theScore's NHL expansion concept: Introducing the Quebec Nordiques
Wondering what NHL expansion will look like? Yeah, us too. In fact, it has our wheels spinning pretty good.
Welcome to theScore's NHL expansion concept, where we bring the league's flirtation with the process to reality. Now, this comes with a disclaimer: This is STRICTLY fantasy and simulation. Expansion is very much in its infancy. And thus, the method to which we determine the rules, cities, teams, and players involved is 100 percent improvisational and speculative.
All that said, it's fun to look ahead, to imagine what may be possible, and to crystal ball 2017-18. So with that:
Let's introduce you to Pierre Dion, Julien BriseBois, Guy Boucher, and the new Quebec Nordiques:
Owner: Quebecor, Inc. president and CEO Pierre Dion
Quebecor is a Canadian leader in telecommunications, entertainment, news, and culture, with provincial and national platforms in broadcast, online, and print media. Subsidiaries under the Quebecor Media umbrella include Sun Media, TVA Group, Videotron, and Canoe, Inc.
Related: Introducing the Las Vegas Black Knights
Dion has served as president and CEO of Quebecor since April 2014. He held the same positions with TVA Group from 2005 until July 2014, and has been a member of Quebecor Media's executive committee since 2004. Quebecor acquired naming rights to the new Nordiques arena in 2011.
Arena: Videotron Centre
(Courtesy: Ville de Quebec via Videotron Centre)
The hockey-first facility has a capacity of 18,259. It replaced the Colisee Pepsi as the primary indoor sports venue in Quebec City in 2015.
Quebecor broke ground at the Videotron Centre site in September 2012. The project cost approximately $400 million, with the city and province contributing $200 million each. The QMJHL's Quebec Remparts began playing home games at the arena in 2015-16, taking part in the first hockey game in the arena against the Rimouski Oceanic on Sept. 12, 2015. Quebecor announced the arena would be known as Videotron Centre in April 2015.
General Manager: Julien BriseBois
There couldn't be a more perfect fit. The hottest managerial prospect in the game lives in the Nordiques' backyard.
BriseBois comes to the Nordiques after serving as assistant general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning since July 2010. He assisted Lightning GM Steve Yzerman in all aspects of player personnel decisions including contract negotiation and analytics, helping the Lightning advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015.
The Greenfield Park, Quebec native also served as GM of the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, bringing the club to a Calder Cup championship in 2012 and two trips to the final in three years. BriseBois also spent nine seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, leading the Hamilton Bulldogs to a Calder Cup title in 2007.
Head Coach: Guy Boucher
Guy Boucher is the best hockey coach in the world outside the NHL. Now, we think he can be the best in the NHL.
Boucher returns to the NHL after coaching SC Bern in Switzerland's National League A since January 2014. Like BriseBois, Boucher is a Quebec native. He spent three seasons behind the bench with the Lightning from 2010-13, guiding Tampa Bay to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011 after the team finished second in the Southeast Division with a record of 46-25-11. Boucher compiled a record of 97-79-20 with the Lightning.
He led the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs to their best season in franchise history in 2008-09. The club reeled off 54 wins and 112 points en route to the President's Cup and a berth in the Memorial Cup. Boucher also has experience on the international stage, serving as an assistant coach for Canada's national under-18 team from 2006-08, reprising that role with the national under-20 team, and coaching Canada at the Spengler Cup.
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