When filmmaker Kevin Smith first learned about the Gretzky family, he never imagined he would get the chance to stage a press conference with Canada’s most famous hockey dad.

On Wednesday, a dream came true, as he and Walter spoke to the press at Wayne Gretzky’s Restaurant in Toronto to announce their plans for the fourth annual Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d do this,” Smith said during an interview following the announcement. “Reading about the Gretzky family and all the work they’ve done was something … This was just incredible. Aside from everything else that is happening with this tournament, I got to hang out with Walter Gretzky today.”

True to his style, Smith started the event with a joke, saying he had called the press conference to announce that the Edmonton Oilers were trading Walter to the Los Angeles Kings.

He and Walter then spoke about the fourth edition of Brantford’s street hockey tournament.

While it isn’t taking place until June 4, Smith and Walter aren’t wasting any time promoting the event. They hope to beat the Guinness World Record for most teams in a street hockey tournament. The record is 192.

“I want to bring as much attention as possible to this to try to break the record,” Smith said. “All we need is 193 teams. We can do it. I’ll sponsor 100 teams if I have to.”

Walter stood beside Smith throughout the press conference, commending him for his support of the tournament and laughing at the filmmaker’s offbeat sense of humour.

“How many people would do what Kevin has done? He’s a special, special man. It’s incredible,” Walter said. “I can’t believe the enthusiasm of everybody that’s involved in this tournament. This is going to be a huge event.”

Smith and Walter first met at the third annual tournament last year. Smith had seen a poster for the event online. Smith contacted Pat Shewchuk of Brantford Parks and Recreation to sign up for the tournament and brought his own team to play, as well as sponsoring three teams of his fans.

This year, Smith plans to once again play as goaltender on his team, Puck U, and bring six teams along with him, including an all girls’ team called the View Askew Girls.

Last year, as well as playing in the tournament, Smith put on a live show at Brantford’s Sanderson Centre. The $10,000 proceeds were donated to the Brantford Sports Facilities Infrastructure Legacy Fund.

This year, money raised from the show at the Sanderson Centre will be split between the infrastructure fund and the CNIB Walter and Wayne Gretzky Scholarship Foundation for the Blind Youth of Canada.

The money for the CNIB will be donated on behalf of Smith's late grandmother Ann Schultz, who was blind.

Smith arrived in Toronto Wednesday morning and will be in Canada until this Sunday to promote his latest movie, Cop Out, but said he will also utilize the time to give Walter’s tournament as much publicity as possible.

“I hope the first thing anyone takes from this is that they should sign up for this tournament,” he said. “Hopefully, after they read this, they remember how important the game was to them and they decide to enter a team.”

Smith finished by once again saying that his attendance at last year’s tournament ranked as one of the Top 10 moments in his life and that he still had pictures of his time playing in Brantford hung on the walls of his house in Los Angeles, California.

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