I figured this might be of interest to you guys, being that it concerns your sugar daddy: http://www.sport1.at/coremedia/generator/id=3419178.html Article is in German - states that Mateschitz wants to establish an NHL team in Quebec City. It won't be this year because "the budget for this year is exhausted." But he is planning a team "in the future." As I'm sure you know, he already owns the hockey team in Salzburg. As a former Nordiques fan, I guess I would welcome this. If the Nordiques still existed and he were taking them over and changing their name and colors, that would be a different matter. But the good people of Quebec City deserve an NHL team in my opinion.
As the NHL is more "establishment" than MLS, I wonder what the media would think of a corporate name there: Quebec Red Bulls (or Taureaus Rouges de Quebec). Although I cheer for the defending Stanley Cup champs casually, it's sad that communities that could care less save when they win have teams more than communities that do just cause of an exchange rate.
I think it could work since it would be starting a new team and not modifying an existing one. Fans in Quebec City would definitely be on board. As for the perception in the US - I would think it would do great in merchandise sales. It might cause a ripple for a short time in the media, but it would be soon forgotten. People who complain about the corporate sponsorship are the same people tuning into NASCAR every week to watch the Dupont 24, Lowe's 48, etc.
Brilliant, it has an immediate intense rivalry with Montreal. It would be the first time the NHL returns to a former home of a WHA franchise (long abandoned, like Winnipeg and Hartford).
I don't see how Quebec City can financially support an NHL club even with the new salary cap in place. Not many people live there, even though they are fanatical about hockey.
That would be awesome hockey has not been the same without a team in Quebec. Not sure if the ame will go over too well there but I guess they would be happy to have hockey back.
They could support a team better than Long Island or Miami though. The NHL is way over-expanded, so if the league was the right size or got contracted, Quebec shouldn't have a team, but there are current teams that are in worse shape than a potential Quebec would be.
I haven't followed the NHL since the Nordiques and the Whalers ceased to exist, but Quebec isn't much smaller than Ottawa or even Edmonton for that matter. I believe the Quebec Metro area has about 800,000 people, and they are all rabid hockey fans. Seems to me like the better question is where they are going to play. Even back in the Marcel Aubut days, Le Colisée was deemed to be substandard, and I can't imagine the situation has gotten better within the past 11 years. Another thing I've been wondering about is the exchange rate. There was a time when it was said the weakness of the Canadian dollar was wreaking havoc on its hockey teams, but the exchange rate is now much more favorable than it used to be from a Canadian perspective. Has that leveled the playing field any in the NHL? As far as the name goes, "Taureaus Rouges de Quebec" would be pretty cool, but I think it's unlikely Mateschitz would forego the English name, as this is more about making inroads into the North American market than the French Canadian market. Edit: According to this link, Quebec is indeed quite a bit smaller than Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton: http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo05a.htm
Didnt even cross my mind until you mentioned it, but you are so right. i guess we might be seeing a Quebec Redbulls in the future.
They would need to move a FLA team or Pitt Anaheim one of the struggling teams. NHL does not need more teams. It would be nice to see them get a team
The comissioner of the NHL said that there will be no expansion for quite some time so they would need to move an already existing team.
Agree that the NHL has too many teams, it would have to be a move from an existing city, hopefully not Pittsburg. Very interesting.