League’s expansion era leaves questions for Quebec City
With Seattle expected to receive new franchise, relocation city’s best bet
QUEBEC CITY — The peculiar exterior of Videotron Centre invited a nickname, so some started calling it “the cake” for how layers of white metal surround it like frosting. For one night only in September, it hosted an NHL game as it was always intended to. The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens played an exhibition there, reminding locals of the team they used to have and also the one they still hope will come.
“Why not?” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said when asked if he’d like to see an NHLteam here. “I knew it’s a hockey town. Lots of history in this town. People miss hockey here.”
Three hours before that puck drop, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau took a short flight from Montreal to Quebec City on a private jet. He wanted to sell Quebec City as a hockey market in person, perhaps because, even with a ready arena and the media conglomerate as a willing owner in one of the most hockey-mad regions in the world, Quebec has tumbled down the NHL’s priority list for expansion.
Two years ago, Quebec City submitted an expansion application at the same time as Las Vegas. The NHL picked Las Vegas while deferring Quebec City’s bid, and then the Vegas Golden Knights advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in their inaugural season. The league is preparing to expand again in Seattle with the new franchise expected to be formally approved in December.
Seattle will eventually give the NHL 32 teams with an equal balance between the Eastern and Western conferences. No North American professional sports league has more than 32 teams in it, and so it seems the NHL will stop expanding after it adds Seattle. Where does that leave Quebec City?
“It’s the $100 million question,” Péladeau said. “There’s not too many scenarios. It’s either a new franchise or Even with a ready arena in one of the most hockey-mad regions in the world, Quebec has tumbled down the NHL’s priority list for expansion. a relocation. And in every scenario, we’re open for business.”
Relocating a team already in the Eastern Conference is Quebec City’s best hope – ironic considering the area lost the Nordiques when the club was moved to Denver in 1995, now the Colorado Avalanche franchise. It stung even more when that same team with captain Joe Sakic won the Stanley Cup a year later.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has insisted that he has no interest or designs on relocating a team, but in the Eastern Conference, there are some obvious candidates in the Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers, whoall struggle with attendance.
“At least [team owners] have several scenarios, which is interesting for them and interesting for what other cities in North America are able to provide to the league,” Péladeau said. “At the end of the day, if there is a location where you have a strong business plan and a passionate owner with financial means, you have more possibilities to win and to participate in the total wealth of the league instead of subsidizing continuously some pieces.
“There is a market, but the market’s not there. The arenas are not full. I’m not going to say they’re empty, but they’re far from being full.”
Bettman has sought to grow the league’s American fan base by expanding into non-traditional markets, like Las Vegas and now Seattle, and in keeping with that, Houston has shown some interest in landing a club and could be a future expansion or relocation destination in the Western Conference. Quebec City would no doubt be passionate about a professional hockey team, but it’s not really a new base for the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens just a few hours away and many locals already rooting for them. When Bettman deferred Quebec City’s bid two years ago, he also referenced a “fluctuating Canadian dollar,” which is at 77 cents to the U.S. dollar.
At issue is also the market’s size. As of July 2016, the Quebec City metropolitan area had a population of roughly 800,000, which puts it just behind Winnipeg in size. That would make it the NHL’s smallest market.
“Quebec is challenged, okay, I’m going to put it nicely. They’re challenged,” Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs told reporters in May. “Look at the income base and the population base and there probably isn’t a smaller market, so they’re going to really have to distinguish themselves in some other way, I would think.”