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Quebecor hopes profits will help lure an NHL team to Quebec City

It may be early to celebrate, but Canada may get yet another NHL team in the not-too-distant future, at least if Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Peladeau has his way. Amid news of surging profits for the company on Thursday, Peladeau noted Quebecor it has “all the tools it needs” to bid for an NHL team for Quebec City.

The claim was made as the company reported a fourth-quarter result of $85.4 million in profits and a $4.21 billion revenue in 2011. Last year, the company secured naming rights for a proposed arena in Quebec City, and now it’s eyeing an NHL franchise to play in the venue, awaiting a decision from Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume this month on a $400-million construction budget to be split between the municipal and provincial governments. Quebecor says it expects the arena to be completed by September 2015.

The last team Quebec City had in the NHL were the Nordiques, which moved to Denver, Co., in 1995, where they became the Colorado Avalanche. Last year, Quebecor bought a 70% stake in the Montreal Juniors and moved the team to Boisbriand, Que.

Earlier this week, Sun Media, which is owned by Quebecor, also announced it was launching community weekly newspapers in Ontario to compete with Torstar Corp.’s Metroland Media Group, in spite of having cut 400 jobs last year to make room for $20 million a year in savings.

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