Quebec still waiting patiently.

[Slashers98]

Especially with the Canadian Dollar sub 80, you're right on the first part. But there are clearly 3 struggling teams at the moment that in a diving US dollar would be looking to move.

Can you name these teams? The exchange rate is a big problem right now like you said. It's good for me though as I have a client based in New York who pays me in US dollars haha.

 

[Slashers98]

It is a paradox - Habs English broadcasts are ignored in Quebec and Sens French broadcasts are ignored totally.

I always watch the Habs in English...

 

[Mightygoose]

During Quebec's bid it the lead person was then Quebecor CEO Piece Dion. PKP was involved with politics so that didn't deter the league from accepting their application nor outright rejecting them.

I agree they're being kept in arms legnth if or when they're needed. Dion's appearance at the press conference when Vegas was announced confirms this IMO.

I don't think the board cares too much about PKP, if Quebecor needs a different front person and Palideau remains a silent backer for this to happen, so be it.

His political views mean nothing. As long as the cheque clears.... that's more important.

 

[gstommylee]

You guys make it way too complicated... the NHL is keeping Quebec City as an emergency landing spot when a struggling franchise needs to move. Simple as that.

There is no team in dire need of help right now.

No dire team right now that would still keep it 16 west 16 east with no team changing conferences. Only way quebec gets team back if at all is a eastern conference team relocating.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

No dire team right now that would still keep it 16 west 16 east with no team changing conferences. Only way quebec gets team back if at all is a eastern conference team relocating.

The NHL was fine and dandy with Winnipeg playing in the Southeast for a couple of seasons. They'd be just fine with QC in the Central or Pacific for a little bit as well if push came to shove and they absolutely needed a landing spot for a team with a single offseason' notice.

 

[gstommylee]

The NHL was fine and dandy with Winnipeg playing in the Southeast for a couple of seasons. They'd be just fine with QC in the Central or Pacific for a little bit as well if push came to shove and they absolutely needed a landing spot for a team with a single offseason' notice.

Winnipeg playing in the southeast was before the current alignment.

The owners disagreed when they decided to only go with Vegas during that expansion process and waited for Seattle to get things in line. The idea of Quebec in Pacific or central defeats the entire purpose of the current alignment which is all eastern time zone teams in the eastern conference.

No way any of the western conference teams would agree to travel to a far east city for a divisional match or a intra-conference match.

They already have a landing spot for a team with a single season notice Houston. NHL would rather keep the alignment 16 western teams and 16 eastern teams then to have a eastern time zone team play in the central or the pacific.

 

[Bookie21]

I don't think the board cares too much about PKP

His political views mean nothing.

Why do you think that the board doesn't care? You may be right, but outside of Quebec, there are not many people that like PKP. I don't live in Quebec, but I've never heard anyone say something good about him

 

[BKIslandersFan]

During Quebec's bid it the lead person was then Quebecor CEO Piece Dion. PKP was involved with politics so that didn't deter the league from accepting their application nor outright rejecting them.

I agree they're being kept in arms legnth if or when they're needed. Dion's appearance at the press conference when Vegas was announced confirms this IMO.

I don't think the board cares too much about PKP, if Quebecor needs a different front person and Palideau remains a silent backer for this to happen, so be it.

His political views mean nothing. As long as the cheque clears.... that's more important.

Its not so much that his political views mean anything, but rather how it would affect their bottom line in long run.

 

[Mightygoose]

Why do you think that the board doesn't care? You may be right, but outside of Quebec, there are not many people that like PKP. I don't live in Quebec, but I've never heard anyone say something good about him

I wouldn't be surprised if he's not a pleasant personality but I doubt PKP's presence was a deal breaker, I don't think their application doesn't make it out of the gate. Yet, they had a rep at the presser of an expansion announcement where they're not getting in.

If their time comes, I'm sure someone else in the company will be the face of the franchise

 

[Mightygoose]

Its not so much that his political views mean anything, but rather how it would affect their bottom line in long run.

Quite possible, which is why I think they're set aside for a relocation like Winnipeg was. Trade off one RS receiptiant for another.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Winnipeg playing in the southeast was before the current alignment.

The owners disagreed when they decided to only go with Vegas during that expansion process and waited for Seattle to get things in line. The idea of Quebec in Pacific or central defeats the entire purpose of the current alignment which is all eastern time zone teams in the eastern conference.

No way any of the western conference teams would agree to travel to a far east city for a divisional match or a intra-conference match.

They already have a landing spot for a team with a single season notice Houston. NHL would rather keep the alignment 16 western teams and 16 eastern teams then to have a eastern time zone team play in the central or the pacific.

I very much support the NHL going to Houston, but to go from nothing to fully running in a mere offseason is something that I don't think any American market could handle. The huge number of logistical hurdles, staffing necessities, and difficulties organizing a ticket drive would all take time, especially for a market already fairly well-serviced by pro sports as it is. NHL to Houston on a few months notice would be an utter crapshoot and mess. The same wouldn't be true with a move to any sizeable Canadian market, where hockey is already number one, where there already is a hockey season ticket base that you could immediately tap into (transitioning junior or minor hockey ticket buyers to the NHL is far more comparable than trying to get basketball or baseball fans to buy in), with entrenched media and corporate support all willing to jump on board an NHL team at a minute's notice, and with an ownership group with an expressed interest in acquiring a team already in place.

There's a world of difference that I don't think that could be waived away on a near-zero notice need for a relocation, which I would imagine would absolutely be viewed as taking priority from the league's perspective. And while there would be short term headaches for their divisional opponents, those would be molehills compared to a potential undercutting of franchise valuations if an emergency relocation resulted in a gong show.

