One of the developments from Bruins Jersey Media Day last week was B’s owner Jeremy Jacobs pouring some frozen tundra-level cold water on the NHL expansion hopes in Quebec City.
The NHL only received expansions applications -- armed with a $10 million price tag with only $2 million of that non-refundable -- from Quebec and Las Vegas, and both made full presentations to the NHL Board of Governors over the last month. Quebec City has built a state of the art rink in an effort to bring home the wayward Nordiques' franchise that left for Colorado after the 1994-95 season, and there’s little question the region would enjoy the same rabid NHL fan reaction renaissance as the Jets received in similarly small market Winnipeg.
But Jacobs, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, certainly sounded like he was leaning toward Las Vegas as the lead expansion choice and that the geography, economics and even the value of the Canadian dollar were actively working against the Quebecois right now.
“What is the best thing for the league as a whole, and what’s the best thing for Boston? Right now the thirty teams are pretty good for all of us, I think. I feel good about where we are today. But as you framed the question there, we’re imbalanced here in that we’ve got 16 teams in the East, 14 in the West,” said Jacobs, who didn’t mention franchise relocation as another potential option for the NHL to help change the geography. “I would probably have to indicate that another team in the west would make more sense for us. Now looking at the two locations, you have to say that Quebec looks like they are…there’s more history there for hockey.
“But the presentation that was made was very compelling by those people in Las Vegas. So there’s no clear-cut answer there, but that’s sort of giving you some of the conditions in consideration.
“The people of Quebec are clearly passionate. But take a look at what’s going up in Nevada. That’s a heck of an arena being built there. There is strong interest there. Balance the fact that Quebec has great hockey interest with the fact that it’s an extraordinarily small market. That balances those things too. We don’t want to [fail to succeed in Quebec City] again.”
Jacobs mentioned both Houston and Seattle as locations that the NHL would be highly interested in expanding to in the future but neither one of those cities was ready to foot the admittedly pricey $500 million price tag for a franchise. Seattle would seem to be a great future option given its proximity to Canada and that city’s hunger to woo another big league franchise after losing the Supersonics years ago.
It could be that franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle are the ultimate goal for the NHL to bring balance back to the to two conferences and that franchise relocation awaits Quebec City: whether it’s Florida, Carolina or some other NHL Eastern Conference franchise that’s currently experiencing either serious ownership or fan interest issues.
Despite all of the pessimistic talk in recent days, there are many within the Boston Bruins' franchise that are still hoping that Quebec City gets an NHL team sooner rather than later.
Two-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron Jersey learned his appreciation for playing both sides of the puck while watching Joe Sakic star for the Nordiques as a hockey-loving kid growing up just outside of Quebec City. He also felt the awesome power of the Nordiques' fan interest this summer while spending a long portion of the offseason in his home province, and answering questions about the NHL expansion process.
“It’s exciting. It being my hometown, you can tell the excitement is really there right now. When I’m there in the summer time I have people coming up to me at the grocery store and things like that, and asking me if I have any inside scoop on Quebec getting an expansion franchise,” said Bergeron. “Unfortunately I don’t have any inside information. But they’re hoping and pushing hard to get [a franchise]. I think the fan base and corporate side of it is definitely there for that, and [could] sustain a team. But time will tell if they’re going to get one.
“We’ve really enjoyed going back to Winnipeg with the crowds and the energy that’s in that building since the Jets returned. I’m sure it would be the same kind of thing in Quebec City if the Nordiques could make it back there.”
While Le Colisee -- the former home of the Nordiques -- was clearly outdated for NHL usage in recent years, the Videotron Centre, an 18,259-seat state-of-the-art beauty of an arena, opened in Quebec City last month and played host to a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens in recent weeks. The rink clearly wasn’t built just for Celine Dion concerts and UFC events, however, and was erected chiefly for the purpose of bringing back the NHL that left them more than 20 years ago.
Bruins coach Claude Julien played 14 games for the Nordiques during his brief NHL career and likewise hopes that the league returns to a proud Canadian city that loves its hockey. Clearly the natural rivalry with the Canadiens would be an enjoyable one to rekindle as well and anybody with a healthy memory of Bruins history remembers Ron Tugnutt’s place in the Bruins/Nordiques divisional rivalry.
“I don’t think there were too many people happy to see them go in the first place. Quebec City is a great hockey city, and it created some good hockey rivalries with the Montreal Canadiens back in the day,” said Julien. “It’s certainly a city that would support its team extremely well. Having been there, there’s no doubt I’d like to see [the NHL] back there.
“It’s a city in my mind that is very deserving of it, so hopefully it works out for them.”
Sounds like it might be a tough sell for some NHL Board of Governors members given Jacobs’ comments from last week. But it always makes more sense in this humble hockey writer’s mind to return those wayward teams to Canada. cam neely jersey. Let’s all hope it’s a matter of “when” rather than “if” for the Nordiques making their triumphant return to Quebec City.
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