La Presse in New York | Journey in the shadow of the Nordics

What hope remains in Quebec of seeing the Nordiques again? The Press took a bus trip to New York with 200 hockey fans from the capital. After 20 hours of round-trip bus travel, the verdict is clear: hope has almost disappeared and the Nordiques jersey is rare.

(Quebec and New York) It’s 4:45 a.m. Thursday in Quebec, and the parking lot of the Boston Pizza Lebourgneuf is teeming with people.

In the darkness, silhouettes stand out. We first see the coaches, then dozens of hockey fans with their small suitcases. Head to New York to see Patrick Roy’s Islanders face the Montreal Canadiens.

The scene recalls the best days of the Nordiques Nation, when at the turn of the 2010s, hundreds of fans from Quebec traveled by bus to the four corners of the National Hockey League (NHL) with a common goal: the return of the Nordiques .

” It brings back memories. At this time of year, 14 years ago, 31 buses of us went to see the New Jersey Devils. There were 1500 people. We bought a sign in Times Square,” remembers Jérôme Landry, who with other hosts from the FM93 station launched the idea of ​​this two-day trip.

This time, “only” four coaches left Quebec. But Landry assures that he could have filled ten, only he lacked drivers and vehicles.

The goal has also changed: this time it is a question of encouraging the former coach of the Remparts. In this regard, the trip was successful. Roy won his match, the Quebec fans seemed satisfied.

But Landry admits it’s hard not to draw parallels with the Nordiques Nation’s many journeys.

“To see 200 people who get up like that at 4 a.m. and go to see Patrick Roy coach, want, don’t want, even if that’s not the objective, it proves that Quebec is one of the best hockey markets in the world. »

Everything changed

But that’s where the parallels end. The atmosphere has changed completely since the 2010 trips. At the time, the NHL had 30 teams, Quebec fans were hoping for a move by the Arizona Coyotes and construction of the Videotron Center was just beginning.

The dream seemed within reach. Now, no one is under any illusions.

“Ten years ago, I believed in it. When there was the blue shovel affair. It seems to me that there were a lot of us, it was encouraging. We were waiting for the new amphitheater,” remembers Lili Arbour, 63, who made the trip with her 90-year-old mother.

“There we have it, the amphitheater. But I think it was built too quickly. »

The Videotron Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. He’s getting older. A recent audit by an engineering firm concluded that the door and elevator access control system was “at the end of its useful life.” The agglomeration of Quebec has just released $350,000 to update it.

At the time of the Nordiques Nation, Quebec fans made it a point of honor to wear their best Nordiques jersey. Nearly 15 years later, on this journey, they are becoming rare.

The approximately 200 Quebec fans have Remparts, Islanders, Canadiens jerseys… and a few very rare powder blue jerseys. The goal is to support Patrick Roy, that is. But the image is striking.

“I think people have given up. This is no longer the Nordiques Nation. It’s boring, because we had fun, there were sometimes 15, 16 buses,” remembers Michel Tremblay.

With his brother Alain, he had participated in the expeditions of the 2010s to New York, New Jersey, Detroit… Thursday evening, he was still wearing his Nordiques jersey, sitting comfortably in the UBS Arena. But even he admits he’s given up a bit…

“At the office, I joked that I was going to retire when the Nordiques came back,” says the 66-year-old. I still have a little bit left, it seems! »

One more slap

On the bus heading to New York, Jérôme Landry plays his role as guide. “I’m not sure I downloaded my ticket to my phone,” one participant told him. The facilitator helps him solve his problem.

At another moment, with New York in sight, he tries to cheer up the audience with their faces drawn by the early morning departure. “We are going to take one of the 122 links to enter New York. But it’s true that it’s not Quebec, and it’s even less Lévis,” he says, an allusion to the third link that he has been defending for years on his stands.

The atmosphere is one of laughter. We’re going to see a hockey game after all, and Friday morning will be a visit to New York. But Landry can’t help but smile at the blows of fate.

On Wednesday, the day before the departure, the news fell like a bomb in the NHL: the League would be in negotiations to move the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City. The price of the franchise? A staggering 1.8 billion Canadian dollars.

The Coyotes… Quebec fans have long salivated at the idea of ​​seeing this cursed franchise move to the then brand new Videotron Center. Another trail that fades away.

“I’m not surprised by that, I’m not disappointed,” he said. What would disappoint me the most is if Atlanta got into the National League before the rest of us, if Atlanta got a third chance before the rest of us got a second. »

“It could very well be happening. Honestly if that happens, I wonder if I’ll still follow the National League. I wonder if I will still encourage this league,” says the man who was yesterday one of the fiercest campaigners for a return of the Nordics.

For older people, this new setback for Quebec takes on an almost dramatic dimension. “We hoped. But we hope less and less. It saddens us, because at the age we are, we may never see them,” says Florent Gobeil, 80, who had dressed in his best Nordic jacket for the trip.

“When they left, I had the impression that Quebec had gone backwards by 10 years,” adds his wife, Nella Basque.

Mathieu Boutin, for his part, experienced this journey to New York as a kind of rite of passage. He brought with him his son Alex, 12 years old.

Mathieu has experienced the last three seasons with the Nordiques. His father took him to games. But his son was born well after the team left in 1995. Taking him to see Patrick Roy, the Islanders and the Canadiens is a way of giving him a taste of the intensity of a League that has since long left the capital.

Mathieu Boutin sees clearly that the memory of the Nordics is crumbling with the passing years.

Mathieu Boutin gives a disappointed smile, replaces his Nordiques cap and gets back on the bus.