Bill Daly reveals the real obstacle blocking the Quebec Nordiques' return
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Bill Daly says one thing is stopping the Quebec Nordiques from returning, and it is not the Canadian dollar this time.
Speaking on The Eye Test Podcast with Pierre McGuire and Jimmy Murphy, the NHL deputy commissioner said the league has still not identified anyone willing to pay the price tag or operate a franchise in Quebec City long term.
Asked whether the sliding loonie was the obstacle, Daly said that is not how the league views it.
"I think the biggest issue that we have faced with Quebec City is that we have not identified an owner who is either willing to pay the price tag.
That's despite the fact that we've been exploring Quebec City for at least ten years now because we were doing it in conjunction with Las Vegas.
Does that present challenges? Sure it presents come challenges, no doubt about that; but I think the state of our game in Canada and each our Canadian cities is strong."
- Bill Daly
That's despite the fact that we've been exploring Quebec City for at least ten years now because we were doing it in conjunction with Las Vegas.
Does that present challenges? Sure it presents come challenges, no doubt about that; but I think the state of our game in Canada and each our Canadian cities is strong."
- Bill Daly
In June 2016, Gary Bettman listed three reasons for deferring Quebecor's expansion application.
Two of them were the Canadian dollar, which had touched 68 cents, and a conference split that already sat at 16 teams East against 14 West.
Both of those have quietly stopped applying.
The math that blocked Quebec has flipped
The loonie is trading near 71 cents US, essentially back at the level the league once called disqualifying, and Daly just waved it off. The alignment argument has reversed completely.
With the Utah Mammoth in the Central Division, the conference count is 16-16. If the Friedkin family takes the 33rd franchise to Houston or Austin, the West climbs to 17 and the 34th team almost has to be Eastern.
Quebec's real problem is the invoice
Atlanta and Phoenix are the other markets named at the Board of Governors. Phoenix is a Western city, and Atlanta still has to build a rink.
The 18,259-seat Videotron Centre has been finished since 2015.
Quebecor manages it under a long-term agreement with the city, so any rival bidder still has to deal with the company the league says has not stepped up.
Bettman priced the Texas project near $3.5 billion including construction, with the fee alone above $2 billion. Quebec is the rare candidate that needs none of the arena portion.
That leaves one objection standing, and it is the only one Quebec has ever controlled.
A decade of patience bought a friendly calendar and still no buyer.
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