Decades after their bitter rivalry with the Nordiques came to an end, the Montreal Canadiens are set to make their return to Quebec City.
The Canadiens will face the Ottawa Senators in an NHL pre-season game Sept. 30 before the 2025-26 campaign.
It will be the second of two exhibition games at the Videotron Centre announced Monday by the Senators.
Ottawa will also face New Jersey on Sept. 28.
The Canadiens and the Quebec Nordiques had a spirited — sometimes violent — rivalry from 1979, when the team joined the NHL from the dissolving WHA, until 1995 when the club relocated to Denver and rebranded as the Colorado Avalanche.
Montreal will play at the 18,000-plus seat Videotron Centre for the first time. The Habs last played an exhibition game in Quebec City in 2002, a 7-6 loss to the Avalanche at the aging Colisée Pepsi.
Martin Tremblay, chief operating officer media giant Quebecor, which operates the Videotron Centre, confirmed at a news conference Monday in Quebec City that no public money will be used to stage the pre-season games.
Quebec City hosted two Los Angeles Kings pre-season games last October, with the Quebec government spending an estimated $5 to $7 million on the event.