The NHL commissioner “was not currently in a position to respond positively to our interest,” says Eric Girard.
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Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Nordics to return to Quebec City.
A virtual meeting between Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard and National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman has made no further progress on the record.
Thursday, Girard posted on Twitter that the league “indicated that it was not currently in a position to respond positively to our interest” in bringing a team back to the provincial capital.
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Girard, who was given a mandate by Prime Minister François Legault to explore the Nordiques archive, described the meeting with Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly as “cordial” and said it expressed the Legault government’s interest in a franchise in the city. of Quebec “and showed that this would be a major asset for the league.”
He said the two sides “agreed to stay in touch and keep communication channels open.”
Girard was originally supposed to meet Bettman in person during a trip to New York to speak with investors, but the meeting was replaced with a virtual one due to the growing pandemic.
The return of the Nordiques is a dream Quebec City hockey fans have had since the team departed in 1995 to become the Colorado Avalanche. At that time, the team president, Marcel Aubut, failed to build a new arena and the Colisée became obsolete and did not meet the new demands of the league. Aubut also requested financial assistance from the province, with a casino or lottery to support the team, but the government did not agree.
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The last decade has seen a resurgence of popular support for a comeback, with the Marche Bleue in 2010, during which thousands of fans gathered on the Plains of Abraham. A new amphitheater was built, financed half by the city and half by the province. It opened in 2015 as the Videotron Center but failed to attract a team, even as the NHL expanded to Las Vegas in 2017 and Seattle in 2021.
Videotron’s owner, Quebecor, acquired the naming rights as part of a $33 million deal that would also allow it to pay an additional $30.5 million a year if an NHL team moves. Quebecor owner Pierre Karl Péladeau attempted to become a team owner.
Even though some teams are struggling financially, including the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes, none have moved since the Atlanta Thrashers became the Winnipeg Jets in 2011. .
Reference-montrealgazette.com