At the risk of disappointing you, hope seems slim. The best chance to see the NHL back in Quebec came with the Senators’ possible move, but the purchase of the club by Michael Andlauer and his partners from the Ottawa real estate community suggests that the team will settle in Canada’s capital. With groups in Houston and now Salt Lake City showing interest in a team, not to mention recent rumors out of Atlanta, the NHL has options in the United States in the event of a move or of expansion. These markets certainly do not have as many hockey fans, but in the eyes of the NHL, there is new revenue there to be exploited without the risk of cannibalization. The NHL sees its income globally and if part of the income of a team in Quebec is at the expense of Montreal, the league would not be further advanced. We can also believe that a club in Quebec would not help boost the value of television contracts in the United States, where the NHL is lagging behind other leagues.
The NHL has never removed the red line, as it is still painted on rinks and is used to determine icing disallowed. However, the “two-line” pass rule was abolished after the 2004-2005 lockout, in order to stimulate the attack. Previously, a pass coming from the defensive zone and caught after the red line was considered illegal because the puck had crossed two lines.
Very difficult to answer your question, as disclosing coaches’ salaries is both taboo and highly variable. Taboo because even in the NHL, the CapFriendly site lists the salaries of only 15 of the 32 head coaches. And at the junior level, our attempts to get an estimate were unsuccessful. Variable because the other benefits are numerous, from the apartment paid for to the vehicle provided, if the team is sponsored by a car dealership, for example. Ditto for assistants, as some are simply laid off in the summer, while others can be reassigned to administrative tasks.
Such protections exist, among others for the ankles, but the problem is that players generally do not want them. They want to feel as comfortable and light as possible. In fact, many keep their shoulder pads for several years, some even keep the same ones since the junior ranks! Difficult to make them change their old habits…
To answer the first part of the question, in most Canadian sporting events, it is only in English, except when the visiting team is from Quebec. In this case, the teams often make an effort to find a bilingual person. However, even if it is not an imperative, it is the mission that the majority of clubs give themselves. We have even seen some teams in the United States in recent years make this effort. The Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals all received a visit from the Canadian with a bilingual Canadian anthem. In Quebec, it depends on the size of the competition, underlines the singer Alyssa Daunais, who notably interpreted the national anthem for the Canadian, the Rocket of Laval and the Alouettes of Montreal. During several QMJHL games, she only had to sing in French. However, the Canadian national anthem in the so-called major leagues is always bilingual when the game is held in Montreal.
According to an April 2023 article published by The Sporting News, the total FIA prize pool distributed between teams according to the manufacturer rankings at the end of the current season is $900 million. But this money is not given to the pilots directly; performance bonuses are pre-established in a pilot’s contract. For example, the championship won in extremis by Verstappen in 2021 during the last race of the season would have brought him around 12 million additional dollars, according to information given by a Spanish media.
