|
NHL players support Quebec City team: poll
By
BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency
|
  
|
  NHL commissioner Gary Bettman listens during a news conference at the NHL All-Star hockey skills competition in Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 29, 2011. (REUTERS/Shaun Best)
|
RALEIGH, N.C. - NHL players would support a move back to Quebec City.
In a player poll released by CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and the Players’ Association before Sunday’s all-star game at the RBC Center, 53% of over 300 players polled supported a move by the league back to Quebec City.
The NHL is studying the possibility of going back to Quebec City if a new arena gets built. Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters Saturday night he'd be willing to go back to Quebec City but wants to see an arena built first.
Asked what Canadian city deserves a franchise, Winnipeg was a distant second at 25%. A second team in Toronto was at 16% and Hamilton wasn’t on the map with only 5% of NHL players supporting a move there.
The players wouldn’t support getting rid of fight anytime soon. A whopping 98% maintained fighting shouldn’t be banned and 66% are for keeping the controversial instigator rule in place.
