How influential was Wayne Gretzky’s endorsement for Stephen Harper in Canada’s recent federal elections?

It was so influential that Harper’s Progressive Conservatives won 99 seats… Wayne Gretzky’s number uniformly retired by every team in the NHL!

Do you believe in omens?

The Conservatives strategists must have seen this coming, though. They knew they were going to get a butt kicking after all the shenanigans they had pulled in their decade of power. It was just a matter of where the votes were going to go elsewhere. So to help their case, they recruited the athlete who wore the highest number possible. I mean, it could have been worse. They could have gotten Sidney Crosby (87), Mario Lemieux (66) or a goalie wearing number 1 (like the Green Party might have done), to endorse them.

Whether true or not, though, it’s nice to see Stephen Harper rewards his backers well. Wayne doesn’t need any more money. A symbolic statement like winning his number of seats to affirm how much of an influence he had on the campaign, though, that’s priceless!