QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — Greetings from Le Colisée Pepsi, where on Sunday the Bruins and Canadiens treated the hockey-crazed fans of this beautiful city to something they long for every day: NHL hockey.
While the two longtime rivals battled on the ice, one couldn’t help but feel the mystique in this old barn and think back to the heated Habs-Nordiques or Bruins-Nordiques rivalries and all the Adams Division battles that took place here.
This place just oozes old-time hockey, and for a league that is trying to survive in the States, gain new fans and win back old ones, the NHL must find a way to get a team back here. It also ought to start to model new arenas after the likes of this place, the Forum in Montreal and the old Boston Garden. If they can do it in baseball, there has to be a way to translate this atmosphere into current NHL arenas.
“That was really cool,” said Bruins veteran forward Mark Recchi who played here many times over his career. “I got to be part of the Habs-Nordiques rivalry and that was amazing. The passion is still here, that’s for sure.”
When the Nordiques left for Colorado in 1995, this city and its hockey fans were crushed. Not only were they losing their franchise, but they were losing a team which they had watched develop into a Stanley Cup contender. After stockpiling young talent via the famous Eric Lindros trade (in which they acquired Peter Forsberg), they had one of the greatest turnarounds in NHL history during the 1992-93 season, jumping from 52 points the previous year to 104. In the process, they went from the second-worst record in the league to the fourth-best.
They made the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, but they fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Canadiens in the first round, winning the first two games but then losing the next four. Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin both scored more than 100 points, and head coach Pierre Page was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. The Nordiques would miss the playoffs during in 1993-94 but finished first in the Eastern Conference during the lockout-shortened season of 1995 before once again falling in the first round of the playoffs, this time to the Rangers. The Nordiques' potential would never be realized in Quebec as the organization was sold by then-owners Paul Racine and Marcel Aubut to an ownership group in Denver — where they became the Colorado Avalanche.
As if losing their team wasn’t hard enough, Nordiques fans then had to watch that potential be realized when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup during their first season in 1995-96. To rub salt in the wound, Patrick Roy, a native son of Quebec, helped lead Colorado to the Cup and Sakic was named the Conn Smythe winner.
Hall of Famer and longtime Nordiques forward Michel Goulet ironically was also part of that Cup-winning team in Colorado as a director of player personnel. Goulet reflected on the irony of winning the Cup with what was once the team where he spent his best years as an NHL player.
“Well, on one side, I really believe that if the team was still in Quebec, the Roy trade would’ve never happened because of the rivalry [with the Canadiens]. And without that trade and the one for [Sandis] Ozolinsh, we probably don’t win that Cup,” he said.
“But on the flip side, yeah, it was sad in a way because they were building towards that in Quebec and you wonder what could have been. It would have been amazing to win a Cup here in Quebec.”
Goulet treasured his time playing for his hometown team, and the 2008 World Championships reignited memories of his Nordiques years.
“It was a great experience for the fans because this is a great hockey city and we’ve seen that here again,” Goulet said. "This has reminded everyone here how much the fans appreciated the game. But it’s also sad to be reminded there is no team here anymore.”
With Quebec being one of the smaller markets in the league, there was always a sense that the players were truly playing for their fans and the city, unlike the unfamiliarity and anonymity so many players experience in the NHL today.
“I still remember the faces in the corners that were here every season and every game,” Goulet said. "You would see these people around town, too. Everyone treated us as one of their own. From the restaurants to the bars to the market, we all knew each other and we were playing for them. That was a great feeling.”
Goulet acknowledges that the small-market aspect was also the reason for the Nordiques’ demise, but he still believes the passion of the fans could preserve that feeling and support a team. Like any realist, however, he knows the economics aren’t there right now. But maybe if someone were to step up and back a new arena, the presence of an NHL team would do wonders for the city’s economy.
“You can’t imagine how much losing a team hurt the economy here," he said. "But you see what’s happened in other cities like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, and you know it can happen if the situation’s right.”
Former NHL referee Paul Stewart was actually a Nordique during his NHL playing career. Stewart has nothing but fond memories of playing in Quebec and for the loyal fans here.
“We were treated so well here by the people in the city, especially at the restaurants and bars,” Stewart said. “To be able to play here was a privilege. To be part of the tradition of hockey here, with the likes of Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur and Michel Goulet was simply amazing.
"I know there was a language barrier where [some] players wouldn’t play here. That was really hard and not a reflection on the city. Robbie Ftorek and I were Americans and we were treated just fine. I think now, years later, they’re even more bilingual, so that wouldn’t be an issue. This city loves hockey and deserves a team.”
The boost in the economy that an NHL team could provide was clearly evident during the World Championships and is also apparent anytime there is NHL exhibition hockey in town like there was Sunday.
Throughout this past summer, hockey fans were bombarded with updates from the court battles between the NHL and Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie regarding his attempts to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario. At times, it has seemed like an endless saga as there are obviously bitter feelings between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Balsillie. One of the sticking points is that if the team were to move to Hamilton, many feel it would violate the territorial rights of the Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres.
Well, here’s the solution: Have Balsillie — who was advocating for a return of NHL hockey to Quebec during the World Championships — compromise with Bettman. Have him agree to finance a sports complex with a modern arena resembling Le Colisée Pepsi and bring the Coyotes or another struggling franchise (like the Thrashers or Panthers) here to become the Nordiques.
After being here a second time, I’m even more convinced than I was at the World Championships. Bring back the Nordiques, or as they say here, "Ramener les Nordiques!"
