Apparently Americans aren’t the only ones asking for a little government assistance via federal funding. However, Canada’s plan to dish out finances is likely something almost all Canadians will support. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers may soon be playing in The House That Stephen Harper Built, when the prime minister let on that federal funding made available to help construct a new hockey arena in Quebec might also be available in other instances, implying all of Canada’s major cities will be treated equally.Hockey fanaticism in Canada is well-documented, with Quebec serving as the country’s largest hockeyless metro area. Once upon a time, Quebec was a hockey fan’s paradise, as the Nordiques roaming the ice at Colisee de Quebec (Quebec Coliseum in an amateur translation). The Nordiques entered the NHL to start the 1979-80 season, following the league’s merger with the World Hockey Association. The Nordiques were among the WHA’s inaugural teams, as the upstart league posed the most serious direct competition to the NHL since the Western Hockey League folded in 1926. WHA owners paid a premium for top hockey talent, often luring free agents away from their NHL clubs. (more…)