Wayne Gretzky critical about the current state of hockey.

The National Hockey League is facing a bit of criticism regarding the state of their game, and considering who the man is that's dishing out the criticism, you can bet everyone is paying attention.

In a recent interview with Lucas Aykroyd of the New York Times, NHL legend Wayne Gretzky expressed his disappointment with where hockey is in 2016. The comments from Gretzky were refreshing, not because they were critical, but because he approached it from a very different perspective.

“When I was 10 years old, they’d throw a puck on the ice and say, ‘Go score,’ ” he said. “Now, at 10 years old, the kids are taught to play in their lanes. Defensemen stay back. Everybody blocks shots. I mean, my goodness, I don’t think I ever blocked a shot, and I killed penalties every single game. I thought goaltenders were paid to block shots, not forwards. It’s changed completely. I think the biggest thing we’ve lost is a little bit of our creativity and imagination in general.”

In a world where the complaints are always about coaches having the right to challenge plays, or the size of goaltender equipment, or the size of the nets, or even the physical nature of the game, it's nice to see someone, especially a legend like Gretzky, draw attention to the fundamentals of the game.

Greztky's issue isn't particularly with the NHL either, he believes the problem begins long before players ever make it to the pro level, according to Gretzky the creativity of young players is being stifled from the moment they hit the ice.

“All in all, it’s sort of a grinding game now,” he said. “You’re taught from Day 1 that your role and responsibility is to keep the puck out of your net.”

Gretzky's comments will certainly get a lot of attention, but it's hard to imagine seeing any real change.

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