Was Gretzky Polish, Ukrainian or Belarusian?

[lionsDen]

With a little bit of influence in todays current events, I’ve really dove into Eastern European history, pretty cool stuff. Cheers

Ps Marion lemieux is still my favorite hockey player.

 

[I Hart Conor Garland]

View attachment 629931

Who is that with Wayne? Looks like a facial resemblance to Bo Horvat.

 

[Buffalo Preds]

To hear my Lemko relatives talk about him, he’s Karpatska-Rus.

(Whether Carpatho-Rusyns are a distinct East Slavic population from Ukrainians is a hugely complicated question, one which Putin has unfortunately tried to exploit. But Gretzky is definitely a surname found in Lemko villages prior to the ethnic cleansing of Operation Vistula in 1947.)

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

"Was Gretzky Polish, Ukrainian or Belarusian?"


What? He's dead?!

 

[MoneyManny]

Not every Canadian or American. Natives don't.

But this isn't the forum to discuss that topic.

Completely pureblood natives are very rare.

 

[njdevils1982]

im still trying to figure out juan tavarez's story

 

[Silky Johnson]

Borders over in Europe were all over the place throughout history.

Lavrentievich sounds of jewish origin to me, though.

I think it is Russian for Son of Lavrenti. Lavrenti being a Slavik name.

 

[pabst blue ribbon]

I think that when discussing someone's past ethnicity/ancestry/identity in E.Europe it's important to remember that some of the borderlands of present Polish/Ukranian/Belarussian/Russian territory had fairly diverse populations and that sometimes trying to figure out ethinc/ethnolinguistic identities. My maternal grandmother was a ukranian that grew up near Peremyshyl in South Eastern Poland. During the early days of the Soviet Union the Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic wanted to have parts of what is today Southern Belarus.

​

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Remember him? He is a Belarusian player who was born in Grodno.

Vyacheslav Gretsky - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Vyacheslav Gretsky, 1996-12-23 Grodno, BLR Belarus. Most recently in the KHL with Amur Khabarovsk. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[Silky Johnson]

These cultures have been most influential in these Canadian regions:

Maritimes = Scotland and Ireland
Quebec = France
Prairies = Germany (and Ukraine to a lesser extent)
British Columbia = China and Hong Kong
Ontario = Kinda everything (English, Irish, Scottish, German, Italian, Chinese, French, Indian, Dutch, etc.)
Territories = Indigenous
Canada as a whole = Mostly British cuz of commonwealth

British Columbia is 10% Chinese origin. English, Scottish, Irish and German make up significantly higher %.

Soviet Russia

In Soviet Russia you don't play hockey...hockey play you!

 

[DaGap]

Hey I can directly relate to this question.

And the answer is Your Polish Ukrainian at least that what my family tree say depending on what years you use

 

[TBF1972]

Where you're born is what you are. He was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada so he's Canadian.

not everywhere in the world. swiss law doesn't give you the right to the swiss passport, simply by being born in switzerland. either one of your parents is swiss or your family has a lasting history of leaving in switzerland and you apply for the swiss passport. than your background and language skills in one of the four main languages is checked to see of your request is approved.

different countries, different rules.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Absolutely, kind of an offensive thread. He's a Canadian who has ancestors from various European countries. Discussing another person's identity like this is pretty cringe if you ask me.

Offensive? Oh God we have a Karen here

 

[nothingbutrum]

Wonder what Crosby’s ancestors would be?? Irish??

Australian??

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Was? Is he gone?

RIP

Gretzky Memorial trophy incoming

 

[Reality Czech]

Offensive? Oh God we have a Karen here

Oh shut up. The offensive part is a bunch of internet weirdos trying to decide what Gretzky "is" as if it's their call to make.

 

[Machinehead]

This is all impossible to say and really up to the individual.

If I take one of those Ancestry DNA things, I'm gonna come back French on my dad's side. We're not French. The town we're from used to be Germany. We came over when it was Germany. Then it became France - it was a war thing. I consider myself German. If you insisted I'm French, I guess you're not technically incorrect and I wouldn't be mad about it.

On my mom's side we're from Liverpool in the UK by way of Ireland. I consider myself Irish-Scouse. I will get mad if you call me English.

Some members of my own family might disagree with the identity I have described because it's how I choose to identify.

I'm also American but ethnically and culturally, that means nothing to me. The US is a big country. I have nothing in common with people from the South, Midwest, Pacific Coast, etc. I consider myself a New Yorker more than an American. Again, members of my own family will tell you different and being American is their entire personality.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

How do you decide what someone from a diverse array of cultures "actually" is? I think he will more likely be remembered as canadian than anything else...

White North Americans are obsessed with what they "actually" are (in terms of where there ancestors originate in Europe) more than just about any other continent, for some reason, even if they've never left North America.

 

[Moose Head]

It's always interesting to note that every Canadian/American has ancestors in Europe or somewhere else in the World. I would be curious to know the Habs' ancestors history for exemple. Just going by their name;

Gallagher - Irish
Price/Byron/Anderson/Caufield/Evans/Allen/Perry/Edmundson - English
Suzuki - Japanese
Danault/Drouin - French
Weber - German
Kulak - Russian
Staal - Dutch
Chiarot - Italian

Nevermind

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Respect to all immigrants who come to this beautiful country to be canadian. Your son/grandkids might be the next Gretzky

 

[Voodoo Child]

Canadian - or just a whore who got told by his handlers to hold a flag because the leader of the Ukraine needs another villa on the French Riviera.

My guess.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Oh shut up. The offensive part is a bunch of internet weirdos trying to decide what Gretzky "is" as if it's their call to make.

Oh man. Toughen up a bit

 

[Sasha Orlov]

With a little bit of influence in todays current events, I’ve really dove into Eastern European history, pretty cool stuff. Cheers

Ps Marion lemieux is still my favorite hockey player.

Never heard of her

 

[Bocephus86]

I think that when discussing someone's past ethnicity/ancestry/identity in E.Europe it's important to remember that some of the borderlands of present Polish/Ukranian/Belarussian/Russian territory had fairly diverse populations and that sometimes trying to figure out ethinc/ethnolinguistic identities. My maternal grandmother was a ukranian that grew up near Peremyshyl in South Eastern Poland. During the early days of the Soviet Union the Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic wanted to have parts of what is today Southern Belarus.

​

This is important. My father is Ukrainian but he likes to remind us it's not that simple. Our family is from the east. My grandmother grew up speaking Russian, my grandfather Ukrainian. Both families there long before the purges. If they were both alive I think they'd both call themselves Ukrainian not Russian, however.

My dad also likes to joke that that's why they hated each other.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

He's Canadian.