Quebec City, which lost the Nordiques to Colorado in 1995, has had an N.H.L.-ready arena since 2015, and applied for an expansion team that year, as did Las Vegas, which was awarded the Golden Knights franchise in 2016.
The day that Legault announced the committee to study hockey in Quebec, he told French-language sports broadcaster RDS that he had spoken with Gary Bettman, the N.H.L.’s commissioner, “to find out what we need to bring back the Nordiques.”
However, on Wednesday an N.H.L. spokeswoman wrote in an email quoting the league’s deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, as saying: “We are always happy to meet. We are not currently considering further expansion.”
Does it really matter that Quebec has a single N.H.L. team, or that Saskatchewan produces more N.H.L. players per capita than any other province, or that Ontario produces the most, period? Hockey, like home, is where the heart is.
“Hockey is a part of life all across the country but is special in Quebec,” said Daniel Béland, a political scientist who moved to Montreal’s McGill University as director of its Institute for the Study of Canada after a decade at the University of Saskatchewan. “Quebec feels it cannot be perceived as a declining source of supply for hockey players. It’s that important to Quebec culture.”