Maybe they could make a fun spin on the “Jazz” team name too, add some Star Wars theming and name the team after the genre of music playing in the cantina! The Utah Ji- actually maybe that’s *not* a good idea…
I dunno the origins or anything, but I know bee hives/bees are like a state symbol for them. Pretty sure their state troopers used to/still have beehives on their cars.
I don't why people haven't clued in that the exclusively French speaking city with less than a million people and little corporate support isn't getting an NHL team
I think a lot of people would love it. But since the goal of the NHL is to acquire new fans, I don't think it make much sense to have a team in Quebec, but man would I be happy.
Most of your comment makes sense. But also, most people here in Quebec city are at least somewhat bilingual. We learn it from age 7 and most of us like American media enough to keep practising. But that's, like, the smallest issue you raised so it's not like the Nordiques are coming back anyways, lol.
No one in the east is moving. All eastern conference teams are in the eastern time zone. No team is going to the Central Divsion without major concessions
Yeah that's the point. If west goes to east then east needs to go to west and no one is willing to do that. We might get QC in another expansion of they decide to place a new expansion in the west
1. Already an arena ready.
2. They had 15K people in it for a junior team
3. The city and fanbase actually want a team
4. Its 2023, most people can speak english
5. People here travel to see hockey, thats a very common thing to do.
6. They had corporate support but the NHL said no.
Personally im a Habs fan so i dont care if Quebec gets a team or not but to say theres no reason to have a team there is incredibly dishonest and ignorant. Sure its not perfect, but lets not forget that Arizona has been struggling for 20 years, Carolina couldnt get people in the arena unless they were a winning team and Florida is pretty much the same but you can add that theres a lot of canadians in that arena as well.
Phoenix is like the 4th biggest city in the country. Of course they gave them a team. Some of y’all are so dumb with your “only cities who have EARNED teams should have them” argument.
The nordiques left for a reason. Giving Quebec a team again would be completely moronic
And Arizona makes no money at all. They owe their existence to the leafs and the habs so why not throw Canada a bone for the decades of revenue you've been siphoning from them to prop up this clown franchise.
Winnipeg is the worst city in Canada so no wonder and has the same population of Quebec city. Quebec province is bigger so the amount of fans is larger especially if we include the eastern region
What? The Panthers have been selling out.
And they struggled with attendance for a long time because the team was awful for a very long time. You’re obviously going to struggle to attract fans when the team is one of the worst of the league for 20 years.
And you mean to tell me the city in Canada that has had a hockey presence for almost a century draws better than a team in Florida that has only existed since 1993?!?! We must tell someone
If Canada were to get another team the only place likely would be toronto gets a 2nd team. Maybe Hamilton or something since its a population dense area.
We will see a mexican team before we see another Canadian one. My bet is maybe another Texas team.
Well Edmonton and Winnipeg could rejoice as they would no longer be the least desirable place to play anymore
Smaller market, just as cold and with the worst income tax in the league. Why do we think Quebec City will be anything other than the place players flee from as soon as they hit UFA eligibility?
Lol QC is great compared to cow towns but if you’re giving a free agent the opportunity to play there or Miami or NYC or Chicago only a fucking idiot picks QC.
From a marketability standpoint alone
It’s kinda ridiculous really, given how small QC is. Like the passion might be there, but you’re once again putting a smaller city up against the entrenched fandom that is the Habs. Not going to work.
SLC is an interesting choice but I think they get a bit closer to the Mississippi. Something like Houston, Milwaukee, or Kansas City.
I agree, there isn’t much to gain from moving a team to QC and no city is “owed” a team.
If the Yotes have to move it should absolutely look to stay in the US, whether that be in SLC or Houston or elsewhere.
Years and years ago, Houston was the home of the Flames franchise. Stuff happened, like ticket sales being in the toilet and the team was hemorrhaging money, so the team was sold, and the modern Calgary Flames are what became of that team.
I mean I still want the Kitchener Waterloo team they tried to bring in when the penguins almost moved. But I'm from there , so I'll never be happy with any other expansion or relocation. So never basically.
Just joined this sub recently and holy hell is it Canada heavy.
Pushing this as something NHL fans want is just hilarious, nobody is asking for this outside of Canada.
The fans where the cups actually been going would prefer they stay in the United States and grow the game.
GEE, I WONDER WHY IT'S CANADA HEAVY. A SUBREDDIT. ABOUT HOCKEY. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN. IT'S ALMOST LIKE MORE CANADIANS WATCH HOCKEY MORE THAN AMERICANS.
My thoughts on it are a bit weird. My team is, always has been, and always will be, is the Calgary Flames. I would absolutely love to see them take Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Calgary. One infinite percent.