 

[DowntownBooster]

I very much support the NHL going to Houston, but to go from nothing to fully running in a mere offseason is something that I don't think any American market could handle. The huge number of logistical hurdles, staffing necessities, and difficulties organizing a ticket drive would all take time, especially for a market already fairly well-serviced by pro sports as it is. NHL to Houston on a few months notice would be an utter crapshoot and mess. The same wouldn't be true with a move to any sizeable Canadian market, where hockey is already number one, where there already is a hockey season ticket base that you could immediately tap into (transitioning junior or minor hockey ticket buyers to the NHL is far more comparable than trying to get basketball or baseball fans to buy in), with entrenched media and corporate support all willing to jump on board an NHL team at a minute's notice, and with an ownership group with an expressed interest in acquiring a team already in place.

There's a world of difference that I don't think that could be waived away on a near-zero notice need for a relocation, which I would imagine would absolutely be viewed as taking priority from the league's perspective. And while there would be short term headaches for their divisional opponents, those would be molehills compared to a potential undercutting of franchise valuations if an emergency relocation resulted in a gong show.

It worked for Colorado when the Nordiques moved to Denver. Maybe it could work for Houston as well.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Quebec city only has about 75% as many people as Winnipeg. Just over 3.4% of the entire Quebec city population would have to go to every game to sell out the arena. If NYC did that for Rangers games, they'd sell out over 16 arenas per game. lol

That, and I don't see Quebec coming up with over 1-Billion Canadian dollars for an expansion team. Houston probably gets the next relation too. Quebec will be waiting a while I think...

 

[No Fun Shogun]

It worked for Colorado when the Nordiques moved to Denver. Maybe it could work for Houston as well.

That was a situation where a group bought the team and was prepping to move them months and months in advance prior to the purchase and relocation during the negotiation phase. That's different from a situation where an ownership just flat out wants out at the end of a season and is only interested in finding the highest bidder immediately. Also a wholly different era given the massive increase in dollars being tossed around nowadays.

 

[Roadrage]

I just don't see any way QC will get an NHL team back that isn't an emergency last minute relocation (at least not in my lifetime) ala Atlanta Thrashers. It won't be expansion nor a normal relocation.

 

[Tawnos]

The NHL was fine and dandy with Winnipeg playing in the Southeast for a couple of seasons. They'd be just fine with QC in the Central or Pacific for a little bit as well if push came to shove and they absolutely needed a landing spot for a team with a single offseason' notice.

No they weren't. Yeah, that's where Winnipeg played, but literally nobody was happy about it.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

No they weren't. Yeah, that's where Winnipeg played, but literally nobody was happy about it.

Nobody liked it, but the NHL was still fine with it.

 

[Tawnos]

Nobody liked it, but the NHL was still fine with it.

That's a directly contradictory post.

 

[Nino33]

Quebec city only has about 75% as many people as Winnipeg. Just over 3.4% of the entire Quebec city population would have to go to every game to sell out the arena.

People could come from outside the city/inside the province (in that comparison Quebec has 8.39 million people and Manitoba 1.352 million)

 

[No Fun Shogun]

What are you talking about? The NHL kept them in that division for two years and didn't attempt to block the move as a result of conference realignment troubles or travel difficulties nor were they in a rush as a result to do a snap realignment to fix the situation either.

If the NHL wasn't fine with that situation, they would've pumped the breaks on the move or tried to hammer through a change and damn the consequences as rapidly as possible.

Being fine with something =\= liking a situation. I'm sure that all things considered there are plenty of things that currently exist, or used to exist for a long while, that the NHL wish they could change in an ideal world but nonetheless are fine with the status quo as it's not worth making a ruckus over or trying to force a change through.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

People could come from outside the city/inside the province (in that comparison Quebec has 8.39 million people and Manitoba 1.352 million)

Metro QC and within even an unreasonable driving distance still isn’t much bigger than 1 million people. Almost half the provincial population is Greater Montreal and a lot is Hull-Gatineau across the river from Ottawa. You’re vastly overestimating how favorable the demographics and geography are for QC

 

[KevinRedkey]

People could come from outside the city/inside the province (in that comparison Quebec has 8.39 million people and Manitoba 1.352 million)

Quebec is massive. It's literally about 50% larger than California and Texas combined.

My point was Quebec has a small population. It's a tough market to sell, when there's already a team in Montreal. Winnipeg was a tough market as well, but they have no competition. That and they are able to have some of the highest ticket prices in the league to fill a small arena.

 

[Hal1971]

Quebec city only has about 75% as many people as Winnipeg. Just over 3.4% of the entire Quebec city population would have to go to every game to sell out the arena. If NYC did that for Rangers games, they'd sell out over 16 arenas per game. lol

That, and I don't see Quebec coming up with over 1-Billion Canadian dollars for an expansion team. Houston probably gets the next relation too. Quebec will be waiting a while I think...

Quebec metro is 7th in canada, Wpg is 8. List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada - Wikipedia
You also have to consider the population out of the city that will come.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Quebec metro is 7th in canada, Wpg is 8. List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada - Wikipedia
You also have to consider the population out of the city that will come.

Winnipeg is also further away from any other NHL cities and Winnipeg has more corporate money.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Quebec metro is 7th in canada, Wpg is 8. List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada - Wikipedia
You also have to consider the population out of the city that will come.

To be clear, I am not against a team in Quebec city. I was simply pointing out that it's a tough sell for the NHL.