RUMOR! An NAHL team for Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse

Well, the cat’s starting to get out of the bag.

The NAHL, whose top two teams are currently facing off in the grand final (Rivière-du-Loup vs. Thetford Mines), intends to expand from 6 to 8 teams next season.

It’s been documented: in recent days, the league itself has confirmed that the City of St-Hyacinthe will play host to the circuit’s seventh team, as early as next autumn.

As you may have gathered, the podcast I was referring to in my tweet was the Poche Bleue podcast.

I can confirm this morning that Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre have been negotiating for several weeks to bring the NAHL to St-Hyacinthe. Where do negotiations stand today?

“I can’t comment, Max, you know that! – Guillaume Latendresse

In the jargon of the media, that means it’s heading that way, and unless there’s a last-minute turnaround, that’s what it’s going to be. Except that, since last-minute reversals sometimes happen, we’re going to remain cautious and wait for official confirmation before we stop using verbs in the conditional tense.

The new St-Hyacinthe team should be owned by Max and Guillaume, that’s it. It should play its games in the old L-P Gaucher stadium, built in 1937 but recently extensively renovated. That’s where the Laser used to play its games when I was young…

If ever this is confirmed, it’s not necessarily a mercenary move on Max and Guillaume’s part. Having an NAHL team in the Montérégie will serve more to offer a quality option to youngsters who finish their junior career without having been awarded a professional contract than to fatten the bank account of the two former Canadiens. If the two Habs alumni get involved, it will be for the right reasons.

The 8th team is likely to be located in the Quebec City area. There are still a few details to be worked out, but it looks like the team will begin its life straddling two arenas: the Complexe sportif Bonair in L’Ancienne-Lorette and the Centre Vidéotron Pavillon de la Jeunesse (formerly the Colisée) in Quebec City. One on the south shore and one on the north shore…

Access to enough ice time is a problem in Quebec City at the moment.

If all goes well, the eight NAHL teams in 2024-25 will be: Rivière-du-Loup, Thetford Mines, St-Georges-de-Beauce, Jonquière, Laval, Sorel-Tracy, St-Hyacinthe and Québec City.

There were once 14 teams when the league was still called the LHSPQ and LHSMQ, but there were only 6 in 2023-24. Going back to 8 will be good for the NAHL, which I’m told would not want to stop there.

There’s a lot of talk about the NAHL because of its fights, its dirty tricks and the fact thata fake Jason Demers fooled everyone last fall. The Pétroliers de Laval and the league itself…

But NAHL players fight a lot less than they used to: on average, there were only 1.3 fights per game this season. And the hockey is really good,” says Guillaume Latendresse, who clearly has a keen interest in the hockey offered by this circuit.

Around 3,000 people attended each of the weekend‘s two playoff matches. When the top three divisions don’t bring you enough wins (Habs, Rockets and Lions), you sometimes have to turn to the fourth tier to quench your thirst for supporting a winning team.

The arrival of Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre in this circuit – when confirmed – will only increase its excitement and credibility, while offering a quality option to many young field hockey players.

Seriously, I can only see the positive side of this when it’s announced.

Can’t wait to see how La Poche Bleue and TVA Sports will be involved – or not – in the guys’ project…

Will the team take the name of the popular podcast?