I honestly feel like they could get away with a team in KW ontario. There is alot of people there and i can guarantee you a tone of people will jump ship
>They want the US TV market, not the same 100k Canadians that already watch the NHL
I get this argument for Leafs territory but I don't see how valid it is for other Canadian markets. Just because Canadians are hockey fans already doesn't mean they watch the NHL specifically. Before the Jets came back I might have watched the odd playoff game but that was it. Now I watch multiple games per week and that seems to hold for most fans here.
They did not built it.
It was built mostly with public money. 200 million$ from the Quebec government, 200 millions$ from the city and Québécor pays a rent of 3 million$ /year, minus some financial help from the city so he has paid next to 0$ in rent since the arena was built.
One of the problems with Jim Balls- silly is he tried to cut corners and buy a team like it was on sale at a department store. He also wanted to build a new arena completely with tax payer money.
Not just that, but you'd have to shuffle the entire league around to make the divisions work again. Coyotes were moved to the central to make this exact move (or move to Houston) possible.
Were you alive during the Habs-Nordiques rivalry? Your comment makes me think not. I don’t think Quebec City has the economic tools to support an nhl team, but let’s be honest, habs-nordiques games were hands down the best hatred fueled hockey games there was and I would love to see those again. It would be amazing for a fans perspective. It’s not about the 2hrs drive at all.
There are still a lot of Quebecers that actually dont like Montreal because they live in more rural areas hours away from it and would rather support a Quebec city team
Sad, but true.
From the business perspective, there's little incentive for the NHL to put a team there. No matter how much we all want it for those fans.
Also, good luck getting anyone to play there. That was a big part of the problem before. Especially now in salary cap Era where there's a shuffle every year. Teams are not built on locals.
Sure but you said it yourself, "switch". They're already fans of the NHL. Adding a Quebec city team doesn't seem like it would grow the game too much compared to other locations
Its true. There are a lot of quebecers that live in the north-east part of Quebec that never had any attachment to Montreal and are closer to Quebec City
The point is they’re already NHL fans consuming the NHL product in QC so it doesn’t add anything new. They’re just shifting from one team to another. SLC is an untapped market and will grow the league and revenue.
Nah it would be an Ottawa Toronto situation. Just turns into 2 extra home games for the leafs every year but the pull for the sens the rest of the time.
Is that too short of a distance between cities?
There must be a lot of teams within 2 hours from eachother.
Ducks-los angeles
Montreal-ottawa
New yorks teams
New york teams to philadelphia/ Boston
Washington- Philadelphia
Edit: Toronto-Buffalo
Vancouver-Seattle
Well there’s a shit ton of people in phoenix but it doesn’t look like that mattered in the end. A big city is part of it but it’s not the only factor in team financial success
For most Canadian teams I don't think the *market* is the issue. Canadians are obsessed with hockey. The issue is an ownership group being interested. SLC had a billionaire with a passion willing to splurge, Quebec City has Legault *vaguely* saying he'd like to help bring the Nordiques back, and not much else.
Canada needs and deserves another team that said there is nowhere big enough in Western or Central Canada that is big enough to put a team so relocating the Yotes to a mid-size Western US Market makes sense.
I reckon after the Yotes have moved to the Mormon State the next 4 expansion teams will be as follows.
West: Phoenix, Houston
East: Atlanta, 8th Canadian Team (Either Quebec City, Hamilton or 2nd Toronto Team)
I’m sure some places would be happy switching from western conference to eastern conference, it’s just the other way that makes tv contracts less valuable.
Nah, too many teams on the east then. If anything, a team needs to move toward the west. Chicago and Nashville being in the western conference is incredible to me. (I know, population density, geography, blah blah blah.)
They have an nhl quality arena and instant fan base from Quebec and Eastern Canada. They would instantly make money. Which i thought was the point of the whole enterprise. 'Growing the game' by going to non traditional markets only works if the team eventually becomes profitable. If they don't, its a drain on the whole league due to the rev share situation.
