If the hope of a return of the Nordiques was almost extinguished in the Old Capital in recent years, TVA Sports journalist Renaud Lavoie displayed a lot of optimism on Friday morning, during his segment on BPM Sports.
In his opinion, the owners of the National Hockey League (NHL), who are still called to vote in the governors’ office as part of an expansion, are following what is happening in Quebec and at the Videotron Center, which was vibrating Thursday evening for the visit of the Los Angeles Kings.
In Lavoie’s eyes, all it takes is one investor with deep pockets in the United States to move the issue forward.
“There is no other place in North America where the Kings will fill the building two nights. From the rich world to the United States, it’s getting a lot of it,” he stressed, adding that a Quebecer could still join the group of investors.
Closely followed by Anthony Désaulniers, one of the presenters at BPM Sports, the TVA Sports reporter recognized that significant obstacles still stand before the return of the Nordiques.
“You have a commissioner [Gary Bettman] who is stubborn, he conceded. Stubborn not to bring a team to Quebec by citing some sort of studies done six years ago, saying that the world doesn’t have that much money in Quebec. “Time out!” You pushed Arizona down our throats for 30 years by saying it was an extraordinary market, the eighth largest television market.”
What’s more, NHL players love Quebec according to what Hockey Informer reports.
“Somehow, I don’t understand why it hasn’t been resolved yet…” he asked.
Molson would say yes
Former Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien dropped a bomb two years ago by declaring on TVA Sports that the big boss of Groupe CH, Geoff Molson, wants nothing to do with a return of the Nordiques and would oppose it.
However, in an interview with Renaud Lavoie broadcast last April, Molson affirmed that he would support the return of a team to Quebec.
And Lavoie is convinced of his sincerity.
“I have a great relationship with Geoff Molson and France Margaret Bélanger [vice-président exécutive et cheffe des affaires commerciales du Groupe CH]. People I really like and not bullshitters. If there is a vote on the return of the Nordiques to Quebec, Geoff Molson will vote yes.
“If there is a vote and it becomes known that Molson voted no, there will be problems. He has no reason to block this project. From Molson, it’s always the same speech that I heard at closed mics and at open mics. It’s always a yes.”
