Prime Minister Stephen Harper must’ve had his smartphone in his hands during Wednesday’s Montreal Canadiens-Boston Bruins hockey game, because he was cheering for the Habs – and taking a veiled shot at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks – on Twitter.
Harper sent out two tweets during the pivotal Game 7. The first tweet was a simple #GoHabsGo. The second tweet, sent after the Canadiens won the game 3-1, was a little more inflammatory.
Great to see a Canadian team finally take out the Bruins in a game 7. #GoHabsGo @CanadiensMTL
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) May 15, 2014
I see you discreetly chirping the leafs and canucks in your tweet prime minister harper
— Sylvie (@actuallysylvie) May 15, 2014
Haha Harper is trolling the Leafs lol
— RD (@originalsteel) May 15, 2014
The Toronto Maple Leafs flamed out spectacularly against the Bruins in the first round of last year’s playoffs, blowing a 4-1 third-period lead in Game 7 to ultimately fall 5-4 in overtime. It was one of the worst collapses in NHL history.
Understandably, Leafs fans didn’t take well to the veiled jab.
#Leafsnation must not allow #pm #harper to get away with his #disrepect, make him pay with your #votes! #Leafs #Canada #mistake #democracy
— Paul McKinnon (@PaulMcKinnonTwt) May 15, 2014
If Harper's party hadn't already lost my vote for being just a terrible politician, that Leafs dig would have done it.
— Tyler Hackney (@THack90) May 15, 2014
Vancouver Canucks fans also had reason to be upset. Some Canucks fans are still sensitive about their team’s Game 7 loss to the Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup final. Not only did the Bruins beat the Canucks in Vancouver in the deciding game, but fan malaise after that loss touched off a riot in downtown Vancouver.
Earlier that same year, the Bruins defeated the Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs.
Despite the jab, Harper is a self-professed Leafs fan. He even wrote a book last year called A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey.
The Canadiens will now face the New York Rangers in the third round of the playoffs.
