Quebec City team: not enough money from the business community, says Pierre LeBrun

Gary Bettman isn’t exactly Mr. Quebec. It was under his watch that the Nordiques left, and there’s no sign of a big effort to bring them back. Let’s put it this way.

Aside from everything that’s going on with the Coyotes, it’s clear that the priority isn’t Quebec City.

In fact, as reported by Pierre LeBrun on TSN, Salt Lake City is currently a prime option to host the Coyotes should the need arise – because the plan is to keep the club in Arizona.

Houston and Atlanta would be mostly expansion plans.

But where does Quebec fit into all this? It’s easy, after all, to think that Gary Bettman doesn’t want to go up to eight teams north of the border right now.

Not at the expense of markets like Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta or Salt Lake City, at least…

What fascinates me about the last three places I just named is that they’re not big, natural markets. Yes, the urban area may be a little larger, but they’re not natural markets.

Atlanta has a big urban area, but field hockey has gone twice. #NeverTwoWithoutThree?

But above all, I wonder how much money would be involved. After all, it’s often said that one of the big issues in Quebec City is that the business community’s money isn’t there.

Yesterday, Pierre LeBrun reminded us of this.

Would American markets like Kansas City and Salt Lake City have enough money to justify the arrival of an NHL team at the expense of Quebec City?

And above all, even if the money were there, would it be injected into the team?

It’s all well and good to say that there’s money to be made in the U.S., but you also have to consider the fact that in Quebec, money would certainly be injected en masse into the club.

And I’m not just talking about the owners.

Not only are the people of Quebec ready, but a lot of companies would like to put money into the team to buy, for example, boxes and tickets.

That’s what Philippe Boucher reported this week. He also believes that potential owners are ready to get their money out the door.

The cheques are ready, there’s more than one group capable of bringing a club to Quebec. There’s a lot of money in Quebec City, more than most people think.

There are people ready to do it. – A source for Philippe Boucher

If it’s going to happen, it should be soon. After all, the train is passing by now and who knows where we’ll be in a few years, when the Coyotes (maybe) have a permanent home.

Maybe they will.

It’s also worth noting that with the regions around Quebec City eating field hockey (Beauce, Saguenay, Bas-Saint-Laurent, etc.) and already investing to follow the Habs (and would do so in Quebec City), it’s starting to look like no, there’s more than just the Quebec City region to consider.

The surrounding area is also a factor.

In bursts

– Stay tuned.

– Will this still be true in a few years’ time?

– Pretty much, yes.

– Enjoy your reading.

– We’re headed that way, according to P.K. Subban’s father.