DALLAS (AP) — Wayne Gretzky was in the Dallas Stars locker room congratulating them after they advanced to their third consecutive Western Conference final, where they will face the franchise with which “The Great One” was a four-time Stanley Cup champion.
“He said we’re going up against a pretty good team now,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said Tuesday, the day before hosting Game 1 against Edmonton. “And I had to ask him who he was cheering for. It felt right, and he didn’t answer, obviously.”
Benn said it was “pretty cool” that Gretzky visited the Stars after their 2-1 overtime win Saturday night over Winnipeg that set up a West final rematch against the Oilers.
Edmonton won the West final over the Stars in six games last year, then lost to Florida in a seven-game Stanley Cup Finals.
“What a great honor to have the greatest player of all time come down after the game and say hello,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
Gretzky told the Stars he had so much fun watching them play, and that they were now going to play "one of the greatest teams ever.”
DeBoer was on the coaching staff for Canada for the team’s 4 Nations Face-Off title earlier this year, and during that period got to spend some time with Gretzky.
“Extra special. That’s my era. That’s the guy we all grew up watching,” DeBoer said. “He’s a special guy when you get him 1-on-1 or in a coach’s room or behind the scenes. You can see his passion for the game. He can sit and talk hockey and tell stories all night.”
Gretzky was part of four Stanley Cup titles in a five-season span in the 1980s with Edmonton. He was the NHL career-leading goal scorer with 894 goals until Alex Ovechkin passed him on April 6, but still has the most points (2,857) and assists (1,963).
So when meeting the Stars and DeBoer, did Gretzky say anything that would create headlines in Edmonton, like saying he was hoping Dallas would win?
“He didn’t. He would never say that and I would never put him in that spot,” DeBoer said. “He was very respectful of our group and the job we’d done to that point. I think we all understand his allegiance to Edmonton and appreciate that, so he never went beyond that.”
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Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn shoots as the Winnipeg Jets bench looks on in the third period of Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
FILE - Wayne Gretzky speaks at a press conference after an NHL hockey game between the Washington Capitals and the Chicago Blackhawks, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
