In November, the Quebec government agreed to pay up to $7 million to the Los Angeles Kings to subsidize two pre-season games in Quebec City. Since then, the Kings agreed to play a game in Utah with reportedly no taxpayer money involved.
The Los Angeles Kings are again at the center of a political controversy in Quebec.
Just three months after team president and former NHL star Luc Robitaille signed a deal with the Quebec government for the Kings to play two exhibition games in Quebec City in early October for up to $7 million – a deal that ignited a firestorm of public protest in la belle province – the team has agreed to play another pre-season game in late September in Salt Lake City.
But the game in the Utah capital, which is considered a rival to Quebec City in the hunt for an NHL franchise, will be staged without public financing.
News of the Utah deal, which broke Monday, has been met with renewed anger and disbelief across Quebec.
“It’s outrageous,” Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duhaime told The Hockey News on Thursday. “The Quebec government gives millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money to a billionaire hockey team that will play elsewhere for free. It makes Quebec look very bad.”
Back in November, Quebec finance minister Eric Girard called his decision to subsidize the Kings a win for tourism in the provincial capital.
“Girard should apologize,” Quebec Liberal member of national assembly Frederic Beauchemin wrote in French in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “This is embarrassing.”
The Kings are scheduled to play exhibition games against the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers over three days in early October in Quebec City’s NHL-ready Centre Videotron. They're unable to play their pre-season games at home this fall due to renovations in the Crypto.com Arena.
Proponents of the deal said it would help to promote NHL hockey and showcase the talents of Quebec-born Kings players, such as Phillip Danault and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
But it was immediately criticized for lack of transparency and the fact that Quebec premier Francois Legault’s cash-strapped CAQ government was dealing with labor strife and hard-fought wage negotiations with several public service unions.
The Montreal Canadiens added fuel to the fire by confirming to media outlets they offered to play for free at Videotron Centre but were refused.
News that the Kings will play the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept. 23 in Salt Lake City without public money has added salt to the still-fresh wound on Quebec’s pride.
“Neither Salt Lake City nor the State of Utah has ever been involved,” Caroline Klein, communications director of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, told CTV earlier this week when asked about funding for the exhibition match.
Dubbed ‘Frozen Fury,’ the game will be played in the Jazz’s home arena, the Delta Center.
Adding to the frustration of Quebec City hockey fans, Jazz owner Ryan Smith is actively pursuing an NHL franchise for Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City is considered the front-runner in possible NHL franchise destinations, ahead of Houston, Atlanta, and Quebec City.
In January, Smith called for NHL expansion.
This week, the software billionaire tweeted a conceptual drawing of a revitalized downtown core in Salt Lake City with a space-age arena.
“Downtown Salt Lake City is the heart of Utah,” Smith wrote Feb. 27 in a post on X. “Imagine a downtown experience like this with the NBA / NHL at its core.”
According to Klein, the ‘Frozen Fury’ deal, which also calls for regular exhibition games in future years, was reached during a recent phone call between Robitaille and Delta Center Senior vice-president of events Mark Powell.
"They developed a friendship over a few months, and Luc finally expressed interest and they made a deal happen," said Klein.
Both the provincial Conservatives and Liberals have sent letters to Robitaille, who is from Montreal, asking him to renounce the Kings’ deal with the Quebec government.
“The deal has become a symbol of bad management of public funds that risks staining the Kings’ image,” said Duhaime.
In his letter to Robitaille, Duhaime called on the Kings president to renounce or at least the club’s deal with Quebec for playing here in Oct.
“There are many things they could do, like give the proceeds to a food bank,” said Duhaime. “But it can’t stay like this. It’s created a political storm that will still be around in the fall unless it’s cleaned up.”
A spokesperson for Girard said the minister has not and will not comment on the Kings deal.
The Kings did not respond to a request for an interview on the subject.