Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Toronto Maple Leafs at their team luncheon in New York on Sunday, according to the Toronto Star.
Harper would not go as far as to say that he was a fan of the Leafs - a subject that has long been a point of water-cooler discussion for Canadian hockey fans.
"Somebody asked him and he said he wouldn't commit, and that's fair enough," Leafs' forward Dominic Moore told the Star. "But we're just going to assume he is (a Leafs fan)."
Back in October of 2006, Harper was seen on television raising his arms when then-Leaf Mats Sundin scored a penalty shot goal against the Senators. Harper's son was wearing a Maple Leafs' jersey at that game, but the PM himself has been rather diplomatic in keeping his NHL leanings quiet. He even once made a joke that hockey predictions might get him into more trouble than anything he did in the political realm.
A Leafs spokesperson told the Star that the meeting on Sunday happened when one of Harper's aides found out the prime minister was staying in the same hotel as the Leafs, who were in town to play the Rangers.
Moore presented an autographed Leafs jersey with Harper's name and the number one on the back.