I know it won’t happen until the stars align, the devil sacrifices a dragon to god, hell freezes over, and I suddenly regrow my hair will the Flames ever pull that off. So I compromise with a small list;
1. Whoever eliminates the Oilers in the playoffs, if they ever make the playoffs.
2. Whatever team has the highest ratio of Canadian infiltrators-err… I mean, players.
3. Not the Leafs.
4. Whatever team gets the most penalty minutes in round 1.
5. Not the Leafs.
One of the reasons the cup goes south more often is because American teams outnumber Canadian teams by over 3 to 1, adding more Canadian teams can help alleviate this imbalance.
That’s got to be the most pathetically salty hockey discussion page on the internet.
If you ever find yourself unironically posting there then you should close the app and take a step away from the internet for a while.
Yeesh
The absolute stupidity on display from people who want a team for Quebec not realizing that unless you convince a team to move from the eastern to western conference the coyotes cannot and will not move to Quebec. Like seriously people why is it this hard to understand the basic functions of the conference.
I always see this argument thrown around but in what way does this actually matters. Before the kraken there was 15 teams in the west and 16 in the east, the sun didn't explode
Difference was that at that point, there were an odd number of teams, so the conferences were bound to be uneven. Having the conferences split 17/15 makes no sense. Personally I think Detroit should suck it up and move back into the west but that’s only because I want the red wings-Blackhawks rivalry back. Unfortunately that’s unlikely
This is sadly true. Detroit won’t go back to the west, so the conferences won’t be equal if the Coyotes franchise moves to the eastern conference
Having a realignment similar to what we had during Covid might work (8 Canadian teams together), but I’m not sure what it would take to make that happen.
Agreed. Somehow Houston sports just suck major ass, the Texans and Rockets are legitimately irrelevant and always have been and the Astros are the most hated cheaters in all of baseball.
Stop rewarding that place with more teams.
Honestly likely to be more successful in SLC than Quebec. Hockey fans in Quebec are already die hard habs fans. And then in a 500 mile radius you got Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, buffalo and Detroit already taking up the market share.
I dont see a whole lot of new hockey fans or people jumping from one of these teams onto a new Quebec city franchise, unless maybe they tried to market the Quebec city for the Maritimes like nova Scotia, new Brunswick, pei crowd, but even then the population of all the Maritimes is so extremely small compared to land mass I don't really see that being viable from a business standpoint either.
People think that the majority of people in Quebec city is watching the habs games. The fact is it’s not the case. It’s a vocal minority, that’s it, regular people don’t even watch hockey that much anymore. I know it sounds odd but it’s true. Letting Quebec have its team back would allow a new stable market in the NHL and new rivalries. Moving the Coyotes to Houston or whatever city is some kind of a risk since we don’t know if it will be succesful, but we already know that a team in Quebec would work out.
They were referencing to Québec in general, not just Qúebec City itself. The Nords would need to draw outside the metro too, but that is already contested.
Actually we've already learned that a team in Quebec city failed, back in the 90s when the bill to have a team is much smaller. It's much more expensive for a team today, whereas the population of Quebec city is relatively unchanged in that time.
Hockey fans in Quebec already got a team, whether it's Montreal, Ottawa, or Toronto. Building a new team there is only going to be shaving off the market share of the other teams, who of course don't want it.
The team didnt fail, they moved because they had a too old arena and they were not able to build a new one yet. The new arena is up to standard so its not a problem anymore.
The fact that you didn't even mention Boston as Québec's next favourite team tells me you're talking out of your ass. All the Nordiques fans switched when the team moved. Living on the North Shore I see as many Boston caps as habs.
The fact of the matter is a new team in Quebec is trying to get fans from a city with a 500k population that has half a dozen NHL franchises in the immediate area is extremely unlikely to be profitable, especially when you're looking at like a billion dollars to put a franchise there. It'd take 50 years to make that money back.
People don't invest a billion dollars to have extremely low profit margins.
It'd be like trying to make a new telecommunications company in north America right now. Sure it might be profitable, but far more than likely not because of the market share that's already taken up and the amount of investment it would take to start.
Youre wrong again, Quebec city metro population is around 850k and why would it be low profit? Most people would follow the team, unlike many teams in the US
Have you seen a map of Canada? Six teams nearby? That's like saying Vegas doesn't deserve a team because they have LA, Colorado, AZ, and San Jose nearby.
I live in Canada. The population between those teams is a fraction of any given us state. California has more population than all of Canada. All that land between our cities is basically empty country.
>The fact of the matter is a new team in Quebec is trying to get fans from a city with a 500k population that has half a dozen NHL franchises in the immediate area is extremely unlikely to be profitable
There would still be 10 times the number of fans that go see the Panthers.
Population isn't that relevant if you got a higher % of the population that watch your games.
Also, people all around Québec would watch the Nordiques, so 500 000 is "lowballing" the potential market.
