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  • CANOE NAGANO '98 ISP DIRECTORY

    		• canada sked medal results SLAM! NAGANO

    Saturday, February 21, 1998

    Sweden coach: Gretzky should retire

    By NEIL STEVENS -- The Canadian Press
     NAGANO, Japan (CP) -- Wayne Gretzky should hang up the skates, says Swedish coach Kent Forsberg.
     "He should quit," Forsberg said as he sipped a coffee and snacked on a bun during the Canada-Finland game to decide the Olympic bronze medallist Saturday.
     Forsberg's team, which included his son, Peter, did not make it as far as Gretzky and Canada. Sweden was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
     "He was a great player -- the greatest player in NHL history," Forsberg said of Gretzky. "I will always think of him as being up here."
     At that, he raised one hand over his head.
     "I don't like to think of him being down here."
     At that, he lowered the hand to his waist.
     "I watch him play now and he always looks tired. He gets knocked around now. He's not strong to take the strong checking. He does not score so many goals anymore.
     "He should retire."
     Forsberg said the NHL should hire Gretzky to promote the sport.
     Gretzky has one year remaining on his contract with the New York Rangers.
     "Let the league pay him to represent it," said Forsberg. "He should not play any longer."
     Gretzky, 37, the all-time scoring leader in the NHL where he's been part of four Stanley Cup-champion teams, accumulated four assists in six games for Canada.