Why Quebec City Deserves To Have Nordiques Back
Hockey fans cast your mind back to the night of May 16th, 1995, when the Quebec Nordiques lose 4-2 to the New York Rangers at MSG. Bitterly disappointed, the Nordiques play-off run had come to an end in the first round over six games. The next season would prove to be the ultimate disappointment to Quebec City as their beloved team relocated to Denver, Colorado.
Since this day, Quebec City has been dry of hockey and despite local passion and hope still hanging in the air, no return has come about. There had been problems developing for years before hand as the limited market in this part of Quebec had been causing the team to suffer financially. Also being pretty much a monolingual city had also harmed their marketability to attract bigger players. At this stage, Quebec had a fine roster including future hall of famers, Joe Sakic as well as Peter Forsberg and previously held big names like Mats Sundin and Peter Stastny. Quebec City lack of English speaking culture proved a deturrent for some. When Eric Lindros refused to sign for the Nordiques after being selected 1st overall in 1991, this was essentially the final straw.
With the NHL expansion looming, it appears that finally the return that the population of Quebec City has been waiting for is a fierce possibility. The only obstacle that comes with it is convincing Mr Unpopular, Gary Bettmann not to open a Las Vegas franchise. Even though there has been vocal opposition to adding yet another team in the middle of a desert, the short term money gain seems to be winning over. Everyone knows that Vegas has no permanent population and that even the most die-hard of hockey fans will unlikely be willing to spend high prices to see a game of hockey year round in Nevada. Yes, Las Vegas would be a great one-off spectacle for hockey, but there cons firmly outweigh the pros. It just seems like a franchise due to fail because I cannot envision the big stars of the game wanting to settle in such a remote setting.
One other reason to think against this plan is that unlike the fair-weather fans that Vegas will bring, the passion for hockey in Quebec is unrivaled. Bring the Nordiques back to life and the week in, week out the newly built 18,259 seat, Videotron Centre will be a sea of sold-out blue. You can hear the ecstasy echoing loudly around as the still committed fans rejoice their beloved franchises return. With this kind of vocal support, it seems criminal to deny the people of Quebec City their team back. OK, the market here is small and unlike other Canadian teams the Nordiques never had the kind of market to fall back on like Toronto or Montreal. This small population of around 500,000 though would die for team. This kind of commitment you will not find in most cities- including Las Vegas!
Time for a rethink Mr Bettmann- maybe you'll want to rethink where you will be betting your chips.
Since this day, Quebec City has been dry of hockey and despite local passion and hope still hanging in the air, no return has come about. There had been problems developing for years before hand as the limited market in this part of Quebec had been causing the team to suffer financially. Also being pretty much a monolingual city had also harmed their marketability to attract bigger players. At this stage, Quebec had a fine roster including future hall of famers, Joe Sakic as well as Peter Forsberg and previously held big names like Mats Sundin and Peter Stastny. Quebec City lack of English speaking culture proved a deturrent for some. When Eric Lindros refused to sign for the Nordiques after being selected 1st overall in 1991, this was essentially the final straw.
With the NHL expansion looming, it appears that finally the return that the population of Quebec City has been waiting for is a fierce possibility. The only obstacle that comes with it is convincing Mr Unpopular, Gary Bettmann not to open a Las Vegas franchise. Even though there has been vocal opposition to adding yet another team in the middle of a desert, the short term money gain seems to be winning over. Everyone knows that Vegas has no permanent population and that even the most die-hard of hockey fans will unlikely be willing to spend high prices to see a game of hockey year round in Nevada. Yes, Las Vegas would be a great one-off spectacle for hockey, but there cons firmly outweigh the pros. It just seems like a franchise due to fail because I cannot envision the big stars of the game wanting to settle in such a remote setting.
One other reason to think against this plan is that unlike the fair-weather fans that Vegas will bring, the passion for hockey in Quebec is unrivaled. Bring the Nordiques back to life and the week in, week out the newly built 18,259 seat, Videotron Centre will be a sea of sold-out blue. You can hear the ecstasy echoing loudly around as the still committed fans rejoice their beloved franchises return. With this kind of vocal support, it seems criminal to deny the people of Quebec City their team back. OK, the market here is small and unlike other Canadian teams the Nordiques never had the kind of market to fall back on like Toronto or Montreal. This small population of around 500,000 though would die for team. This kind of commitment you will not find in most cities- including Las Vegas!
Time for a rethink Mr Bettmann- maybe you'll want to rethink where you will be betting your chips.
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