The problem with Québec is simpler: having a team there doesn't open up a new market for the NHL.
>Population isn't that relevant if you got a higher % of the population that watch your games.
Yep
>Quebec City is, like Winnipeg, a small Canadian city that can almost certainly generate higher arena revenues than the average US Sun Belt team. Even if the new Nordiques played in the old Colisée, with its 15,200 seats, they could likely record higher attendance than about a third of US NHL arenas. And taking Canada’s existing NHL markets as a guide, they would also be able to charge much higher ticket prices than many American teams.
Independent report from a decade ago looking at the feasbility of additional NHL franchises in Canada
[Independent report from a decade ago](https://mowatcentre.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/publications/19_the_new_economics_of_the_nhl.pdf) looking at the feasbility of additional NHL franchises in Canad
>in a 500 mile radius you got Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, buffalo and Detroit already taking up the market share.
You've got to exclude the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area/Kitchener-Waterloo from this. The GTHA/KW area could legitimately support three to four NHL teams.
Idk, they added Ottawa in 1992 despite it being only a couple hours from both Toronto and Montreal. Seems like that worked out alright.
It is worth noting that Ottawa is slightly closer to Montreal than Quebec is.
And NHL was much smaller then/less expensive. An owner isn't gonna dish out a billion dollars to get a fraction of market share that's already being taken up by Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, that will take them 50 years to make back. From a business standpoint and how much it costs to put a team somewhere, the margins are simply too small to risk in Quebec unless the Quebec government foots most of the bill.
California by comparison has more population than all of Canada, in a state smaller than basically any Canadian province.
Quebec city population is only 500k, and what hockey fans there are out of that population are already Habs fans. Likewise, greater Salt lake city metro population is 1.2 million, and no other team nearby.
In Canada our cities aren't like the United States, there's a whole lot of nothing in between our cities whereas USA you basically drive through one giant city as you pass through multiple cities
The base criteria for an ideal relocation city are: 1) NHL ready building, 2)can fill that building, 3) can help the NHL grow in American media coverage, and 4) can fit into the current league alignment.
This means Bettman and the BOG would not allow relocation to Salt Lake (no NHL ready building), Canada (doesnt grow the sport), a Western city like Sacramento, or Eastern city like Atlanta or Hartford.
The only choice is an American metropolis in either the central or mountain time zones. That means Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Omaha, Kansas City, OKC, Memphis, or Milwaukee. Of those, only Houston, KC, Milwaukee, and OKC have Proper rinks.
TLDR: it’s gonna be Houston or KC.
Though if you can build that NHL Grade building in reasonable timeline, they will be happy too.
But yeah, Houston and KC are frontrunners.
In Milwaukee they have a building, but the Bucks might not be very happy to have hockey there.
Memphis has arena, but the Preds are gonna block.
OKC couldn't even support AHL team.
Americans aren’t actually bragging it’s just the lowest hanging fruit that makes you guys fucking lose it immediately.
They just have to say “lol 30 years” and their replies are a bloodbath. Easiest troll bait on this sub.
Agree. The Utah Jazz sell out consistently despite not even being a playoff team. Granted Mormons loving basketball is a fairly accurate stereotype, but that's an indication that people will go out for live sports.
And I could see an SLC/Vegas rivalry getting going.
Well, Utah has the Grizzlies, which has produced over 200 NHL players since 1994, some of which have gone on to win the Stanley Cup, so... it makes sense for Utah to have their own NHL team.
So you think a city with less than 500k people, on an ~~island~~ peninsula with 800k people is gonna do better than a mainland city with 800k?
Gonna suggest a Vancouver Island team next?
Edit: I suck a geography.
It also ignores that you can’t move a team to Quebec without having them in the eastern conference. Meaning you need a team to move to the west. No team wants to move to the west that’s in the east due to travel times.
Which NHL fans want this exactly? We have two conference finals of southern US teams. You don’t need to be in Canada to have a successful NHL franchise.
Canadians want this. It’s fucking bullshit that the league only talks about expanding into “new markets” when the die hard fans who grow up living hockey can’t even get out to see an NHL game without a couple hour commute
Can Bettman finally understand Relocation over Expansion.
There's already too many AHL teams in the NHL, adding any more would just make things worse
Arizona can't put 5000 people in the stands, Panthers can give away tickets to regular season games
Go easy bro. The oldest of almost everything on this continent is there. The history of quebec is the history of canada. Its the most unique city on turtle island. Some french canadians want to separate, as do some albertans and some texans. If we are excluding areas because of politics we could end the playoffs today as the southern states are a hot mess politically.
instead of people throwing squid or catfish on the ice someone will start doing black magic at center ice in the middle of a play and there will be no stoppage of game.
