10-11-2009, 10:01 PM
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#38 (permalink)
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Crazy
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Quote:
Sean Gordon
MONTREAL — Globe and Mail Update
Published on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009 11:08PM EDT
Last updated on Monday, Oct. 12, 2009 9:17AM EDT
Might there soon be a new breed of Thrasher alighting on the cobblestones of Quebec City? Or perhaps a sudden influx of Coyotes or Panthers?
Quebec's provincial capital is abuzz over talk that the NHL is receptive to a bid to bring a team back to the city through relocation or expansion.
Call it Les Nordiques 2.0.
It's far from a done deal, but at the very least, excitable Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume seems to pay close attention to what he reads in the newspaper.
In an Oct. 2 interview with Montreal's La Presse, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke glowingly about Quebec's Vieille Capitale and suggested the league could eventually consider returning to the city if a new arena were built.
Barely a week later, Labeaume slipped in for a covert visit to the league's New York headquarters – he brought along former Nordiques president Marcel Aubut and met with Bettman last Friday – to talk about that very subject.
Though the discussions were ostensibly conducted in secret, the irrepressible Labeaume confirmed this weekend he had held “an excellent meeting” with Bettman and that he'd received a “very warm” reception and “couldn't have expected better.”
It's expected Labeaume, who is facing re-election in November, will this week pledge more than $100-million in municipal funds for the construction of a new $400-million arena.
League officials couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, but NHL spokesman Gary Meagher was quoted by a Quebec City newspaper saying the league was impressed by Labeaume.
Bettman's position is that despite the Phoenix Coyotes' situation and the for-sale shingles that have quietly been put up on several teams – hockey insiders suggest as many as nine are on the block – the league has no immediate plans for relocating any franchises.
But that's not likely to dim any ardour in Quebec City.
Talk concerning the return of the Nords, who became the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 – and won the Stanley Cup the year they moved – has been building steam for several months, drawing public expressions of support from people like NHL legends Guy Lafleur and Joe Sakic.
Last year, three groups expressed interest in a new arena project, which coalesced around J'ai ma place, a group that has collected more than $8.45-million in pledges toward seat licences and corporate suites.
The collective is interested in building a new 18,000-seat venue in Quebec City by 2014. The increasingly dilapidated Colisée, which was the Nords’ home, is nearing the end of its useful life and is too small to support an NHL team.
Though none of the original groups intending to build a new facility made it contingent on attracting a hockey team – the main interest was in building a concert and trade show venue – there are already takers.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly mused to a Toronto newspaper that Quebec City could be part of a new Canadian strategy that could involve putting teams in other cities.
“We do have an interest in returning teams to Canadian cities that have hosted and supported NHL teams historically,” he told the paper. “Both Winnipeg and Quebec City have done that, so we’ll see how things transpire. That doesn’t mean southern Ontario won’t or can’t be considered. It will be.”
Media conglomerate Quebecor, which fell a reported $167-million short in its attempt to purchase the Montreal Canadiens this year, has already signalled its interest, as has another unnamed group.
“We’re aware of what’s happening around various teams that are apparently for sale, if and when they ever decide to move a team to Canada,” company president Pierre-Karl Péladeau told the Quebecor-owned Journal de Quebec.
Péladeau admitted he has held meetings with Labeaume, and cautioned that “we must respect the institutions of the NHL, we saw what happened with Jim Balsillie.”
The provincial government pledged $50-million toward the construction of a new arena last fall, and this past weekend federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Josée Verner, who represents a Quebec City riding, said she also supports the proposal.
The booming city has also weathered the recession better than just about anywhere else in Canada. It has a bustling corporate sector and clearly still pines for big-time hockey, unlike places such as Atlanta, Nashville and Sunrise, Fla.
The Nordiques file will undoubtedly benefit from a serious backroom push from Labeaume, who has built a reputation as a relentless political operator and is known as a man in a hurry.
It was at least the second occasion Labeaume has met with senior NHL officials; Daly was sighted in Quebec City this past summer, and reportedly sought out the mayor.
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This is great news, I think it can really go through if the league is actually for it.
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...out here in the perimeter there are no stars...
Last edited by IdeoFunk; 10-12-2009 at 12:08 PM..
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