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Senators' Owner Clarifies Quebec City Relocation Talk

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Jan 28, 2025 5:45 AM ET

Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer firmly rejected the talk of a potential relocation of the franchise to Quebec City following an earlier franchise announcement.

The speculation arose after the franchise revealed on Monday that it will play two preseason games at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City this September, against the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens.

"Quebec deserves, in my opinion, an NHL team, but that will not be on my file," Andlauer said, via Sportsnet. "In the future, I hope we can play a few regular season games in Quebec City.

"If we can play in Sweden, we should be able to play in Quebec City. That's a decision the NHL must make."

Andlauer shut down the talk about the Senators relocating to Quebec City soon, mostly because of the lack of an agreement with the National Capital Commission on an arena at LeBreton Flats in downtown Ottawa.

“No, because for me, I love Ottawa-Gatineau,” Andlauer said. “I love our supporters. Despite the fact that we are 20 minutes from downtown in Kanata, we can continue to make it work, but it would be better to be downtown.”

On se revoit bientôt, Québec!
Les #Sens viennent d’annoncer qu’ils vont jouer deux matchs préparatoires au Centre Vidéotron, à Québec

Plus de détails: https://t.co/vjqNanRwpu https://t.co/jr58BSzVAY pic.twitter.com/ObOJa8JHiq
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 27, 2025

The Senators’ pursuit of a new downtown arena has faced obstacles, with Andlauer expressing frustration at the National Capital Commission’s handling of the process.

“There were terms in our agreement that talked about fair market value, which I’m totally for and that’s what I want—what’s fair,” Andlauer said. “Let’s just hope the NCC doesn’t change the rules at the last second.”

Quebec City's Videotron Centre, which last hosted an NHL regular-season game in 1995, hosted a PWHL for the first time on Jan. 19 and featured a sold-out crowd of 18,259 people.

In a poll conducted by The Athletic on Nov. 19, however, 54 of 175 players surveyed league-wide named Houston as their top choice for an expansion city, putting it ahead of Quebec City, which received 47 votes.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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