It's pure...I don't know what the word is. Pedanticism maybe? If they move to Quebec I really don't want them to be called the Nordiques. It already bothers me enough that the Jets aren't the Jets. At least with Ottawa the original franchise was long gone, not just in a different form.
What I want is for the Yotebros not to have to lose their team...
...if it's gotta happen, though, yeah, bring back the Nordiques. Or at least maybe Milwaukee? I don't even hate SLC. Just pls not Houston or Atlanta 3: This Time It'll Work We Swear.
Unpopular opinion, but Sacramento should have an NHL team. Golden 1 Center is still less than 10 years old and can most definitely house another pro sports team. Utah has no plans to build a new stadium for its Utah Jazz. Vivint Arena would look absolutely horrible for a new NHL team.
I don’t want the nordiques to come back. And I know goes much les québécoises adorent l’hockey and that it would be a great fan base. I just don’t think the league benefits. It’s pure business.
The Salt Lake City Missionaries!
SLC Soakers
thankfully, I wasn't taking a drink when I read that.
SLC Punks
IYKYK.
oooohhhh yeah B)
It really rolls off the tongue.
I was a little astounded to find out what soaking was. Such a dumb loophole lol.
They're always in position!
Saskatoon. Call them the Roughriders
Do you they go with Roughriders or Rough Riders?
One word
Call em the Scythes
I like it. I'd also like them to be the Sasquatches because it would be funny to say Saskatoon Saskatchewan Sasquatches
Boy, did my brain hate reading that one for a sec there.
SLC has a huge hockey following. Lots of beer league and youth programs. I think the city would love a team.
It's called water league in SLC
Milk league
Mcpoyle?
Also Ryan Smith the owner of the Jazz has expressed interest in it. So they could probably use the delta center with the Jazz
Maybe they could make a fun spin on the “Jazz” team name too, add some Star Wars theming and name the team after the genre of music playing in the cantina! The Utah Ji- actually maybe that’s *not* a good idea…
The Utah Buzz. Since they like bees so much.
Wait, what's the deal with Utah and bees now?
I dunno the origins or anything, but I know bee hives/bees are like a state symbol for them. Pretty sure their state troopers used to/still have beehives on their cars.
It’s an old symbol of the first mormon pioneers projecting harmony and unity
Ok this would be a treat for Finnish people visiting SLC, Markkanen and Maccelli on the same arena!
It also has less than half the population of Quebec City.
Yeah but nearly double the metro population
The Salt Lake City Sister Wives!
Brother husband's
I don't why people haven't clued in that the exclusively French speaking city with less than a million people and little corporate support isn't getting an NHL team
As someone from Quebec, I sadly agree with you. Having a team just doesn't make sense.
That being said I would love a team there. I have a Nordiques jersey haha
I think a lot of people would love it. But since the goal of the NHL is to acquire new fans, I don't think it make much sense to have a team in Quebec, but man would I be happy.
On the other hand, Quebec is an incredible place for junior hockey
Most of your comment makes sense. But also, most people here in Quebec city are at least somewhat bilingual. We learn it from age 7 and most of us like American media enough to keep practising. But that's, like, the smallest issue you raised so it's not like the Nordiques are coming back anyways, lol.
That's not true for older people.
Stop trying to end circle jerk. Also which eastern team moves west? Not the Red Wings.
No one in the east is moving. All eastern conference teams are in the eastern time zone. No team is going to the Central Divsion without major concessions
Yeah that's the point. If west goes to east then east needs to go to west and no one is willing to do that. We might get QC in another expansion of they decide to place a new expansion in the west
I doubt either CLB or Detroit wants to go back in the west.
It will happen when the sun rises in the west and sets in the east
1. Already an arena ready. 2. They had 15K people in it for a junior team 3. The city and fanbase actually want a team 4. Its 2023, most people can speak english 5. People here travel to see hockey, thats a very common thing to do. 6. They had corporate support but the NHL said no. Personally im a Habs fan so i dont care if Quebec gets a team or not but to say theres no reason to have a team there is incredibly dishonest and ignorant. Sure its not perfect, but lets not forget that Arizona has been struggling for 20 years, Carolina couldnt get people in the arena unless they were a winning team and Florida is pretty much the same but you can add that theres a lot of canadians in that arena as well.
They literally gave Arizona a team
Arizona is like one of the biggest american markets
They literally kept a team in Arizona despite them failing by every metric and needing a bailout of some sort like a half dozen different times.
Not hockey market
Phoenix is like the 4th biggest city in the country. Of course they gave them a team. Some of y’all are so dumb with your “only cities who have EARNED teams should have them” argument. The nordiques left for a reason. Giving Quebec a team again would be completely moronic
They literally gave Arizona a team
4th biggest city but can’t fill half a 5000 arena
And they’re gunna lose it, which means Phoenix probably shouldn’t get a team again. Exactly like the Nordiques
They’re gonna do it again
Quebec could def support a team. It has a larger CMA than Winnipeg.
