LPHF in Quebec “We may have just passed a first test”

(Quebec) “When it works, once it’s over, the next question is: what do we do next? Is it a game? An expansion? There’s an appetite in Quebec for women’s hockey.”Martin Tremblay, president of Gestev, a sports and cultural event management company owned by Quebecor, met with La Presse on Sunday before the game between the Montreal Victoire and the Ottawa Charge at the Videotron Centre.

As soon as the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF) began in January 2024, Mr. Tremblay understood that the project was a success. Barely a month later, he made a phone call to the Victoire’s director of business operations, Marie-Christine Boucher.

Although the League has not yet opened an official expansion process, Gestev, who has a management mandate over the arena for the next 40 years, has demonstrated his interest in obtaining a team. There have already been “discussions” on the subject.

“We may have just passed a first test [with the sold-out match]. But at the same time, there is an administrative process, a business process. We are in that process. We have already filled out documents, and subscribed to requests for information from them.”

The league has so far talked about the possibility of adding up to two teams as early as next season. It could also decide to keep the status quo for now; nothing has been officially announced. That said, Quebec City is among 25 cities that have expressed interest.

“I think it’s all happening very quickly,” notes Martin Tremblay. “They’re managing it well. But it’s a young league. They’re capturing the interest, all the business opportunities. I think they’ll evaluate them at the end of the season.”

The criteria, “we tick them”

Sunday’s game serves as proof on the Gestev and Quebec side. Proof that the city is in the game.We feel that there is support from the city, the city council, and the community too,” notes Mr. Tremblay. “After that, that’s the atmosphere today. Will people tell us: we liked it, we want to come back? I think that will be the case.”

Gestev also has the objective of “densifying the programming” of the Videotron Centre.

“It’s a question of presenting in your market what corresponds to the wishes of your population. In Quebec, it’s a market that loves hockey. The Quebec Remparts, out of 60 teams in the Canadian Hockey League, are the one with the largest crowd. What that tells us is that there is still room for a hockey offer.”

Mr. Tremblay is also convinced of the long-term viability of such a project. Because, he recalls, “when you bring a franchise into a market, it’s not for a year or two, for three or four games.” “It’s for the long term.”

According to the manager, the relationship between Gestev’s team and the League is “super nice.” “There’s good chemistry,” he says. “I think there’s a recognition, on the League’s part, that there’s a competent team that’s there and that’s doing the job well.”

“There is an understanding that there is a great hockey market, that the city is fun, that there are girls who come from here. That the amphitheater is a first-class one, that it is full, he continues. All the criteria, when we look at them, we check them off one after the other.”