QUEBEC CITY – The Quebec Nordiques are one step closer to being reborn as a Quebec-based telecommunications giant confirmed its intentions to bring an NHL team back to Quebec City.
Quebecor confirmed in two tweets Monday afternoon that it had submitted its candidacy to the NHL.
The NHL announced in June that it was exploring expanding its league beyond the current 30 teams. Shortly after that announcement, Quebecor confirmed it was hoping to bring a team back to the province.
“Quebecor has consistently stated that its objective is to establish an NHL franchise in Quebec City and it intends to make every effort to achieve that goal,” the company said in a press release, according to TSN.
READ MORE: Which cities could wind up with an NHL team as league explores expansion?
Quebec City, which lost its beloved Nordiques in the mid-90s, is close to completing a new 18,000 seat hockey arena that would be ready for the 2017-2018 season.
The NHL confirmed Tuesday that it had received expansion applications from Las Vegas and Quebec City.
Quebec City, along with Las Vegas and Seattle, was among the leading cities which commentators speculated might get a new NHL team should the league choose to grow. While the Quebec City bid is moving forward, Seattle’s is stalling. A Seattle NBC affiliate reported Friday that Victor Coleman, a commercial real estate mogul, wasn’t planning on submitting a bid by Monday’s deadline.
A spokesperson for GTA Sports and Entertainment, which owns the GTA Centre in Markham, and was considered by some as a contender for an NHL franchise, confirmed they were not able to complete “the necessary work” for an application.
“While we continue to focus on developing the GTA Centre, we were not able to complete the necessary work by the application deadline. We hope that another such opportunity presents itself in the future,” a spokesperson told Global News.
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