Wayne Gretzky May Be Final Olympic Torchbearer in Vancouver

"The Great One"

​After getting chewed up and spit out as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, "The Great One" could be getting a little love from the Vancouver Olympic Committee. Wayne Gretzky, the Coyotes former coach, is under consideration to be the final torchbearer at the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Gretzky, canned by the Coyotes at the beginning of this season after failing to make the playoffs in any of his four seasons as coach, is reported to be on the short-list of possible final torchbearers for the winter games, according to the Canadian Press.

Other candidates for the job include Pittsburgh Penguins phenom, Sidney Crosby and several other Canadian candidates that most of the rest of the world has never heard of, like Olympian-turned-Tory-senator Nancy Greene Raine, and Betty Fox, the mother of the one-legged, Canadian national hero, Terry Fox.

Gretzky is the likely top choice. In Canada, he is a sports God, unlike the rest of the possible candidates. Also, his face is recognizable outside of Canada, which is something the committee often considers when making its pick.

Gretzky -- who still lives in Scottsdale -- isn't the only Valley sports figure who will be carrying the torch at the winter games. The Phoenix Suns' Canadian point guard, Steve Nash, is also expected to move the flame.

The Vancouver Olympic Committee is expected to make its decision in the next few days.