Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joins the Edmonton Oilers at practice

The optional morning skate for the Edmonton Oilers ahead of their game against the Winnipeg Jets got a little bit more prestigious today as Prime Minister Mark Carney took the ice with the team. We learned last week he is a huge Oilers fan, pictured here with a McJesus t-shirt. But now he got to don the Oilers sweater, sporting number 24 as the 24th Prime Minister in Canadian history, at a game day pre-game skate with most of the team.

Carney was in Alberta to meet with Premier Danielle Smith ahead of an expected call for an election by the end of the weekend, and made a detour to join the Oilers morning skate.

Late addition to #Oilers morning skate today as Prime Minister @MarkJCarney joined the squad! 👋 pic.twitter.com/M3JBQOQxQX

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 20, 2025

Prime Minister Carney is no stranger to the game, or to the hockey world. He was a goaltender for Harvard University in 1984–85 and 1985–86, where he did suit up for one game despite being the third string goalie. Also on that Harvard University hockey team at the time were Don Sweeney, then-future now-former Oilers General Manager Peter Chiarelli, and Mark Benning (the brother of former Oiler Brian Benning and uncle of former Oiler Matt Benning).

He was also co-captain of the Oxford University Blues, where he played from 1992 through 1995.

This time, however, he did not put on the goalie pads but instead was taking reps as a forward. Which probably answers the question of whether or not the Oilers could sign him for goaltending help down the stretch.

Mark Carney was seen taking reps as a forward this morning at the #LetsGoOilers practice.

📹: Ryan Rishaug | TSN pic.twitter.com/qWy0y3OyNK

— The Oil Rig (@oilrigEDM) March 20, 2025

Although he was born in Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, becoming the first Prime Minister to be born in one of the territories, Carney and his family moved to Edmonton when he was six, where he could watch the dynasty era up close. He has remained a fan of the team to this day.