Former National Hockey League goalie and RDS analyst Marc Denis will chair a Quebec government committee that will look into the future of hockey in the province, has learned Press.
Prime Minister François Legault is due to make the official announcement this Thursday, during a press conference at the Bell Center in Montreal.
The committee will be made up of a dozen people. Among those approached are former professional players, as well as leaders of the main leagues and structures in Quebec. The committee will examine, among other things, the review of structures, the development of women’s hockey and accessibility to sport. He will have “a few months” to conduct his consultations and submit his recommendations to the government.
The last great reflection on the future of Quebec hockey dates back to 2011. The Quebec Hockey Summit then brought together people from Hockey Quebec, Hockey Canada, the Montreal Canadiens, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and various associations. . The government of the day was not directly involved in the project.
This time, the government is behind the initiative. At the microphone of Cogeco Mauricie on Friday, Prime Minister François Legault declared: “In the coming days, I will make an announcement with hockey people so that we improve the training of future National League players who come from Quebec. We have already had a lot more players from Quebec in the National League. I think Quebeckers would be prouder to see more of the Canadiens. We are going to work on that side. ”
Comments that add to those he made last June during an interview with Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre on the podcast The blue pocket.
“When we get older, we look for legacies and I would like that to be said, in a couple of years: there are more Quebec players in the National League thanks to the Prime Minister François Legault, who put things in square. ”
Marc Denis, 44, kept goals for the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. Since his retirement from professional hockey, he has held positions of analyst at RDS and vice-president of hockey operations with the Saguenéens de Chicoutimi, in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.