Memories of the Nordiques

QUEBEC CITY—There were entire rows of fans wearing Team Finland jerseys, or Swedish jerseys or Russian red numbers. Even a few Czech uniforms here and there, and — of course — lots of Team Canada regalia.

But the most interesting garb sported by hundreds of fans today for the semifinals at the 2008 World Hockey Championships were blue t-shirts given away by a local radio station with "J'y Crois (I Believe)" in red letters across the chest, referencing the hope of some in La Vieille  Capital for a return of the NHL some day.

Across the shoulders read "Ville de Hockey," and the shirts were eagerly snapped up by fans outside Le Colisee before the 1 p.m. Finland-Russia game, either because they were popular or because they were free.

One sign in the building read "Monsieur Bettman: No More Teams in the Desert!", but 13 years after the Nordiques left for Denver there still seems little chance of the NHL returning to Quebec City until somebody is willing to build a new arena.

The 15,000-seat Colisee has been a nice fit for this event, but wouldn't even be close to the standard of current NHL rinks, other than Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, perhaps. There's no air-conditioning, no luxury boxes and one elevator. Still, it's a great place to watch a hockey game, a throwback to the old days when most NHL rinks were smaller, each with their own idiosyncrasies and personalities.

The rink was about two-thirds full today for the Finns and Russians, with a full house expected for Canada-Sweden at 5 p.m. today.

Comments

[Leaf Garrett]

Bring back the Nordiques! I believe the Habs suffered when they lost their natural rival. It was the best rivalry in hockey, better than Leafs/Habs, Flames/Oilers, Leafs/Sens, Rangers/Isles,....Nashville/Columbus.....okay, getting carried away with that last one.

[Mark]

A salary cap makes a small market team more feasible. The Province of Quebec, and Quebec City, has such a strong hockey culture and tradition that it must surely deserve at least fair consideration. However, the money and market size of U.S. cities makes it irresistible for the NHL not to exhaust American possibilites first.

[Guelphdad]

The argument, incorrectly or not, will always be that Americans (where the majority of franchises are located now) won't pay to see teams from Quebec, Winnipeg, Hamilton etc. etc. so it doesn't matter whether or not those communities support their teams and deserving though they all are, they won't see teams again until all American options are exhausted.

A sad day for hockey really.

We should really tell Bettman and his ilk that we are putting teams in those cities and only Canadian cities plus traditional American hockey cities like Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota etc. will have teams in the NHL and play for the Stanley Cup.

Places like Columbus, Phoenix, both Floridas etc can name their league whatever they like.