WHY ARE CANADIAN CITIES IGNORED FOR NHL RELOCATION AND EXPANSION?

This guy is such a cry baby. Tons of Canadian players have all 7 Canadian teams on their no trade lists. It’s not a mystery why they aren’t expanding there. Nobody wants to live there and pay half of their salary to taxes. That’s why players flock to the Stars, Panthers, and Knights.

Atlanta gave Canada 2 teams - Calgary & Winnipeg. 😉

Not rocket science....Quebec has highest tax rates in country and the government is overbearing.

When Quebec City's population reaches 1 million, then we can talk about them getting a franchise again. With the Canadian dollar at $0.73 US, anything less is just asking for financial troubles and yet another relocation down the road.

Why the SLC hate? Utah loves their sports. They have been screaming for another pro team for decades.

It’s insane how badly you guys just fundamentally misunderstand this business. The reason Canada does not get teams is not because we don’t have enough hockey fans, it’s exactly because we have enough hockey fans. All those people in Quebec who would support a Quebec hockey team ALREADY support the Montreal Canadiens or the Colorado Aves or any number of teams because Canadians like hockey. There’s no point putting a hockey team in a hockey town financially because the people there are ALREADY hockey fans so you arnt adding any new customers just changing which jersey they buy, there’s no extra profit in that. The NHL and Bettman want to put hockey teams in places that DONT already like hockey because then they can add fans, add customers, as opposed to just have customers you already have buy a different jersey. If they put a hockey team in Quebec, yes the hockey team would be very popular, but again it wouldn’t add any new fans of hockey, just take fans who already watch hockey and give them a different team to support. That’s a lateral move which in business is pointless. If you really want a hockey team to come to your town you need to make the NHL think that your town DOESNT already like hockey. Saying your town can easily fill a stadium and constantly talking about how popular a team would be in your town is HURTING your chances of ever getting one. Not to mention Canada already has a way higher proportion of hockey teams to population, 3x more teams per person than the US in fact, so if anything we have TOO MANY teams. People in Quebec watch hockey and support the Canadiens and Aves already, giving them another team is pointless as it will just split the existing fan base between 3 teams without adding many, if any, new hockey fans. Not to mention that most Canadian provinces have a smaller population than most US CITIES, so the potential growth in the US is literally orders of magnitudes higher. It’s the same reason we only have one baseball team and one basketball team, it would be financial suicide to add another one of them because there isn’t enough people in Canada. We are extremely lucky to have as many hockey teams as we do. We have a hockey team for every 5 million Canadians where as the US only has a hockey team for every 15 million Americans.

There’s many reasons why this makes sense: - Same general area as Phoenix so no need to redo the divisions/conferences - Cold weather in Utah means there’s potential for hockey I think this team can do well in SLC - Despite only being the 41st largest metro in the US it is still significantly larger than any Canadian city that doesn’t currently have a team - Economy is better with lower taxes, citizens have better purchasing power, and the Canadian dollar is weak at the moment compared to the dollar - Expands geographical footprint to grow the game which Bettman said bluntly is what he’s trying to do - No language laws in US markets like you see in Canada especially with a market like Québec City

The most recent relocation was to a Canadian city?

It's not money, it's geography. The Coyotes are in the western conference, Salt Lake is in the west, Quebec in the east. Do you really think the league would go 15-17 in their conference setting? Now if they do an expansion, Quebec will get a team. However, Ottawa and Winnipeg showed that small canadian markets lose money and bring no new audience to the league. The only reason they might go to Quebec is if they have nowhere else to go on the east.

Maybe it’s because the guy buying the team is from Salt Lake City, I wish these guys would stop playing the victim

The Candian Dollar = $.73 USD That's all you need to know. Teams i small markets are tough but even tougher in Canada. QC can be granted a team if Ottawa doesn't get their arena.

It’s not that difficult to understand: 1. High taxes. 2. Small markets. It’s why Quebec and Hamilton will never get NHL teams.

A move to Canada does not “grow the pie”. There are no new hockey fans to be found in Canada. That’s why it makes more sense to find a large U.S. city.

Just want to own up to the fact I'm one of those Canadian hockey fans that has spouted a lot of conspiratorial comments in Mr. Bettman's direction. But when you hear from Canadian managers who actually work with him and can share an informed point of view, those conspiracy theories quickly look like rubbish.

SLC has been making noise and I havnt heard a thing out of Quebec from a potential owner for a while now......

Quebec City has one major problem: The Habs. They will never allow another team in Quebec

Maybe because Canada has 38 million people with 7 teams already a new Canadian TV is not going to bring in more revenue than a new major US market especially when it comes to TV let’s be real

The media might have insecure egos, but this Canadian doesn't. As a former business owner, when you invest in a business, you want to make a profit. With ten times the population, America is a much better choice. Get over trying to pass the stale Kool-Aid. Canada is more than good with its teams.

I’m Canadian and find it hilarious how little these guys know about sports economics. Hamilton and Quebec don’t hold a candle to atleast 5 American cities without a team. Popularity doesn’t correlate with financial success. The nhl is going where the money is just as they should.

Because quebec city is the same size as winnipeg, has fewer corporations and winnipeg fans already cannot fill their arena for a team that's in the playoffs.