The Canadian and Geoff Molson voted for Vegas and decided to postpone Quebec's candidacy when the NHL created a new franchise in 2016. As the league continues to add new markets, will Montreal be among the Nordic countries' friends or foes this time?
Because anything could happen there.
Last Friday my colleague Kevin Dubé reported that the NHL is at risk of embarking on an expansion process, possibly for two new markets, and that the race should be between Houston and Salt Lake City for a team in the West, but also between Atlanta and Quebec for a team in the East. And all this without forgetting the situation with the coyotes, who have apparently exhausted their villainy in order to survive. The team could move east.
Quebec therefore returns to the discussion provided Quebec decides to participate in the dance. And Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau didn't hesitate for long when my colleague Renaud Lavoie asked him the question this weekend.
He also mentioned the possibility of allying with partners.
There is no magic recipe for putting together a new team. 75% of current clubs must vote to establish a new concession in the candidate city.
In 2016, of the 30 clubs, a total of zero voted for Quebec. It was unanimously decided to entrust a club to Vegas and to postpone Quebec's candidacy.
It all added up to make us look like we'd been invited to an idiot's dinner: Vegas was a financially promising market for the NHL, and the Canadian didn't even have to convince the other teams to agree to the offer. from Quebec. Vegas was nirvana for the NHL.
Atlanta is not Vegas
But when it's Quebec vs. Atlanta, we're somewhere else.
The NHL crashed twice in Atlanta. The question of the famous TV market is becoming less and less important among web broadcasting platforms that are involved in sports.
Quebec, on the other hand, doesn't have much more to offer than in 2016. But it still has everything it needs.
To my Montreal friends who point out to me that Quebec is too small and that we don't have enough money to support an NHL team for 41 games, I want to say that I completely disagree.
Or that you need to stop believing that Quebec is the same as it was in 1989.
The Quebec region may not be rich in wealth, but it is the only major region in Canada that has experienced economic growth for 23 years. According to Statistics Canada, GDP per capita growth from 2001 to 2018 was the highest in the country. It was twice as good as Montreal and three times better than Toronto.
In terms of entertainment budget, the Videotron Center is the fourth largest in Canada, ahead of Ottawa and Vancouver, in terms of the number of tickets sold. Yes, the Remparts exist, but they account for about 25% of all tickets sold each year.
In short: Unlike 2016, it won't be as obvious to NHL team owners that Atlanta is the obvious choice ahead of Quebec.
However, I tell you in detail that the team to be chosen between Atlanta and Quebec is in danger of winning by unanimous vote.
In other words, every owner in the league will suddenly have the same opinion.
For what? Because it's like politics. There will be a powerful lobby behind the scenes working to make this city and not the other one.
A lobby
A variety of reasons can inspire this lobby, including the idea that a new team shouldn't be looking for fans in a market monopolized by a neighbor like the Canadiens. And that's not unhealthy, it's actually logical for a company that wants to make money.
And you understand that this lobby doesn't care about the passion of a hockey market.
If this scenario takes shape and there is indeed a race between Atlanta and here, I believe several owners will be tempted to take an interest in Quebec.
Or rather, that they don't want to have anything to do with going back to Atlanta.
There it will be a great success or a disaster. In Quebec it will be a more modest but safer figure in terms of the NHL's finances.
It will not help strengthen the NHL's brand image in North America.
It's just lower risk than Atlanta.
So who will the influencers be? Who will be the owners who will take the lead to convince all the other owners who will vote unanimously in the end?
Sure, Gary Bettman will make his recommendation, but it will be influenced by the owners who take control of that decision.
Geoff Molson has always said publicly that he would support a return for the Nordiques. Here we will see it and where it will take place. He, along with the other owners, could play an important role in bringing hockey back to Quebec or Atlanta.
I've multiplied the cynical columns about the NHL's return to Quebec. We're tired of being fooled until things get serious.
However, if rumors of two expansions emerge, it could be Quebec's last and only real chance.
We are not in utopia. We enter the universe of possibilities, despite all the legs we have been given.