QUEBEC CITY—The taxi driver was all up in arms when the conversation turned to the possibility of the NHL returning to Quebec.

“One week, it looks like it’s imminent. The next week, it’s never going to happen,” he said. “So, who knows. But it doesn’t matter. We still hate the Habs.”

One old historic building is closing: The Pepsi Coliseum, the home that wasn’t big enough for the Nordiques, who were sold 20 years ago and moved to Colorado. Another is opening, right across the parking lot: Le Centre Videotron. With 18,000 seats, it would be big enough for the NHL.

And on Tuesday, Patrick Roy — the patron saint of all things hockey in Quebec — added his voice to those that would see the NHL return.

“This is a great hockey town,” said Roy, now the coach of the Colorado Avalanche, in town to be honoured for his contribution to hockey in Quebec. “I really hope one day there will be an NHL team here in Quebec.”

Upon his retirement from playing, Roy became part of an ownership group that returned the Remparts to Quebec City as part of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Roy sold the team this season, to Quebecor, who will move the Remparts to the new stadium next season.

It made sense to Roy to get out of the way. If an NHL team comes to Quebec, the Remparts would probably have to relocate. Besides, the most likely NHL owner is Quebecor, a company already doing business with the league through its French-language TV deal.

The NHL is almost certainly going to expand in the next few years. Las Vegas, where another rink will soon be ready, tops most lists. Seattle is a possibility. As is Houston and a second team in Toronto. But Quebec makes a lot of sense.

“The people of Quebec love hockey,” said Roy. “Just look at the Remparts to see how much. For the past 10 years, the Remparts have been the No. 1 franchise in the CHL for attendance.”

Roy is not alone this week in calling for the NHL’s return to Quebec.

“You can’t have too many teams in Canada,” said San Jose Sharks defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a former Quebec Rempart. “They rack up so many fans, so much media attention. The Canadian dollar is not as strong, but put a team in Canada, it would be sold out more than any team in the United States.”

Those that would be the power brokers in any NHL return to Quebec have fallen silent. They have learned from the lessons delivered from BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie, whose many loud attempts at bringing a NHL team to Canada failed ingloriously.

In Quebec, they’re following the Winnipeg model. Stay quiet. Stay on Gary Bettman’s good side. Don’t let anyone know what’s happening until it actually happens.

“I’m going to be careful,” said Quebec mayor Régis Labeaume. “Brian Mulroney is working on that. People with Quebecor are working on that. They are in business with the NHL. If you decide to get a new team, would you give a price to a business partner? It makes sense.”

It’s fair to say the NHL knows what it has with fans in Quebec.

“It’s a hockey-rich city with an extremely passionate fan base,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “But the league’s board has not authorized or endorsed a formal expansion process at this point.

“Unless and until that happens, it would be premature for me to comment.”

This week marked 20 years since the Nords left town, taking up residency in Colorado as the Avalanche.

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“I was sad about it,” says Nicole Bouchard, the last remaining member of the Nords front office who is still working in hockey in Quebec.

Bouchard worked in media relations for the Nordiques and has continued in similar roles including business operations with every hockey team that has been housed in the Pepsi Coliseum since: The IHL Rafaeles, the AHL Citadelles and now the junior Remparts.

Unlike Winnipeg, where thousands took to the streets to try to save the Jets from leaving in 1996, Quebec’s departure was muted in 1995.

“Nobody was reacting,” says Bouchard. “It was like: ‘They’re gone, they’re leaving, let them go. That’s it.’”

Bouchard says the new building was built with the NHL in mind.

“It’s something we need,” said Bouchard. “We’ll have one of the best buildings in the NHL as far as we know.”

But hockey lost something that day, including a fierce rivalry with Montreal.

“I just spent two days in Montreal, everyone stopped me to say ‘We want to hate you again,’” said the mayor. “Those games against Montreal, everyone wants to feel that again.”

Steve Finn played 10 years for the Nordiques and remembers the wars: in the media, with the fans, and between the duelling beer companies (Molson owned the Habs, Carling O’Keefe owned the Nords).

“Beer and politics,” said Finn. “People would associate the Nordiques with the Parti Quebecois and they would associate the Canadiens with the Liberals.

“Nothing compares to that. It was amazing. Even regular season games. We would play them in 10 days, maybe have four games before then. But that’s all people would talk about.”

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