The city of Quebec may very well once again have a hockey team soon. Last week, premier Francois Legault announced he plans to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the coming months about bringing back the Quebec Nordiques who relocated in 1995, and are today’s Colorado Avalanche. But it won’t be the Avs that would come to Quebec if there’s indeed a transition, rather likely the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes agreement with Glendale ends in one year and the city is terminating its lease with the NHL team. Simply put, the Coyotes don’t have an arena to play in for the 2022-23 season. Meanwhile, Quebec did build an 18,000+ seat arena called the Videotron Centre which opened in 2015, and is a suitable place for a hockey franchise to call home. The East, particularly the Atlantic division, would likely gain an extra team in this case , as in 2018 Quebec lost out to Seattle with the league citing the need for more Western teams to add balance at 16 teams per conference. Arizona is determined to find a new home for next season in the neighborhood but if they need to look outside of the dessert Quebec will be the first option atop the list.
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