Pierre-Marc Bouchard | Memories of hockey in Houston…

Pierre-Marc Bouchard hasn’t kept many lasting memories from his hockey years in Houston, but he hasn’t forgotten everything either.

“I mostly remember a crowd that was there, medium sized, but I don’t remember much other than that!” he says at the end of the handset. We had supporters, real ones, who followed our team with interest, and these supporters were very loyal to us. But it was not at all crowds as we can find for the Canadian at the Bell Center. »

Bouchard, a former Minnesota Wild first-round pick, will be forgiven for not having many memories of his only hockey season in Houston, in the American League, during the NHL lockout in 2004- 2005. Because he was only passing through Houston, before returning with the Wild for several seasons the following year in St. Paul.

But he remembers a city that adopted its Eros anyway.

“People in Houston knew hockey, generally speaking,” he adds. As I recall, it wasn’t like some other cities, where you have to explain the rules to the fans…”

So 10 years after the death of the American League Aeros in May 2013, the city of Houston is once again the talk of the NHL planet. The reason: On Tuesday, the citizens of Tempe, Arizona, said no to a huge entertainment district project that was to be erected in this corner of the desert, which was also to include the construction of a brand new arena for the Coyotes. , who are looking for a new home.

For the time being, it appears that the Coyotes will stay in Arizona, at least for next season. But the result of Tuesday’s vote suggests that the future of the NHL in Arizona seems more compromised than ever in the medium or long term. To that effect, rumors of a Coyotes move started circulating non-stop Tuesday night.

It is in this context that the name of Houston finds itself at the top of the possible destinations, especially since the businessman Tilman Fertitta, who is also the owner of the Rockets of the NBA, has already stated openly that he would like to acquire an NHL team one of these days. Fertitta has already met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about it.

In Houston, the Rockets play at the Toyota Center, an arena inaugurated in 2003, which can accommodate 19,000 spectators for a basketball game, and which increases to some 17,000 seats in hockey configuration.

In their last home game before fading, in April 2013, the Eros drew a crowd of 4,387 to Toyota Center in an AHL playoff game.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard is hesitant when asked if an NHL team could be successful there.

“I haven’t played in Houston that long, and it’s not like I’ve done any market research on it either!” he answers. But I remember an arena that is downtown, which is about the size of the Bell Center. I think National League hockey could work there, because the population of the city is quite large, and also because there is a lot of corporate money that is available. »

Whether the public, of course, would be able to fall in love with an NHL team remains to be seen.

“That’s a good question… anyway, when I was playing there, I can tell you that Aeros players, we didn’t get recognized on the street very often!” »