Quebec City, Senators exploring joint bid for 2023 world junior tournament

Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard said Wednesday the Quebec government, Ottawa Senators and Quebecor are exploring the possibility of Ottawa and Quebec City entering a joint bid to host the 2023 world junior hockey championship.

The under-20 tournament was scheduled to begin Dec. 26 in Novosibirsk, Russia, but was left without a host city after the International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Feb. 28 it was withdrawing Russia's privilege to host international hockey tournaments in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine.

Girard also said Wednesday the possibility of Quebec City hosting some Ottawa Senators games was brought up during a January meeting he had with National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman.

He said "both sides" had expressed an interest in the idea.

"But at this stage, it's preliminary," said Girard.

La Presse reported Wednesday that the Quebec government, the NHL, the Ottawa Senators and Quebecor have been in talks about the possibility of hosting five Senators games at Quebec City's Videotron Centre next season, but team president Anthony LeBlanc has thrown cold water on the idea.

LeBlanc told the Ottawa Sun that while Quebecor, which owns the Videotron Centre, had expressed an interest in hosting neutral-site games in Quebec City, no real negotiations had taken place.

While he did confirm the Senators have held discussions with Quebec City regarding the potential of a joint bid on the world junior tournament, he said the suggestion the Senators would be playing any games in Quebec City next season was "very disingenuous."