Quebec City advances to 3rd phase of NHL expansion

The Nordiques have advanced to the third and what's expected to be final stage in their bid to return to Quebec City as an NHL expansion franchise.

Montreal-based communications giant Quebecor, which is submitting the expansion bid, announced the development on its Twitter account on Friday, concluding its message by saying: "The goal: Bring (hashtag)Nordiques back to Quebec City."

Quebec's capital was previously home to the Nordiques, before they relocated to Colorado in 1995.

What's unclear is if Las Vegas the second of two expansion-franchise hopefuls is also moving forward.

Messages left with the Bill Foley-led group "Vegas Wants Hockey," were not returned. Foley is a billionaire businessman who had secured more than 13,200 season ticket deposits since February, when he began exploring the community's level of interest for professional hockey.

A person familiar with the process told The Associated Press that the third stage involves the NHL reviewing the group's business plan and revenue projections. If approved, the league would be in a position to award an expansion franchise as early as next month, the person added.