The Pearsons received an urgent phone call Wednesday night.

Former Yukon commissioner Art, 73, was having dinner at his son's and grandson's house when the curator of the MacBride Museum called with a surprising request: could the three generations guide Prime Minister Stephen Harper through the museum's hockey history display the following evening?

They said yes.

Harper was in Whitehorse on Thursday evening as part of his annual northern tour.

He had been in Resolute Bay on Tuesday to meet those involved in the rescue after last Saturday's plane crash (see more in today's North section).

The prime minister had also stopped in Yellowknife the next day to announce $60 million for the extension of health care funding in all three territories.

This morning, he wrapped up his tour in Haines Junction, where he ate a moose meat feast prepared by members of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Harper also spoke on the importance of the new cultural centre being constructed in Kluane National Park (see story, p. 10).

Museum curator Patricia Cunning wanted Harper, during his short stop in Whitehorse, to meet a family ingrained in the history of hockey in the Yukon.

The Pearsons – who helped put together the museum's hockey history display for last February's Hockey Day in Canada event – were just the right fit.

Art moved to Whitehorse with his one-year-old son, Dave, in 1962.

He had been living in Helsinki and was a player with Finland's national hockey league. Naturally, his love for the sport moved with him to the Yukon.

Dave, 50, started playing when he was five years old and has been involved in the sport ever since.

He has been a player, a coach, and organizer and a board member of Yukon Hockey. His son, Gibson,17, returned recently from Fort St. John, B.C., where he played on their midget team.

The purpose of creating the hockey history display, explained Dave, was to embrace the rich history of hockey in the Yukon.

"It was about finding a place for us to tell this story,” he told the Star this morning. "There are so many interesting characters involved, and I don't think anyone had documented it.”

When Dave met Harper on Thursday evening, he wasn't taken by the mass amount of security nor the fact he was about to meet Canada's leader.

He just couldn't believe Harper's size.

"I was amazed at how large a man he is,” said Dave. "He's a very tall man. I had no idea.”

He was particularly impressed with how the prime minister made his son open up.

"He's 17,” said Dave. "He's not particularly into politics.”

Dave said Harper talked to his son in a way that made his son and father feel comfortable and appreciated.

"He is a very interesting man and very personable. It wasn't like he was just there putting on a show,” said Dave.

Art called Harper a "very thoughtful fellow” who seemed to be interested in all sorts of things. Hockey is one of them. Art said Harper even talked about a book he is writing about the first hockey team in Toronto.

"He said it's a small book, but he is writing it,” Art told the Star.

As for all the security which comes with a visit from the prime minister, Dave said, laughing, that there's no question about it: the prime minister has sufficient protection.

It seems as if the sport of hockey will live on for a quite a while yet on in the Pearson family.

Although Art doesn't play anymore, claiming his knees "finally caught up” to him, Dave plans on playing until somebody "takes his skates away.

"Believe me, people have already tried,” he said.

The prime minister had no public events in Whitehorse either Thursday evening nor this morning before he left for the Junction.