It almost seems like an eternity ago that the Quebec Nordiques were in the NHL. The club lasted from 1979-1995 before financial struggles forced the team to move to Colorado, only to watch their former players win the Stanley Cup in their first season. While that might have stung, there’s good news for Quebec fans. According to Kevin Dube of Le Journal De Quebec, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has confirmed Quebec has been invited to continue to step two of the expansion process.
Quebec isn’t the only franchise invited to this process, as Las Vegas has also been invited. We talked recently about how Canadian poker player Daniel Negranu was interested in owning a team, and that dream may not be as farfetched as it once seemed. The website vegaswantshockey.com sent out this statement about the announcement.
“We are pleased to report that the NHL has invited us to participate in Phase II of the application process. In this phase, we will be providing the League with additional information requested by it, including information about the Las Vegas market. We will also be permitted access to information provided by the League that it deems important to us. We are hopeful that at the conclusion of this phase the league will invite us to participate in Phase III.”
While we’re still plenty far away enough from these teams coming into existence, this is very exciting news for those who are keen on seeing the NHL expand – especially Quebec, who saw a franchise slip through their hands.