Quebec City's quest to get its old NHL team, the Nordiques, back has been stalled—at least temporarily.
To recap the current status:
Quebec has public support—80,000 signatures on a petition to get the team back.
Quebec has a first-class investor fronting a bid: Quebecor.
Quebec has civic support; the mayor is willing to pledge $50 million for a new arena.
Quebec has talked to Gary Bettman, who is urging an NHL-size arena be built that is projected to cost $400 million.
Quebecor has hired a company to do a feasibility study.
And there it ends. Quebecor has the money to front a franchise bid, but not enough to make a bid and build a new arena.
The upcoming feasibility study will ask 1,000 people—hopefully, they are from the 80,000 who signed the petition—if they approve building the new arena, if they will buy tickets, etc.
The purpose of the study is to attract private investors and government funding.
Quebec wants the rest of the province and Canada to split the remaining $350 million cost. To make it seem more "national," the construction is being billed as necessary for a future Qu ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Thompson
Quebec Paying for Being in the Hinterland To the Rest of Canada
March 15th, 2010 by Steve Thompson Leave a reply »
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