Finance Minister Eric Girard acknowledges that $5 million to $7 million in public money to move the Kings to the Videotron Center is “expensive” but necessary if he is to succeed in bringing the Nordiques back to Quebec. However, he estimates his chances of success at only 10%.
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“We tried to negotiate downwards. And then it was this or nothing. So I take responsibility and listen to the criticism,” Mr Girard replied, giving an update to the parliamentary press on Tuesday morning.
He explained that the subsidy paid to Gestev will be used in particular to finance the travel and meals of the players who come to Quebec for the occasion, as well as to compensate for the loss of income of their teams.
“I definitely wish it had cost two million less,” he admitted. When he signed the contract with Luc Robitaille’s team, he said, he had no less competitive offer.
A “high quality product”
Since the announcement of this financial support to bring the Los Angeles Kings to the Videotron Center for a week in October 2024, the government has been criticized from all sides, even within its own parliamentary group. “I am very aware that there is no unanimity on this,” Prime Minister François Legault commented briefly before facing a barrage of questions from opposition parties on the issue at Salon Bleu.
But despite this “very negative” reaction, Mr Girard refuses to back down, saying he fully accepts his decision. “Why cancel if we haven’t held the event yet,” Mr. Girard argued. “We will have to assess this event when it took place,” suggests the Finance Minister. If his initiative proves successful, he is already ready to repeat the experience “with a different team, at a better cost.”
- Listen to Philippe Richard Bertrand’s analysis of Eric Girard’s press conference QUB radio:
“I don’t regret anything in the sense that we have a high-quality product,” the Finance Minister also argued.
Like the Kings, the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers, who will play in two exhibition games in Quebec, also have the potential to win the Stanley Cup, noted Mr. Girard, a good hockey fan.
The CH appeared afterwards
As for the information reported by La Presse that the Montreal Canadiens are willing to play for free at the Videotron Center. “I don’t agree with that at all,” denounced the finance minister.
“They came forward after we reached an agreement [avec les Kings]», he stressed, recalling that the last time the CH presented itself in Quebec in 2018, it took place “with an incomplete orientation” and that “the tickets were not sold”.
After affirming the contrary at a press conference last week with Luc Robitaille and the chief operating officer of the Sports and Entertainment Group of Quebecor (Gestev), Martin Tremblay, Mr. Girard now acknowledges that there is a connection between this event and the Return of the Nordiques.
10% chance
“Listen, sometimes we say things explicitly, sometimes we say things implicitly. […] I didn’t specifically say that there was a connection with the return of the Nordiques, that’s true. But […] if we get a team out of the National League [de hockey] Playing games at the Videotron Center has a connection to the possible return of the Nordiques,” said Mr. Girard.
However, it is a “difficult mandate,” admits the person to whom Prime Minister François Legault entrusted the file. “Is there anyone here who thinks that getting the Nord back is an easy task?” Mr. Girard grew up speaking English.
Compared to other cities such as Atlanta, Salt Lake City, San Antonio or Houston, “the chances of the Nordiques returning (to Quebec) are probably around 10%,” the economist estimates.
“I think the chances of an expansion happening in the next five years are one in two,” said the minister, who is scheduled to meet National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman in New York next week.
What Eric Girard said on November 14th:
“There is no signal for the National League. There is a hockey week for the people of Quebec. I see it more as a celebration of hockey.”
What Eric Girard says now:
“If we get a National League team to play games at the Videotron Center, there is a connection to the possible return of the Nordiques.”
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