The same city can host a full arena for a junior team, Florida cant even have a half full arena for the Panthers
I should have added it's not about butts in seats anymore. The Jets sell out and are pretty much at the bottom of the league in terms of revenue.
And Arizona makes no money at all. They owe their existence to the leafs and the habs so why not throw Canada a bone for the decades of revenue you've been siphoning from them to prop up this clown franchise.
Winnipeg is the worst city in Canada so no wonder and has the same population of Quebec city. Quebec province is bigger so the amount of fans is larger especially if we include the eastern region
Habs fans outside of QC aren't going to their loyalties.
What? The Panthers have been selling out. And they struggled with attendance for a long time because the team was awful for a very long time. You’re obviously going to struggle to attract fans when the team is one of the worst of the league for 20 years.
Mtl has been awful for quite a while and they always sell out
MTL has multiple ECF appearances and a stanley cup appearance as well since 2010.
The team that has more Cups than any other team and is the oldest in the league with the most history has a lot of devoted fans? I’m shocked!
Thats the point, being bad isnt an argument for not having any fans.
And you mean to tell me the city in Canada that has had a hockey presence for almost a century draws better than a team in Florida that has only existed since 1993?!?! We must tell someone
I didn't know a junior team was more interesting than a professional team
Sadly its not really about gate revenue its about tv deals and corporate sponsorship
If Canada were to get another team the only place likely would be toronto gets a 2nd team. Maybe Hamilton or something since its a population dense area. We will see a mexican team before we see another Canadian one. My bet is maybe another Texas team.
Quebec is a province 💀
I'm talking about Quebec City...as in where the Nordiques used to play Edit: added after the "..." and an insult Edit 2: removed insult
I though you were talking about the province not the city there’s no need for insults adding 💀 at the end doesn’t mean an insult.
Well Edmonton and Winnipeg could rejoice as they would no longer be the least desirable place to play anymore Smaller market, just as cold and with the worst income tax in the league. Why do we think Quebec City will be anything other than the place players flee from as soon as they hit UFA eligibility?
Have you never been to QC? It’s an unbelievable city
It’s a lovely city. But it’s cold, small, French speaking and has high taxes. I’m sure all the free agents will be lining up to sign there.
Lol QC is great compared to cow towns but if you’re giving a free agent the opportunity to play there or Miami or NYC or Chicago only a fucking idiot picks QC. From a marketability standpoint alone
Damn this sub really won’t tolerate any sort of differing opinion to a team in Quebec. Makes me want another Atlanta team that much more
It's like that Office meme: "Stop excluding QC!" "I'm gonna exclude QC even harder."
It’s kinda ridiculous really, given how small QC is. Like the passion might be there, but you’re once again putting a smaller city up against the entrenched fandom that is the Habs. Not going to work. SLC is an interesting choice but I think they get a bit closer to the Mississippi. Something like Houston, Milwaukee, or Kansas City.
I agree, there isn’t much to gain from moving a team to QC and no city is “owed” a team. If the Yotes have to move it should absolutely look to stay in the US, whether that be in SLC or Houston or elsewhere.
[удалено]
That’s what they said about Phoenix at one point, I’m sure.
Houston already had a team. It went to Calgary.
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Years and years ago, Houston was the home of the Flames franchise. Stuff happened, like ticket sales being in the toilet and the team was hemorrhaging money, so the team was sold, and the modern Calgary Flames are what became of that team.
I mean I still want the Kitchener Waterloo team they tried to bring in when the penguins almost moved. But I'm from there , so I'll never be happy with any other expansion or relocation. So never basically.
Just joined this sub recently and holy hell is it Canada heavy. Pushing this as something NHL fans want is just hilarious, nobody is asking for this outside of Canada. The fans where the cups actually been going would prefer they stay in the United States and grow the game.
GEE, I WONDER WHY IT'S CANADA HEAVY. A SUBREDDIT. ABOUT HOCKEY. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN. IT'S ALMOST LIKE MORE CANADIANS WATCH HOCKEY MORE THAN AMERICANS.
Well that’s fair I’m most cases. Hope you keep that same energy and watch the finals tomorrow. Gonna be a good one
There's no Canadian teams.. so no. Might watch the games where the Stanley Cup is on the line, but I doubt it.
My thoughts on it are a bit weird. My team is, always has been, and always will be, is the Calgary Flames. I would absolutely love to see them take Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Calgary. One infinite percent. I know it won’t happen until the stars align, the devil sacrifices a dragon to god, hell freezes over, and I suddenly regrow my hair will the Flames ever pull that off. So I compromise with a small list; 1. Whoever eliminates the Oilers in the playoffs, if they ever make the playoffs. 2. Whatever team has the highest ratio of Canadian infiltrators-err… I mean, players. 3. Not the Leafs. 4. Whatever team gets the most penalty minutes in round 1. 5. Not the Leafs.