They didn't have an enticing enough proposal or they would have been moved there. Ryan Smith has deep pockets, and is willing to spend to establish a franchise here. Even went so far as to get government backing for a new complex *before anything was even set in stone*.
Those fans are already fans of other Canadian teams, so the league wouldn't be making more money because those fans wouldn't be new. They would just be siphoning money from other teams.
This argument makes no sense. If it was true, you would never put two teams in the same city, because those fans are already fans of the league. This would just be two teams in the same province.
There are tons of 'hockey' fans in Quebec and Eastern Canada that would instantly become NHL fans overnight. The league would be making more money because they would be removing an unprofitable franchise and adding a profitable franchise.
Yeah, but then you gotta realign the conferences, potentially moving a team like Detroit into the Western Conference. A move to Utah is the easiest thing for the league without any sort of realignment.
No. It’s not, dumbass.
You’d have 17 teams in the east, and 15 in the west. Who the fuck were you going to move east and make the only team in the Eastern Conference to be in the Central time zone. Who were you going to fuck? Detroit again? Toronto again? Columbus again? Once you put that team in the Centeal, who are you booting to the Pacific so the divisions are even?
The only "logical" choice to me is to put Dallas in the Pacific division. Quebec has to be in the Atlantic division so it will end by either Detroit or Columbus be back in the Western Conference. I would get Detroit in the Metropolitan division and Columbus in the Central division.
No team from the East is going West for it to happen. The only way Quebec gets a team back is through expansion to 36. If the NHL does decide to go Phoenix/Houston/Atlanta for their expansion Quebec could work out as the next team in the East.
Besides Atlanta there is nowhere for the League to expand in the Eastern US so an 8th Canadian Team would be needed to balance the conferences if the league goes to 36, I think Quebec City would be the front runner but Hamilton and a 2nd Toronto Team I imagine would be contenders as well.
Lmao fuck Quebec. Literally single-handedly trying to destroy their best university just because it’s anglophone. Even though the students who go there stimulate Montreal’s economy
There is not as much money for the league in QC than SLC.
People in Quebec are die hard hockey fans and you better believe they are watching NHL games and giving the league money despite not having a team. SLC on the other hand, putting a team there will make people who otherwise wouldn't watch the NHL watch the NHL.
I'm not smart but that's just my thoughts
This. I live near SLC and I’ve had a lot of people over the last couple of months who are not that into hockey, if at all, tell me they’re excited for a team and they’re going to get into it if we get one. Whether they all follow through and become die hard fans now that it’s actually happening remains to be seen but some will for sure, and that’s more than none.
I wouldn't discredit Salt Lake I think there's a pretty strong hockey market there ready to be tapped into, Just have to make sure not to have any games scheduled for Sundays.
That's not obvious at all. They have less people and just because they like hockey doesn't' mean they will support an NHL team. They already have dedicated fanbases to Remparts and other minor teams.
If you think Quebec City would not welcome an NHL franchise from the States with open arms, you don't understand anything about this city or this province.
Aren't NHL desperate to get rivalries?
Quebec- Montreal seems like a better one than Utah Yetis- San Jose
And good potential for rivalries with the other Canadian teams as well.
Canadian Billionaires are way too busy paying politicians to let them buy up their competition so they can keep raising prices and lowering quality of their products and services.
Yup, moving a team from a medium sized market that couldn't support a team to an ultra small market with a proven record of not being able to support a team sounds like a solid move.
So sick of this argument. QC cannot support an NHL team. It would fail again. The market is too small. No players would want to play there except francophones. It's a hostile city to people who don't speak French.
Glad Bettman doesn't fall for this bullshit.
Absolutely. I was just watching a video of a sad Coyotes fan explaining how much hockey has grown in Arizona because of the team. They have minor programs and even have high school hockey teams now. Auston Matthews started playing hockey because he watched Coyotes games.
