The Prime Minister's Office has just posted up the 37-minute video of Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a fundraising event last week on Feb. 5 for the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon. At the event, Harper is joined on stage by hockey legends Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. Saskatoon is Howe's hometown.
Harper has often used hockey as a kind of political crutch and when he does, it can cause some eyes to roll among his political opponents and some in the pundit class. Those who have ever felt that way probably shouldn't watch this video, particularly when Harper has jokes like: “”Gordie, you mentioned specifically trading for some left-wingers. There isn't a lot of those; I've had trouble finding a good one.'' Hardy, har-har.
Harper also mentions during the event that Gretzky's uncle, Al, “has been a long-time support of mine in the London (Ont.) area.” Harper also makes reference to the front page of the edition of the National Post (bottom right) that was published on the same day Harper took the stage in Saskatoon.
The format for this event has Harper taking on the role of interviewer or journalist, putting questions to Gretzky and Howe, on his left and right. Parliamentary Press Gallery reporters will want to forward to the 31-minute mark for the delicious irony of watching the moderator tell the prime minister, sorry, but we only have time for one more question.
Still, if you're a hockey fan, this is an irresistibly syrupy half-hour with two of the game's four greatest players (I'm putting Bobby Orr and Rocket Richard on the same plateau), swapping war stories and making everyone in the room feel pretty good about themselves.
Here's what Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix filed on the event:
SASKATOON – Prime Minister Stephen Harper played sports reporter Friday night with a couple of iconic story subjects.
Harper, a hockey buff who was in Saskatoon for the Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner, grilled hockey greats Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky during a lengthy Q and A session before an appreciative sellout audience.
Howe was a surprise addition to the podium, brought onstage to a prolonged ovation while Harper and Gretzky talked about the first meeting between the two puck legends – at a Kinsmen celebrity dinner in Gretzky's hometown of Brantford, Ont., when Gretzky was 10.
Seven years later, Gretzky was lacing up his skates in a World Hockey Association all-star game, with Howe on his team.
“Jacques Demers was the coach and he said you're going to set up Gordie and Mark and I went `Oh my goodness,' '' Gretzky recalled. “I looked at Gordie and said `Gordie, I'm so nervous.' But he was sleeping.''
Howe, 81, who grew up in Saskatoon, told numerous stories from his playing career. He and Gretzky – who later made the keynote speech – weighed in on a variety of topics posed by Harper.
When Harper asked how Howe's Red Wings would have fared against the NHL players of today, Gretzky said he'd love to see it.
“It was a completely different game – the equipment, the sticks,'' Gretzky said. “My goodness, when Gordie played, they didn't even have the glass on the boards. No curved sticks, the goaltenders didn't wear masks, the skates they wear today compared to what they wore (then) are so completely different. If you're going to take that group of players from his team when they won the Cup in Detroit and put them in the equipment of players from today, it would be a pretty good hockey game. I'm sure with Gordie Howe out there, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel and Terry Sawchuk, it would be a really good hockey game and fun to watch. ''
Their best moment in hockey? Howe replied quickly and succinctly – “When I met (wife) Colleen.''
Gretzky's biggest moments were his first NHL game and the first time he hoisted the Stanley Cup.
Harper said he had that in common with Gretzky.
“In 2006, the Oilers nearly took the Stanley Cup, and I was at the game in Edmonton for Game 6,'' Harper said. “(NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman asked if I could come backstage between periods. Lo and behold, I get in the room,
“I'm alone there with Bettman and the Stanley Cup, so I picked it up and lifted it over my head.''
When Harper asked for the toughest moment in their hockey careers, Howe talked about the pain of watching teammates traded away.
Harper replied with a quick quip that drew prolonged laughter.
“You mentioned specifically trading for some left-wingers,'' he said. “There isn't a lot of those; I've had trouble finding a good one.''
Harper's questions covered a wide range of areas, from the Olympics to what Canada has to do in the future to stay on top of the hockey world, to whether the NHL will ever put more teams in Canada.
That latter question drew noisy applause from the Saskatoon audience.
“Hockey is Canada and Canada is hockey,'' Gretzky said. “If we can find a way to put a franchise in Nova Scotia, one in Quebec City, one in southern Ontario, one in Saskatoon, one in Winnipeg . . . it is our game, it's our country. This is the one place in the world that on Feb. 28 will shut down for the afternoon.''
Feb. 28 is the date for the Olympic gold-medal hockey game.
Gretzky noted that hockey heroes often disappoint the kids who idolize them when they meet up, but that wasn't the case with Howe.
“He was bigger and better than I could have ever imagined,'' Gretzky said.
When I heard about the event, I was hoping to be able to see it… it measured up to all expectations. Entertaining, interesting, just plain fun. The Prime Minister was terrific. Three great men having a good time. Thanks for posting it.