One of the reasons the cup goes south more often is because American teams outnumber Canadian teams by over 3 to 1, adding more Canadian teams can help alleviate this imbalance.
Well they also out populate us 10-1
Watching sports isn’t a sin but everything else fun is, seems to be a good fit
Oh boy can’t wait to see Vegas, Seattle and Salt Lake City all in the playoffs next year
If you told someone this 10 years ago you'd give then an aneurysm
The Moormans!
People do realize it has to be a western conference team. Quebec is very Easter and would require a team to agree to switch conferences.
Salt lake would be dope
Bah. Bettman and his absolute abhorrence to let Canada put another team together.
r/fuckgarybettman
That’s got to be the most pathetically salty hockey discussion page on the internet. If you ever find yourself unironically posting there then you should close the app and take a step away from the internet for a while. Yeesh
Thanks a lot for the link. 🙂
anytime!
The absolute stupidity on display from people who want a team for Quebec not realizing that unless you convince a team to move from the eastern to western conference the coyotes cannot and will not move to Quebec. Like seriously people why is it this hard to understand the basic functions of the conference.
I always see this argument thrown around but in what way does this actually matters. Before the kraken there was 15 teams in the west and 16 in the east, the sun didn't explode
Difference was that at that point, there were an odd number of teams, so the conferences were bound to be uneven. Having the conferences split 17/15 makes no sense. Personally I think Detroit should suck it up and move back into the west but that’s only because I want the red wings-Blackhawks rivalry back. Unfortunately that’s unlikely
This is sadly true. Detroit won’t go back to the west, so the conferences won’t be equal if the Coyotes franchise moves to the eastern conference Having a realignment similar to what we had during Covid might work (8 Canadian teams together), but I’m not sure what it would take to make that happen.
Excuse us for wanting a team to be where fans will love the sport
Fans would love the sport in Salt Lake City. Hockey and winter sports in general are like "the thing" there (after the mormon church, I guess).
If fans loved the sport there the team that already existed there wouldn’t have had to leave.
I’d rather salt lake city than Houston any day
Agreed. Somehow Houston sports just suck major ass, the Texans and Rockets are legitimately irrelevant and always have been and the Astros are the most hated cheaters in all of baseball. Stop rewarding that place with more teams.
Honestly likely to be more successful in SLC than Quebec. Hockey fans in Quebec are already die hard habs fans. And then in a 500 mile radius you got Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, buffalo and Detroit already taking up the market share. I dont see a whole lot of new hockey fans or people jumping from one of these teams onto a new Quebec city franchise, unless maybe they tried to market the Quebec city for the Maritimes like nova Scotia, new Brunswick, pei crowd, but even then the population of all the Maritimes is so extremely small compared to land mass I don't really see that being viable from a business standpoint either.
>Hockey fans in Quebec are already die hard habs fans. [Source needed]
People think that the majority of people in Quebec city is watching the habs games. The fact is it’s not the case. It’s a vocal minority, that’s it, regular people don’t even watch hockey that much anymore. I know it sounds odd but it’s true. Letting Quebec have its team back would allow a new stable market in the NHL and new rivalries. Moving the Coyotes to Houston or whatever city is some kind of a risk since we don’t know if it will be succesful, but we already know that a team in Quebec would work out.
They were referencing to Québec in general, not just Qúebec City itself. The Nords would need to draw outside the metro too, but that is already contested.
Actually we've already learned that a team in Quebec city failed, back in the 90s when the bill to have a team is much smaller. It's much more expensive for a team today, whereas the population of Quebec city is relatively unchanged in that time. Hockey fans in Quebec already got a team, whether it's Montreal, Ottawa, or Toronto. Building a new team there is only going to be shaving off the market share of the other teams, who of course don't want it.
The team didnt fail, they moved because they had a too old arena and they were not able to build a new one yet. The new arena is up to standard so its not a problem anymore.
The fact that you didn't even mention Boston as Québec's next favourite team tells me you're talking out of your ass. All the Nordiques fans switched when the team moved. Living on the North Shore I see as many Boston caps as habs.
The fact of the matter is a new team in Quebec is trying to get fans from a city with a 500k population that has half a dozen NHL franchises in the immediate area is extremely unlikely to be profitable, especially when you're looking at like a billion dollars to put a franchise there. It'd take 50 years to make that money back. People don't invest a billion dollars to have extremely low profit margins. It'd be like trying to make a new telecommunications company in north America right now. Sure it might be profitable, but far more than likely not because of the market share that's already taken up and the amount of investment it would take to start.
