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The specifics of how much the city would be asked to pay for the Victoria Park arena, and how much the Flames’ owners would cover, has not been made public.

In June, Calgary Flames president of operations Brian Burke suggested that the team could move to another city if a new arena wasn’t built, and floated Quebec City as an option. Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume said he thought the Flames weren’t being serious.

“It’s a negotiating strategy. We’re used to it. Everyone is calm, the Flames will not come to Quebec,” said Labeaume.

On Tuesday though, King said the team is not shopping around for a city that would be more willing to help pay for an arena. That’s a key difference from back in April, when King suggested the team would move if they didn’t get an arena.

“I think and hope we’re going to get a deal. The truth of the matter is, we would just move. Which is not to be confused as a threat,” said King at the time.

In April 2016 city administrators said the Flames CalgaryNEXT pitch could cost $1.8 billion with taxpayers covering two-thirds of the cost. That proposal would have seen a field house as well as a new arena in the West Village.

After that plan stalled, the Flames met with city administration dozens of times, eventually coming up with a proposal in April 2017 for a new arena in Victoria Park, on a two-block site south of 12th Avenue S.E. between Olympic Way and 5th Street S.E., on land currently occupied by parking lots and roadways.

On Tuesday, Bettman said he was not surprised that the Flames no longer thought an arena would be built, calling it inevitable.

Nearly all of the talks between the city and the Flames have happened behind closed doors, but that hasn’t stopped disagreements between Nenshi and King from being aired publicly. At one point King said the $1.8 billion CalgaryNext proposal was still an option. A few days later Nenshi described it as “dead”.

With files from Shawn Logan.