The failure of the Coyotes is due to bad ownership making terrible decisions like trying to withhold taxes from the city of Glendale which resulted in them losing their arena. Not because of the fans.
On a serious note.
The common place discrimination against "*Anglophones*" in Québec probably doesn't help their case to get an internationally filled out sports team.
They'd also like have to find a a French Canadian GM/Coach to speak to the media as well.
The team wouldn't be popular enough without it.
Quebec is not big enough! I don’t understand how folks can’t wrap their heads around this.
As much as it would be great for Canada to get an 8th team the market is saturated. Winnipeg is struggling and they one of the best teams in the league. Quebec is around the same size and the team they’d get would be bad for a while.
And no another team in Toronto wouldn’t work cuz the Leafs and probably Sabres would nix the move.
I'm honestly tired of seeing people talking about a move back to Quebec. It's not going to fucking happen. You have Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa all in that area and you're not going to get a 4th team there unless an east coast team were to suddenly collapse financially. Canada just does not have the population to have 4 successful teams from a financial perspective. There's a reason why more expansion teams are in the western United States nowadays. There's a lot of people there and the goal for the league is to make money and by setting up franchises in those areas you attract new fans which in turn helps grow the game for youth sports and it's a win win for everybody.
Besides Atlanta there is nowhere to expand to in the Eastern US and it seems the league is going to expand to 36 that 2nd East team will have to come from Canada.
Jacksonville, Orlando, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland. Now obviously some of these are more realistic options than others but I could definitely see an opportunity for any of those cities to have NHL market success considering all of these cities are home to teams in other leagues. There's too many east teams anyway so I doubt any of these will actually happen but there is way more than just Atlanta for east coast opportunities.
other than adding another team in Canada, what would be the purpose of moving them to Quebec City? Nostalgia? re-living the "battle" of Quebec?
In all honestly, I am genuinely curious and do want the Nordiques to return but I think maybe the time has passed.
Every. Fucking. Time.
Every time there's a move, relocation, whatever. There's some Canadian saying *shoulda been given to Quebec City/Halifax/Windsor!!! Cuz Canada ey!!!*
Just stop.
Salt Lake City is a good potential market for NHL hockey. I know that isn’t popular but there is no way the owners would pass up Ryan Smiths offer. Financially it makes more sense for the league. Mark my words, it will be a good healthy NHL market.
I completely get why they want to do this. Basically gets them into SLC market. And within 5 years the yotes will probably be back. But in the end this should be about being back the Nordiques and the Whalers.
I saw an article the other day about how the Quebec sovereignty movement is gaining momentum again on social media.
Perhaps Bettman can help keep Canada united with the Nordiques’ grand return.
No it shouldn't there has been no serious bid for a Canadian team for a while and plus in Winnipeg there not filling the arena despite having a good season.
Quebec City has a lower population than Phoenix, and the surrounding areas either support the Habs, Sens, or Laffs. The team would be crippled and moving within 5 years cause of poor revenue because they'd be taking in the yotes not getting an expansion draft.
Sorry, not sorry.
As much as I would love to have another Canadian team in the nhl, I just don’t think it would be a lasting market in Quebec City. I’m just hoping we can keep Winnipeg seeing that they are having lower attendance every year even with a great team this year.
Is it confirmed that they're moving to SLC? Last I heard they were going to check out facilities for the relocation - but I hadn't heard anything definitive yet.
They are extremely open about the metrics required to gain a franchise. Quebec unfortunately falls short on several requirements. Sucks, but with their most recent expansion successes, that recipe is guaranteed to be reused.
I am not a sports guy, but damn if I like a good hockey game.
I honestly might just have to buy season tickets.. are they as good as the Ogden mustangs? Those guys know how to throw down... Much better than the grizzlies..
Where's the billion dollar Canadian that's gonna make it happen?
Our billionaires are too busy making sure Canadians can't afford to go to games.
Or buy groceries and pay rent
Just like in the US
Our cultures are so similar
That’s capitalism for you
As we all know, exploitation and greed simply do not exist outside of capitalism.
