With news that the Quebec Nordiques are expected to return, Canadian NHL teams are a hot topic these days. Some say their passionate fans make them some of the most valuable teams in the NHL, while others say that because of the failing Canadian dollar and small cities that they will end up being a liability for the NHL.
Regardless of what you think though, the fact of the matter is there are already seven Canadian teams in the NHL. If the NHL adds Las Vegas and Quebec City, that would mean eight of the 32 NHL teams in this scenario would be Canadian. That is why if the NHL were to expand to 32 teams, a Canadian division would have to be in the NHL realignment discussions.
A team in Quebec City would evenly split the Canadian teams between east and west. The division would save these teams a lot of travel if they were to play the majority of their games in Canada (note, Quebec City is in between Montreal and Ottawa).
The Canadian teams also have long rivalries, and as I have said on numerous occasions in the past, the NHL is really pushing rivalries for their national TV coverage.
In the east, the potential Quebec City vs. Montreal rivalry is bigger than just hockey, both of the cities are in the province Quebec and cannot stand each other in a similar way that Pittsburg and Philadelphia cannot stand each other. Toronto vs. Montreal would have the two most successful NHL teams in history battling it out. You would also have the Ottawa vs. Toronto rivalry that has been going on for some time now.
In the west, the Edmonton vs. Calgary rivalry will be the battle for Alberta. The Calgary vs. Vancouver playoff series this year reignited the rivalry between the two cities. The game 2 brawl was living proof that the rivalry is still alive and well and can lead to plenty of fireworks.
It would also allow for the separate Canadian TV markets to thrive due to no competition from American TV in the Canadian match ups. The first round in these playoffs were successful for Canadian networks, especially the Ottawa-Montreal series, because of all of the Canadian teams in the playoffs. With a Canadian division, these Canadian matchups will be more common.