Rumor: Controversial reporter claims an NHL team “could move to Quebec.”

Could the Nordiques be coming back?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Rumor: Controversial reporter claims an NHL team “could move to Quebec.”

We have a rather interesting rumor to report, although admittedly it does not come from the most reliable of sources. 

Eklund of Hockey Buzz is reporting that "things are happening" and that rumors around the league are swirling regarding a potential for a return to hockey in Quebec City, Quebec. Eklund has broken stories in the past but has become an unreliable source as of late, more often then not peddling unsubstantiated rumors in an effort to drive interest, so we are obviously taking this one with a grain of salt, however there is more to this story than merely Eklund's musings.

In a recent article for the Journal de Montréal former Montreal Canadiens general manager Serge Savard made comments that clearly indicated that he also believes that the likelihood of Quebec getting a second team has increased dramatically. Savard believes that the current situation forcing the NHL to halt its season could put enough of a financial strain on both the league itself as well as some of the NHL's struggling franchises that a move back to Quebec City could very well end up being in the cards. 

"It will be difficult for a lot of teams," said Savard as per the Journal. When teams like the Arizona Coyotes or the Florida Panthers had financial struggles in the past the NHL was always there to help them financially. They had margins of millions of dollars to help the struggling teams... However, with the financial loses expected, the NHL may not have those type of margins to help those teams in the future."

It is certainly easy to believe that the thought of another major expansion fee on the part of what would presumably be the Quebec Nordiques would be a huge cash injection for the NHL moving forward, however the league has thus far made no indication that a return to Quebec City is currently in the cards. There is also the possibility of a franchise being forced to relocate, however there is thus far no indication that any team is in that much financial peril, nor is there any guarantee that the location of that relocation would be Quebec City.

It certainly is a sexy rumor, but it can not be considered anything other than that at this time.


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