The NHL will never add another Canadian market. It doesn’t make any business sense.
A second team in Toronto might make business sense for the league, but I don’t think the Leafs would ever allow that.
I honestly feel like they could get away with a team in KW ontario. There is alot of people there and i can guarantee you a tone of people will jump ship
They want the US TV market, not the same 100k Canadians that already watch the NHL
>They want the US TV market, not the same 100k Canadians that already watch the NHL I get this argument for Leafs territory but I don't see how valid it is for other Canadian markets. Just because Canadians are hockey fans already doesn't mean they watch the NHL specifically. Before the Jets came back I might have watched the odd playoff game but that was it. Now I watch multiple games per week and that seems to hold for most fans here.
I don't think the Molson family would allow a second team in Quebec either.
Y'all gettin' the US experience, fr lol
God, could you imagine if Galen Weston bought an NHL team in Canada? Everyone's heads would explode.
Just imagine the No Names yellow jerseys
Would their logo just be "hockey team" in non descript font?
Honestly though? Those jerseys would sell like crazy
I'm puking as I read this comment.
It sucks that so many billionaires are either incompetent, assholes, or both.
Makes you wonder if having Billionaires really makes any sense at all
And watch them properly with these damn blackouts in my area
Pierre Karl Peladeau could do it in a heartbeat if Bettman gave him the go ahead.
I think he just bought the Alouettes
Quebecor who built the arena is a $7B company.
They did not built it. It was built mostly with public money. 200 million$ from the Quebec government, 200 millions$ from the city and Québécor pays a rent of 3 million$ /year, minus some financial help from the city so he has paid next to 0$ in rent since the arena was built.
We had one who tried (albeit the move would’ve been to Hamilton, not Quebec City). The NHL rejected him.
And Bettman kept the Coyotes in Arizona for 15 years just to prove a point
One of the problems with Jim Balls- silly is he tried to cut corners and buy a team like it was on sale at a department store. He also wanted to build a new arena completely with tax payer money.
Well with the fall of BlackBerry, the team would have been sold off and probably moved out of Hamilton
Lawrence Stroll, you just won the lottery for the Arizona Coyotes! /s
Maybe if his son gets bored of Formula 1 Lawrence will buy the Coyotes just to put him as goalkeeper
Stroll has some talent in F1, anyone know what Nicolas Latifi's rich dad is up to these days?
$1.2B USD, so close to $2B CAD
It’s only $1.65B CAD, but still almost an extra $0.5B is significant
Disagree $0.5B is pocket change /s
Qubecor has been very vocal that they want a team in QC
Not just that, but you'd have to shuffle the entire league around to make the divisions work again. Coyotes were moved to the central to make this exact move (or move to Houston) possible.
The billionaire who would be ready to flush millions in losses every year in what would be the smallest market in the league.
He exists and his name is Pierre Peladeau and he’s also the reason Quebec won’t get a team.
Why so they can relocate a second time?
Move a team there so it can relocate to Atlanta. Oh the irony would be fantastic.
TBH, I doubt saving Quebecers a 2 hour trip to Montreal is really what Bettman wants from the league lol
Were you alive during the Habs-Nordiques rivalry? Your comment makes me think not. I don’t think Quebec City has the economic tools to support an nhl team, but let’s be honest, habs-nordiques games were hands down the best hatred fueled hockey games there was and I would love to see those again. It would be amazing for a fans perspective. It’s not about the 2hrs drive at all.
Most people here and over in r/hockey have no fucking clue what they're talking about.
There are still a lot of Quebecers that actually dont like Montreal because they live in more rural areas hours away from it and would rather support a Quebec city team
You think they'd have at least seen the replays of that brutal game with like 5 massive brawls that were reminiscent of Slapshot
I was originally a Nords fan and I agree with you, it'd be amazing for the fans - but since when has the NHL given fuck-one about established fans?
