Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper stands beside a commemorative coin unveiled at the MTS Centre beore the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens game at the MTS Centre on October 9, 2011 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The game is Winnipeg's first NHL regular season game in 15 years.Marianne Helm
Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled on Sunday one of the two commemorative coins the Royal Canadian Mint is producing to mark the Winnipeg Jets' return to the NHL.
Mr. Harper is in Winnipeg for the season opener between the Jets and the Montreal Canadiens.
The mint is issuing a 50-cent piece and a pure silver $20 dollar coin.
The 50-cent coin is produced at the mint in Winnipeg and will sell for $14.95.
The $20 limited edition silver coin goes for $94.95.
There will be 15,000 produced, almost exactly the seating capacity of the MTS Centre where the Jets play.
Earlier, The Globe's Roy MacGregor wrote: Still hours before the puck drops and it's "Game On!" in Winnipeg.
The festive spirit in this city is like a pent-up gusher has exploded after 15 years of frustration. There are Jets flags flying from cars trucks -- one sighted last evening from a police car -- and even a huge Jets flag hanging from the stratosphere-high crane over the Museum of Human Rights that is under construction down by The Forks.
The Prime Minister is in town -- Stephen Harper about to unveil some new coins from the mint. National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman -- reviled in Winnipeg since the original Jets were forced to leave back in 1996 -- is here and there are actually bets being taken on whether there will be more cheers than boos.
Roy MacGregor