PM among the millions of Canadians ready to get Cup crazy
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch Posted 5:00 p.m. April 21, 2006]

Four Canadian teams are among the 16 in the running for the Stanley Cup.

OTTAWA  — Prime Minister Stephen Harper said this week he likes the chances for the Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames coming out on top in this year's NHL playoffs.  
  
The first NHL Stanley Cup playoffs in two seasons gets under way on Friday night with four Canadian teams among the 16 in the tournament. 

The Ottawa Senators enter this year's playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference with one of the best lines in hockey and with their playoff nemesis, the Toronto Maple Leafs, out of the playoffs. .

The Leafs had eliminated the Senators in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. 

The Senators will take on the defending Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Lightning won the Cup in 2003 in a seven-game series against the Calgary Flames. 

Calgary finished third in the Western conference and will open the playoffs at home against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. 

Harper, who is currently working on a book on the early history of pro hockey, represents Calgary and is exposed to the Senators on a regular basis working in Ottawa. 

"As I said, in terms of the team that will win the Stanley Cup, I think that among the Canadian teams, I believe that the Flames and the Senators have a very good chance," Harper said at a press conference in Montreal on Thursday. 

Harper made the comments after delivering a speech trying to woo Quebecers to the Conservative party. 

A number of Montreal reporters pressed Harper about whether he was writing off a hot Montreal Canadiens team. 

Harper elaborated by saying "given the situation in the National Hockey League I think that any team that is in the playoffs has a chance at winning."

Harper noted how the Canadiens pulled off surprise Cup victories in 1971, 1986 and 1993. 

"A number of times in the past we've seen the Canadiens win when that result wasn't expected."

"I'm told that some in Montreal will predict the Canadiens will win even in years they don't make the playoffs," he quipped.

Harper made no specific reference to the Edmonton Oilers, who take on heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference quarterfinal.

Since becoming prime minister, Harper has been criticized by some for being too controlling of his cabinet ministers, MPs and even the media, but on Thursday Harper admitted there was one area where he is powerless.

"It's important to say that the prime minister of Canada is not the one that can decide (who wins the Cup) unfortunately."

"I wish I did," he said. "It's one of the great regrets I have in my job."

Stay with PoliticsWatch over the course of the playoffs, as we monitor the impact of hockey on politics in Ottawa. 

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