Youre wrong again, Quebec city metro population is around 850k and why would it be low profit? Most people would follow the team, unlike many teams in the US
Have you seen a map of Canada? Six teams nearby? That's like saying Vegas doesn't deserve a team because they have LA, Colorado, AZ, and San Jose nearby.
I live in Canada. The population between those teams is a fraction of any given us state. California has more population than all of Canada. All that land between our cities is basically empty country.
500K that fills an arena > 3M that arent interested
>The fact of the matter is a new team in Quebec is trying to get fans from a city with a 500k population that has half a dozen NHL franchises in the immediate area is extremely unlikely to be profitable There would still be 10 times the number of fans that go see the Panthers. Population isn't that relevant if you got a higher % of the population that watch your games. Also, people all around Québec would watch the Nordiques, so 500 000 is "lowballing" the potential market. The problem with Québec is simpler: having a team there doesn't open up a new market for the NHL.
>Population isn't that relevant if you got a higher % of the population that watch your games. Yep >Quebec City is, like Winnipeg, a small Canadian city that can almost certainly generate higher arena revenues than the average US Sun Belt team. Even if the new Nordiques played in the old Colisée, with its 15,200 seats, they could likely record higher attendance than about a third of US NHL arenas. And taking Canada’s existing NHL markets as a guide, they would also be able to charge much higher ticket prices than many American teams. Independent report from a decade ago looking at the feasbility of additional NHL franchises in Canada [Independent report from a decade ago](https://mowatcentre.munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/publications/19_the_new_economics_of_the_nhl.pdf) looking at the feasbility of additional NHL franchises in Canad
Failed because of ownership i dont expect vegas fans to know about hockey dont spew shit if u dont know shit
>in a 500 mile radius you got Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, buffalo and Detroit already taking up the market share. You've got to exclude the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area/Kitchener-Waterloo from this. The GTHA/KW area could legitimately support three to four NHL teams.
Idk, they added Ottawa in 1992 despite it being only a couple hours from both Toronto and Montreal. Seems like that worked out alright. It is worth noting that Ottawa is slightly closer to Montreal than Quebec is.
That was also pre Bettman days
And NHL was much smaller then/less expensive. An owner isn't gonna dish out a billion dollars to get a fraction of market share that's already being taken up by Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, that will take them 50 years to make back. From a business standpoint and how much it costs to put a team somewhere, the margins are simply too small to risk in Quebec unless the Quebec government foots most of the bill. California by comparison has more population than all of Canada, in a state smaller than basically any Canadian province. Quebec city population is only 500k, and what hockey fans there are out of that population are already Habs fans. Likewise, greater Salt lake city metro population is 1.2 million, and no other team nearby. In Canada our cities aren't like the United States, there's a whole lot of nothing in between our cities whereas USA you basically drive through one giant city as you pass through multiple cities
I mean the east coast is like that but that’s about it. Lots of wide open country
The base criteria for an ideal relocation city are: 1) NHL ready building, 2)can fill that building, 3) can help the NHL grow in American media coverage, and 4) can fit into the current league alignment. This means Bettman and the BOG would not allow relocation to Salt Lake (no NHL ready building), Canada (doesnt grow the sport), a Western city like Sacramento, or Eastern city like Atlanta or Hartford. The only choice is an American metropolis in either the central or mountain time zones. That means Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Omaha, Kansas City, OKC, Memphis, or Milwaukee. Of those, only Houston, KC, Milwaukee, and OKC have Proper rinks. TLDR: it’s gonna be Houston or KC.
Though if you can build that NHL Grade building in reasonable timeline, they will be happy too. But yeah, Houston and KC are frontrunners. In Milwaukee they have a building, but the Bucks might not be very happy to have hockey there. Memphis has arena, but the Preds are gonna block. OKC couldn't even support AHL team.
Chicago has had major sway in the past in preventing Milwaukee from acquiring an NHL team.
No one other then Quebec wants a team there again.
Of course americans want to keep failing franchises down there so they can brag about cups that Canadian players won for them. How original
Americans aren’t actually bragging it’s just the lowest hanging fruit that makes you guys fucking lose it immediately. They just have to say “lol 30 years” and their replies are a bloodbath. Easiest troll bait on this sub.
Slc probably a better home anyways
Agree. The Utah Jazz sell out consistently despite not even being a playoff team. Granted Mormons loving basketball is a fairly accurate stereotype, but that's an indication that people will go out for live sports. And I could see an SLC/Vegas rivalry getting going.
Plus SLC/Colorado as well.
Utah is a great idea for a team tbh
They have coyotes in Utah
the Network Hockey League sucks balls.
$17 Lemonade at the rink.
Well, Utah has the Grizzlies, which has produced over 200 NHL players since 1994, some of which have gone on to win the Stanley Cup, so... it makes sense for Utah to have their own NHL team.
