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Kings in Quebec City: unhappy, the Canadiens reportedly call Luc Robitaille

There’s a lot of talk about the Kings in Quebec City. It really is.

After all, the club is coming to spend a few days in the city to train and play preparatory games in 2024, but it will be done with taxpayers’ money. The government will inject about five million dollars to bring the Kings to town.

As with every time investment in sport is announced (and I’m not talking about amateur sport), we hear comments about the lack of financial resources in schools and hospitals surface.

It’s not just in Montreal or Quebec, by the way. In Nevada, while the A’s are expected to move to Vegas, teachers don’t want to see the government injecting public funds into a ballpark.

All of which is to say that in these difficult times for many people here, the fact that money will be given to American teams doesn’t sit well. Seeing the government “buy a product” of a preparatory match to use the Centre Vidéotron is currently a hot topic.

And that’s where the Canadiens come in.

The Canadiens offered their services (without the help of government money) after the Kings negotiated with the Quebec government. In fact, it was in September that the Kings made it official, and it was in October that the CH called to offer its services.

And as Réjean Tremblay pointed out on the BPM Sports website this morning, the Habs aren’t happy about all this.

In fact, after the Kings agreed to come to Quebec City, Réjean Tremblay reports that a “big tenor” of the Habs called Luc Robitaille to tell him he was unhappy to see the Kings come to their playground.

The Habs haven’t played in Quebec City for several years. That was before the pandemic, in 2018.

It reminds me of a kindergarten child who leaves a toy aside and, several minutes later, sees a classmate “steal” the toy. And that’s when the first one starts saying that it’s not fair and that it’s his toy.

Because yes, the CH left Quebec City out in the cold. Aside from the monetary aspect (the CH made money by going to Quebec City, since it paid the Centre Vidéotron’s rent as well as the profits), it’s been a while since it used the toy in its playground. And now he’s had it taken away by another friend.

Having your territory taken away from you doesn’t make the Habs happy, even though they say they’re open to the Nordiques’ return. At the same time, the CH can’t say the opposite publicly…

If we can get taxpayers’ money out of the way, Quebec City fans will get an interesting product (the final games of the Kings camp will be played with a more interesting roster than the one the CH used to bring) at more reasonable prices. That’s something, isn’t it?


In brief

– Training at 10:30 this morning.

– Read more.

– Bruce Cassidy enjoys working with Dominique Ducharme. [TVAS]

– Well done.

– Good thing he was protected.

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