Rgis Labeaume convinced Quebec City will have a NHL team, some day

Quebec CityMayor Rgis Labeaumeis upset that his city wasn't chosen as the 31stteam for the National Hockey Leaguebut remains confident the capitalwill one day host a team again.

"Like everyone in Quebec, I am very disappointed that we will not have a National Hockey League club," Labeaume said on Friday.

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The NHL settled instead on Las Vegas for its choice for expansion.

"That being said, I'm not surprised," he said, adding that he wasn't one to waste time wondering what could have been.

Quebec City's bid wasn't approved,despite the city building a brand new arena to accommodate a future team.

Commissioner Gary Bettman had said that Quebec City wasn't chosen because of a weak Canadian dollar and an imbalance in geographical teams there are 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 in the Western Conference.

But Labeaumesaid he is "convinced"that media giantQubecor will be able to bring a team to Quebec City, adding that it was a matter of time.

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He hinted that Qubecor had close ties to the NHL but he wouldn't elaborate.

"Qubecor is a very important partner of the National Hockey League," Labeaume said. "Qubecor is actually quite, quite close to the administration of the NHL."