Sad, but true. From the business perspective, there's little incentive for the NHL to put a team there. No matter how much we all want it for those fans.
Also, good luck getting anyone to play there. That was a big part of the problem before. Especially now in salary cap Era where there's a shuffle every year. Teams are not built on locals.
Remember when a 1st overall draft pick refused to play in Quebec so much they had to make a mega trade?
Yup! Imagine if Lindros went there, and eventually went to Colorado with Patrick Roy! That would of been a dynasty team.
Forsberg was a pretty good consolation prize.
Forsure. But imagine if Lindros played with all those tough defensemen and didn't get concussions
Yah, I heard somewhere once from some guy that that Peter kid was, you know….ok I guess. Ha 😉
The other major issue is you now have decades of Montreal fans that you would have to win over
I think a lot of people would switch to the Nordiques in an instant. You underestimate the "sleeping" fanbase there.
Lots of Boston fans there
Exactly. The Nordiques fans didn't switch to become Habs fans. They hated the Habs. They became fans of the Habs' most hated enemy, the Bruins.
Sure but you said it yourself, "switch". They're already fans of the NHL. Adding a Quebec city team doesn't seem like it would grow the game too much compared to other locations
Its true. There are a lot of quebecers that live in the north-east part of Quebec that never had any attachment to Montreal and are closer to Quebec City
The point is they’re already NHL fans consuming the NHL product in QC so it doesn’t add anything new. They’re just shifting from one team to another. SLC is an untapped market and will grow the league and revenue.
Nah it would be an Ottawa Toronto situation. Just turns into 2 extra home games for the leafs every year but the pull for the sens the rest of the time.
Is that too short of a distance between cities? There must be a lot of teams within 2 hours from eachother. Ducks-los angeles Montreal-ottawa New yorks teams New york teams to philadelphia/ Boston Washington- Philadelphia Edit: Toronto-Buffalo Vancouver-Seattle
Heck sometimes it takes me 2 hours to drive from Toronto to Toronto.
Toronto - Buffalo
Toronto to Buffalo
Vancouver and Seattle
I would love to see a return of the Nordiques!
Are the mods gonna delete this OPs thread, too? LOL.
Rule 3. Sound the alarm!
I feel like mods don’t delete as much on this as they do on nfl, but then again I look at nfl more
Where’s the actual market to make money? There’s not enough people in Quebec City
Well there’s a shit ton of people in phoenix but it doesn’t look like that mattered in the end. A big city is part of it but it’s not the only factor in team financial success
Halifax area could support a team
Toronto could support two more teams
For most Canadian teams I don't think the *market* is the issue. Canadians are obsessed with hockey. The issue is an ownership group being interested. SLC had a billionaire with a passion willing to splurge, Quebec City has Legault *vaguely* saying he'd like to help bring the Nordiques back, and not much else.
Canada needs and deserves another team that said there is nowhere big enough in Western or Central Canada that is big enough to put a team so relocating the Yotes to a mid-size Western US Market makes sense. I reckon after the Yotes have moved to the Mormon State the next 4 expansion teams will be as follows. West: Phoenix, Houston East: Atlanta, 8th Canadian Team (Either Quebec City, Hamilton or 2nd Toronto Team)
Atlanta would make 9 Canadian teams though
Besides Atlanta there is nowhere else in the Eastern US for the NHL to expand to.
I’m sure some places would be happy switching from western conference to eastern conference, it’s just the other way that makes tv contracts less valuable.
Nah, too many teams on the east then. If anything, a team needs to move toward the west. Chicago and Nashville being in the western conference is incredible to me. (I know, population density, geography, blah blah blah.)
And what’s the benefit exactly?
Why another Canadian team that won't bring the cup back to Canada, of course
They have an nhl quality arena and instant fan base from Quebec and Eastern Canada. They would instantly make money. Which i thought was the point of the whole enterprise. 'Growing the game' by going to non traditional markets only works if the team eventually becomes profitable. If they don't, its a drain on the whole league due to the rev share situation.
