Given all the recent talk about the Phoenix Coyotes ending up in Seattle, it’s worth reading Stephen Brunt’s column for Sportsnet.ca that makes the case for Quebec City over any other potential NHL market.
Among the things Quebec City has going for it, according to Brunt:
---- An owner with deep pockets (Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor)
---- Plans for a new arena, to be built by 2015 (not guaranteed, but likely)
---- A suitable temporary home in the old Colisee
While Brunt admits that Quebec City “may not be a metropolis,” and it “may not ring a lot of bells when you put it up on American marquees,” it’s – and this is the important part – “filled with people who actually like hockey.”
Translation: It’s Winnipeg with people who speak French.
And that’s the biggest strike against Seattle – sure it’s a big market with no shortage of corporate headquarters, but nobody knows if enough people like hockey there.
Not to mention, assuming the NBA returns to Seattle if a new arena gets built, the NHL would have to compete with the NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA (Washington Huskies), and MLS.
In Quebec City, the NHL would have to compete with what…Crashed Ice?
