Return of the Nordiques: Denis Coderre takes aim at Pierre-Karl Péladeau

This week, Pierre-Karl Péladeau has been in the media spotlight for his appearance on Paul Arcand this week. During his interview, he talked about NHL broadcasting rights, which he believes he paid too much for at the time.

But of course, as with any field hockey discussion involving PKP, the subject of the Nordiques came up. Paul Arcand obviously asked him about it, and Péladeau offered a fairly candid response on the subject:

On the League’s management side, there doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm. – Pierre-Karl Péladeau

What we did notice, however, was that his sentence didn’t seem to have met with unanimous approval. While Quebecor’s big boss was referring to a lack of enthusiasm for the project, Jean-François Plante threw the promoter under the bus.

Let’s just say his message was pretty direct.

And today, it’s Denis Coderre’s turn to do the same, as he too blames the project’s promoter rather than the project itself.

Because in Coderre’s eyes, an NHL team in Quebec City isn’t necessarily an impertinent project.

Coderre seems to criticize Péladeau for being a little too aggressive with NHL decision-makers. I imagine he didn’t take too kindly to Péladeau saying that he paid too much for broadcasting rights, among other things.

The question now is whether the NHL would be interested in the project if the promoter wasn’t Péladeau. If Coderre is anything to go by, there’s a real feeling that it’s a promoter problem that’s holding things up.

Then again, maybe the NHL doesn’t want to know anything about the market either: the reality is, we don’t know.

The other question is who else but Péladeau could be the promoter of such a project. We know that he invested a ton of money in the project because he believes in it (or believed in it?), and I wonder if anyone else would dare invest such colossal sums and run the risk of falling into the same trap as PKP.

Because yes, without the slightest guarantee, it’s a very, very risky project.

In a gust

– I can’t wait to see him play again.

40 days until Habs season opener.

Here’s Arber Xhekaj sending a dude over the boards & into the bench 😅pic.twitter.com/AP2LDmZXqX

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 1, 2023

– The two parties still need to come to an agreement.

– It’s a great way to grow the sport.

The NHL wants to play more games overseas over the next few years 🗺️🏒 https://t.co/10UgYbz81x

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) September 1, 2023

– Ouch.

The @cfmontreal has the smallest payroll in the @MLS at about $9M. #CFMTL

And on top of that, $4.6M of that $9M doesn’t play or almost never plays:

Wanyama $1.8M
Quioto $1M
Toye $600k
Hamdi $600k
Miljevic $600k pic.twitter.com/360lrGZwZ8

– Jeremy Filosa 🎙 (@JeremyFilosa) August 31, 2023

– This will be one to watch.