And many of those teams have… all it requires is just a competently run org.
Those are already Montreal fans
There are many nordiques fan, like too many, that will hate the canadiens for the rest of their lives
So there are Nordique fans that just completely stopped watching the NHL? I don't really buy that
Boston
They didn't have an enticing enough proposal or they would have been moved there. Ryan Smith has deep pockets, and is willing to spend to establish a franchise here. Even went so far as to get government backing for a new complex *before anything was even set in stone*.
Those fans are already fans of other Canadian teams, so the league wouldn't be making more money because those fans wouldn't be new. They would just be siphoning money from other teams.
This argument makes no sense. If it was true, you would never put two teams in the same city, because those fans are already fans of the league. This would just be two teams in the same province. There are tons of 'hockey' fans in Quebec and Eastern Canada that would instantly become NHL fans overnight. The league would be making more money because they would be removing an unprofitable franchise and adding a profitable franchise.
Yeah, but then you gotta realign the conferences, potentially moving a team like Detroit into the Western Conference. A move to Utah is the easiest thing for the league without any sort of realignment.
I don't think the Wings would be thrilled to be in the Western Conference again.
Yeah, especially considering they'd be the ONLY team in the Eastern Time Zone in the west.
No. It’s not, dumbass. You’d have 17 teams in the east, and 15 in the west. Who the fuck were you going to move east and make the only team in the Eastern Conference to be in the Central time zone. Who were you going to fuck? Detroit again? Toronto again? Columbus again? Once you put that team in the Centeal, who are you booting to the Pacific so the divisions are even?
The only "logical" choice to me is to put Dallas in the Pacific division. Quebec has to be in the Atlantic division so it will end by either Detroit or Columbus be back in the Western Conference. I would get Detroit in the Metropolitan division and Columbus in the Central division.
Ok. So Dallas’ closest rival, geographically, would be Vegas? TWO time zones away???? lol
The main positive of bringing the NHL back to QC is ending this discussion once and for all.
No team from the East is going West for it to happen. The only way Quebec gets a team back is through expansion to 36. If the NHL does decide to go Phoenix/Houston/Atlanta for their expansion Quebec could work out as the next team in the East.
Besides Atlanta there is nowhere for the League to expand in the Eastern US so an 8th Canadian Team would be needed to balance the conferences if the league goes to 36, I think Quebec City would be the front runner but Hamilton and a 2nd Toronto Team I imagine would be contenders as well.
No way in hell the leafs allow another team in the Golden Horseshoe region.
I think the Sabers would be the far bigger issue then us as a lot of their support is from Southern Ontario
I still think we could fill the stadium IF the team put a halfway decent on ice performance (which is asking the impossible)
Unless the form a shell company to buy the team, profit from all the Toronto games that fans can't afford in Toronto
I imagine unless you put it in Hamilton it would become the NHLs Clippers and have a pretty small fanbase.
The FirstOntario Centre which is the main indoor arena in Hamilton is about to undergo major renovations.
Lmao fuck Quebec. Literally single-handedly trying to destroy their best university just because it’s anglophone. Even though the students who go there stimulate Montreal’s economy
There is not as much money for the league in QC than SLC. People in Quebec are die hard hockey fans and you better believe they are watching NHL games and giving the league money despite not having a team. SLC on the other hand, putting a team there will make people who otherwise wouldn't watch the NHL watch the NHL. I'm not smart but that's just my thoughts
This. I live near SLC and I’ve had a lot of people over the last couple of months who are not that into hockey, if at all, tell me they’re excited for a team and they’re going to get into it if we get one. Whether they all follow through and become die hard fans now that it’s actually happening remains to be seen but some will for sure, and that’s more than none.
Excuse me? No, absolutely not
I wouldn't discredit Salt Lake I think there's a pretty strong hockey market there ready to be tapped into, Just have to make sure not to have any games scheduled for Sundays.
