So gracious.
I sent the photo to the group chat of the fourteen guys whom I was meeting at the party. One wrote back: Invite him to our suite. LOL!
I had a lot of work to do on the three-hour flight, but I couldn’t get a stitch of work done. I was too excited.
The plane landed and we all stood up to disembark. I said to him, “Mr. Gretzky, are you going to the game by any chance?” He responded that he was. I said, “It’s one of my closest friend’s sixtieth birthday today, and his sons have rented a skybox at the game for us to celebrate his birthday. By any chance, could you stop by to wish him Happy Birthday?”.
The Great One responded, “Sure. Put my cell number into your phone. It’s 619-796-4553. Text me your suite number. I’ll try to make it up there.”
I truly could not believe I now had Wayne Gretzky as a contact in my cell phone. But it gets better.
I texted him the suite number and he texted me back:
10/4
Thanks
99
Wow! I now was having a text conversation going on with Wayne Gretzky. But it gets better.
I got on the Union Pearson train and headed over to Scotiabank Arena. I was the first one in our suite. I couldn’t contain my excitement.
The other guests arrived at 4:30 pm (the game was a 5 pm start). Eddie and his sons arrived at 4:45 pm for the surprise. Eddie really was surprised. He had no idea that a party had been arranged for his big birthday.
At 4:56 pm, I texted Mr. Gretzky the following: “Good evening Mr. Gretzky. The birthday boy has arrived. We are in suite 612. If you ever have a chance to make it up here, we would just be so appreciative. Thank you! David Muller”.
A minute later, he responded, “Let u know soon”.
That spooked me. I thought, oh oh, he’s not going to do it after all.
At 5:20 pm, Mr. Gretzky walked into our box. I took him to Eddie and said, “Eddie, there’s someone here who wants to wish you a Happy Birthday”.
Words cannot express the shock and awe that took place in that box at that time.
Now one might think that the story ends there.
But no, what happened next was that Mr. Gretzky took off his new WG hat that he was wearing on the plane, and in marker, signed, “Eddie, Happy Birthday. Wayne Gretzky 99”. He gave Eddie his own hat that he was wearing!
Now one might think that the story ends there.
But no, what happened next was that Mr. Gretzky introduced himself and had photos taken with every single one of the party guests. To use the vernacular, everyone was FREAKING OUT! As everyone said later as we were mulling over what happened, if you had asked each of the people there who is the one person on earth they would ever like to meet in person, the unanimous answer would be 99.
Now one might think that the story ends there.
But no. At that point, the waiter assigned to our box asked Mr. Gretzky if he could get him something to drink, and he responded, “Sure, I’ll have a beer.” He then took off his coat, draped it over a hanger, and proceeded to sit down AND WATCH THE GAME WITH US!
We were all shellshocked at this point. One would think that sitting with Mr. Gretzky watching the game, people wouldn’t know what to say. Well, one would be incorrect. The questions exhibited an encyclopedic knowledge of the game, from listing how many career goals and assists he had, to how many times he won each trophy, to other records he holds, and on and on. He honestly looked like he was relishing the repartee.
Toward the end of the first period, his phone rang. It was his agent, asking him if he would be interested in being interviewed in between periods on the TSN telecast. He said yes, hung up, and told us he had to get going.
As Eddie’s wife Lisa expressed to me later when she heard what happened, “That was the most memorable moment of Eddie’s life (including our wedding day). And decades from now, Eddie will still say that that was the most memorable moment of his life!”
It is said that in Canada, ice hockey is not a sport. It is a national religion. There is nothing equivalent in the United States to what hockey represents to Canada. There is nothing even close. And on this day, the god came to visit.
Mr. Gretzky could not have been more gracious. He had no need to do what he did. What a great life lesson. As Joyce put it, “go out of your way to be kind and nice to everyone, people you know and people you don’t know.”
A great lesson.
Not just another day.
