Mark Carney officially won the Federal Liberal leadership race this week, and will be sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister this Friday. Carney has a history in hockey and all signs point to him being an Edmonton Oilers fan!
Carney’s history and hockey connection
Carney was born in the Northwest Territories, but grew up in Edmonton. In fact, he’s the first Canadian Prime Minister from Edmonton in the country’s history. On his bio page on the Liberal party website, it has a brief note about how Carney grew up playing hockey for Laurier Heights, and went to St. Francis Xavier high school, before earning a scholarship to play NCAA hockey for Harvard.
He suited up as a goalie for Harvard in all of his four years there from 1984–85 to 1987–88. Unfortunately, stats aren’t available for that time period, so it’s tough to tell if Carney was any good. Regardless, his Harvard athletics stats page proudly shows Edmonton as his hometown.
The connections to Edmonton go even deeper, too. While at Harvard he was roommates with none other than former Oilers General Manager Peter Chiarelli. For a time, they had a third roommate, Mark Benning, the uncle of former Oilers defenceman Matt Benning.
Perhaps the most damming evidence is this photo originally shared by Bob Stauffer:
Make no mistake Mark Carney is 100% a fan of the @EdmontonOilers pic.twitter.com/feH6CYfw6N
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) March 10, 2025
You’re not buying a McJesus shirt if you’re not a diehard Oilers fan.
Can he still play goal?
The biggest question remains: can Carney still strap on the pads? If so, the Oilers might want to keep him in mind for what they’re hoping is a deep playoff run.
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Still need him voted out in favour of Pierre Poillievre before the Liberals can do any more damage