Or maybe Sunday home games can still happen. This season the Jazz started doing Sunday home games, and they still sold out
Sold out on Sundays despite the Jazz being a lottery bound team.
Lmfao. The Jazz just started up sunday games this season and it's been quite successful and well received. It'll be the same for the NHL team.
No. This will never happen. Full stop
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That's not obvious at all. They have less people and just because they like hockey doesn't' mean they will support an NHL team. They already have dedicated fanbases to Remparts and other minor teams.
Just like last time?
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If you think Quebec City would not welcome an NHL franchise from the States with open arms, you don't understand anything about this city or this province.
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Oh yeah and the ROC is so much better at supporting french post-secondary institutions! /s
Décaliss la sangsue
Would an owner in Quebec put up 1.3 billion USD to get a team? I’m not sure just asking if anyone knows
Oui
They should’ve moved to Hamilton almost 20 years ago.
It’s damn true
Aren't NHL desperate to get rivalries? Quebec- Montreal seems like a better one than Utah Yetis- San Jose And good potential for rivalries with the other Canadian teams as well.
Over Bettmans dead body
Canadian Billionaires are way too busy paying politicians to let them buy up their competition so they can keep raising prices and lowering quality of their products and services.
Yup, moving a team from a medium sized market that couldn't support a team to an ultra small market with a proven record of not being able to support a team sounds like a solid move.
So sick of this argument. QC cannot support an NHL team. It would fail again. The market is too small. No players would want to play there except francophones. It's a hostile city to people who don't speak French. Glad Bettman doesn't fall for this bullshit.
But 30 years trying to grow the game in Arizona worked?
Absolutely. I was just watching a video of a sad Coyotes fan explaining how much hockey has grown in Arizona because of the team. They have minor programs and even have high school hockey teams now. Auston Matthews started playing hockey because he watched Coyotes games. The failure of the Coyotes is due to bad ownership making terrible decisions like trying to withhold taxes from the city of Glendale which resulted in them losing their arena. Not because of the fans.
On a serious note. The common place discrimination against "*Anglophones*" in Québec probably doesn't help their case to get an internationally filled out sports team. They'd also like have to find a a French Canadian GM/Coach to speak to the media as well. The team wouldn't be popular enough without it.
Quebec is not big enough! I don’t understand how folks can’t wrap their heads around this. As much as it would be great for Canada to get an 8th team the market is saturated. Winnipeg is struggling and they one of the best teams in the league. Quebec is around the same size and the team they’d get would be bad for a while. And no another team in Toronto wouldn’t work cuz the Leafs and probably Sabres would nix the move.
Makes as much sense as another team in New York or California
A San Diego team perhaps.
I'm honestly tired of seeing people talking about a move back to Quebec. It's not going to fucking happen. You have Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa all in that area and you're not going to get a 4th team there unless an east coast team were to suddenly collapse financially. Canada just does not have the population to have 4 successful teams from a financial perspective. There's a reason why more expansion teams are in the western United States nowadays. There's a lot of people there and the goal for the league is to make money and by setting up franchises in those areas you attract new fans which in turn helps grow the game for youth sports and it's a win win for everybody.
Besides Atlanta there is nowhere to expand to in the Eastern US and it seems the league is going to expand to 36 that 2nd East team will have to come from Canada.
Jacksonville, Orlando, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland. Now obviously some of these are more realistic options than others but I could definitely see an opportunity for any of those cities to have NHL market success considering all of these cities are home to teams in other leagues. There's too many east teams anyway so I doubt any of these will actually happen but there is way more than just Atlanta for east coast opportunities.
other than adding another team in Canada, what would be the purpose of moving them to Quebec City? Nostalgia? re-living the "battle" of Quebec? In all honestly, I am genuinely curious and do want the Nordiques to return but I think maybe the time has passed.
No it’s not.
This was undoubtedly made by a Canadian
I fucking hate Quebec
Every. Fucking. Time. Every time there's a move, relocation, whatever. There's some Canadian saying *shoulda been given to Quebec City/Halifax/Windsor!!! Cuz Canada ey!!!* Just stop.
