Gilles Duceppe urges Stephen Harper to help QC get another NHL team

QUEBEC - Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to commit personally to helping Quebec City build a new hockey arena.

Duceppe said Wednesday a new arena is crucial if the provincial capital is to have any chance of landing another National Hockey League team.

The Bloc leader also said a spanking new building would boost Quebec City's chances of playing host to the 2022 Winter Olympics.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked Wednesday about the possibility of the league returning to Quebec City and replied he wouldn't even begin to think about it unless there was a new arena.

Bettman made the comment during a question-and-answer session at the world hockey summit in Toronto.

Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume has been pushing all three ventures—the building, the team and the Olympics—in the last few months.

A new building would cost an estimated $400 million.

The city has been without an NHL team since the Nordiques left in 1995 to become the Colorado Avalanche.