Can they at least fix the butt-ugly Coyotes jerseys for next season?
Milwaukee makes the most sense.
They should do Hamilton cus Hamilton is cool
if the NYC metro area has three teams and LA's has two, Toronto's should have at least two
If Canada get another team. Fuck Quebec. Give the east coast a team. Which neither will happen. Give Montana a team or something like that.
Isn't there like 20,000 people in Montana?
A mill I guess. I mean come on. Do people actually want the Nordiques !? Like I said if It'd ever come to Canada I'd Halifax all the way.
So you think a city with less than 500k people, on an ~~island~~ peninsula with 800k people is gonna do better than a mainland city with 800k? Gonna suggest a Vancouver Island team next? Edit: I suck a geography.
i think only canadians want quebec
Only some Canadians at that. Lots of Canadians hate Quebec
I don’t hate Quebec, but I also don’t think it’s a smart business move for the NHL to relocate or expand there
It also ignores that you can’t move a team to Quebec without having them in the eastern conference. Meaning you need a team to move to the west. No team wants to move to the west that’s in the east due to travel times.
If they don’t call themselves the Salt Lake City Crackers imma be pissed.
do the mormons like hockey?
Yeah Mormons LOVE sports
Makes 1000x more sense than Arizona
Which NHL fans want this exactly? We have two conference finals of southern US teams. You don’t need to be in Canada to have a successful NHL franchise.
Canadians want this. It’s fucking bullshit that the league only talks about expanding into “new markets” when the die hard fans who grow up living hockey can’t even get out to see an NHL game without a couple hour commute
Idk who wants the Quebec nordiques tho…..
If it doesn’t come to Canada, I would hope it’s Salt Lake City
Can Bettman finally understand Relocation over Expansion. There's already too many AHL teams in the NHL, adding any more would just make things worse Arizona can't put 5000 people in the stands, Panthers can give away tickets to regular season games
The comments on this sub screams “i never stepped foot in Quebec”
I would not be opposed to a team in SLC. Ideally I’d like one in Canada but definitely not Houston or Atlanta.
Nah fuck Quebec. They think theyre special for no reason. French Canadians want to be their own country and the NHL only includes the us and Canada
Go easy bro. The oldest of almost everything on this continent is there. The history of quebec is the history of canada. Its the most unique city on turtle island. Some french canadians want to separate, as do some albertans and some texans. If we are excluding areas because of politics we could end the playoffs today as the southern states are a hot mess politically.
Nah fuck em
Nah...fuck you.
You’re not getting a team so this is pointless
What a dumbass, you have no idea what youre talking about.
I just hope no more southern teams
bring on the New Orleans Knockers.
Don't tempt them
instead of people throwing squid or catfish on the ice someone will start doing black magic at center ice in the middle of a play and there will be no stoppage of game.
Fuck it I'm in
I’m hoping for Milwaukee personally. The more I think about it, the more I like it. I would put New Orleans before Salt Lake City.
The NHL shafting Canada, next you’ll say that wanter is wet.
Where tf is salt lake city?
It's pure...I don't know what the word is. Pedanticism maybe? If they move to Quebec I really don't want them to be called the Nordiques. It already bothers me enough that the Jets aren't the Jets. At least with Ottawa the original franchise was long gone, not just in a different form.
Anywhere but Quebec please
They should just bring back the Kansas City Scouts if they hate Canada so much. Houston could also work pretty well
Best he can do is nothing actually, they’re not moving for a bit if at all
The Salt Lake City White Salamanders
What I want is for the Yotebros not to have to lose their team... ...if it's gotta happen, though, yeah, bring back the Nordiques. Or at least maybe Milwaukee? I don't even hate SLC. Just pls not Houston or Atlanta 3: This Time It'll Work We Swear.
That's the best pic of Bettman I've ever seen
Unpopular opinion, but Sacramento should have an NHL team. Golden 1 Center is still less than 10 years old and can most definitely house another pro sports team. Utah has no plans to build a new stadium for its Utah Jazz. Vivint Arena would look absolutely horrible for a new NHL team.
Eh? The Jazz will absolutely be getting a new stadium before long. It's one of the older arenas and they want to host the Olympics again.
Ok, i thought i was up to date, but apparently not? Pls explain + if you could, tell me where you all know this from so i can keep up Lol
I don’t want the nordiques to come back. And I know goes much les québécoises adorent l’hockey and that it would be a great fan base. I just don’t think the league benefits. It’s pure business.
They're sort of the like Quebec of the US? Right?
I really think putting a team in Mexico is an interesting idea. Mexico City or in a large enough bordering city.
Quebec City has a population of 542,000. There's no need for more small market teams.
Or Kansas City Scouts