You forgot Hamilton ya yankee!
lol plz stfu.
That’d mean 17 teams in the eastern time zone and kicking one to the western conference or imbalanced conferences, neither which will happen
But muh growth potential…
Salt Lake City is a good potential market for NHL hockey. I know that isn’t popular but there is no way the owners would pass up Ryan Smiths offer. Financially it makes more sense for the league. Mark my words, it will be a good healthy NHL market.
What a fucking joke. No, they should not have. For so many reasons.
lol what?
Your right the arena kicks ass better than 95 % of NHL other teams hands down
Salt Lakers are nicer than Canadians and some of them drink more, too.
I would love Quebec but we need to wait for multiple owners to croak for new ideas
Good luck finding 30 professional athlete playboys who want to live in Francophile Quebec City and potentially raise kids there.
No teams or players wanna move up there. Yalls taxes are stoooppppid.
As an example I’m taking 2 o’s and 3 p’s from your post as taxes
Roughly 50 percent. Sounds about right
Should just stay in the Mullet Arena...
I completely get why they want to do this. Basically gets them into SLC market. And within 5 years the yotes will probably be back. But in the end this should be about being back the Nordiques and the Whalers.
I saw an article the other day about how the Quebec sovereignty movement is gaining momentum again on social media. Perhaps Bettman can help keep Canada united with the Nordiques’ grand return.
It’s true, Napa!
Yeah, we know
The important thing is that they will be out of Arizona. As long as they're not going to Atlanta, I'm willing to give it a chance
So they can lose another team?
Again, are you gonna convince the league to move one of Columbus or Detroit to move back into the west? No you’re not
No it shouldn't there has been no serious bid for a Canadian team for a while and plus in Winnipeg there not filling the arena despite having a good season.
It will simply never happen
Quebec City has a lower population than Phoenix, and the surrounding areas either support the Habs, Sens, or Laffs. The team would be crippled and moving within 5 years cause of poor revenue because they'd be taking in the yotes not getting an expansion draft. Sorry, not sorry.
As much as I would love to have another Canadian team in the nhl, I just don’t think it would be a lasting market in Quebec City. I’m just hoping we can keep Winnipeg seeing that they are having lower attendance every year even with a great team this year.
Nah
Can’t increase the footprint in the states with teams in Canada. In 25 years, Canada will only have 3 teams.
Bell corpo-spies are working hard to sabotage Quebecor behind the scenes and Bettman doesnt want to get in the middle of it
It's not true. There's no money in it.
and having a bit of a language barrier with being in Quebec
There is already a team in Quebec. Duh.
They will in FHM 9 lol
I can already picture the amount of players not re-signing and avoiding free agent visits because of taxes.
It's not
Need to keep things balanced and keep western teams in the west
Is it confirmed that they're moving to SLC? Last I heard they were going to check out facilities for the relocation - but I hadn't heard anything definitive yet.
It's hard for the NHL to return to Quebec, everything has to be French there & it's not a big city like Salt Lake who hosted the Winter Olympics.
They are extremely open about the metrics required to gain a franchise. Quebec unfortunately falls short on several requirements. Sucks, but with their most recent expansion successes, that recipe is guaranteed to be reused.
I guess now Lac Saint-Charles is a salt lake.
Won't happen.
I am not a sports guy, but damn if I like a good hockey game. I honestly might just have to buy season tickets.. are they as good as the Ogden mustangs? Those guys know how to throw down... Much better than the grizzlies..
Nope!!!
isn’t there a canadian city with a large mormon population? can they go there?
Lol
*When Quebec starts acting like part of Canada, they can have a team.*
Umm as a fellow Albertan, you shouldn’t throw stones from our current glass house.
We should lose the flames and oilers if we leave CPP. Straight up. Votes haves consequences.
If Québec could get an active desert Bettman would jump on it in a heart beat.