NHL hockey returns to Quebec this week, but the Los Angeles Kings are not the team that longtime fans of the defunct Nordiques dream of.
In his basement in Quebec, surrounded by Nordiques memories, Yan Marcil explains that the departure of his team to Colorado in 1995 had certainly left “a scar”, but that the pain had disappeared with time.
“I was 16,” he confides, “and I cried. »
For five years, he refused to watch hockey on television. “I gave up everything,” he said.
Several decades later, Yan Marcil and many other Nordiques fans will attend the Kings’ two preparatory games at the Videotron Center. The first duel will take place Thursday evening against the Boston Bruins.
“A step” towards a new team in Quebec?
The Kings’ trip, which received a $7 million government grant, was described by Quebec as an opportunity to showcase the city – and its amphitheater built in the hope of attracting an NHL franchise – as well as its capacity to accommodate a team.
“I believe it is a step in the right direction to welcome a team to Quebec — it is only one step — and others will be needed,” said Finance Minister Eric Girard. last year.
Although Yan Marcil admits to looking forward to the games this week, he and Nordiques fans are skeptical when asked if the Kings’ stop in Quebec will allow the city to obtain a franchise from the Bettman circuit.
The Nordics “against the rest of the world”
Jean-François Leclerc, who proclaims himself one of the biggest supporters of the Nordiques, still has a tremor in his voice when he recounts how his idol, Peter Stastny, scored the winning goal in overtime to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens during the 1985 playoffs.
Unlike the Canadian, he says, the Nordiques have always been the underdogs who played in a small market proud to highlight its French-speaking heritage by wearing the fleur-de-lys on its jerseys. Unlike the Habs, they never won the Stanley Cup — which, strangely, seemed to make them more likeable.
“It’s us against the rest of the world,” he summed up.
Even though he would love to see a team settle in Quebec, Jean-François Leclerc does not believe that the NHL wants another franchise in Canada, and is aware that the cost of obtaining one — which is estimated according to some sources at $1 billion — is ridiculous.
“I work in finance, so I understand this reality,” he says.
So he and Yan Marcil did something that would have been unthinkable at the time when the Nordiques played in Quebec: they became supporters of the Canadian.
Quebec, not a real option
Quebec’s chances of getting a team are less than 10%, estimates Moshe Lander, a sports economist at Concordia University. He believes the absence of billionaires hurts the chances of the NHL granting a team to another Canadian city. Quebec, he said, would be a tough sell to players because of its size, geographic location, language barrier and tax rates.
Mr. Lander adds that the city’s name is being thrown around by the league among those that could get an expansion team just to raise the stakes and squeeze as much money as possible from other markets.
“Quebec is used as a foil in a very strategic game staged by very astute billionaires and the Prime Minister [François Legault] fell into the trap of believing that Quebec will get a team,” he mentioned in a telephone interview.
Jean-François Leclerc, who lives in Gatineau, will not travel to Quebec for the preparatory matches. He denounces government subsidies, since he considers that they make Quebecers look like hillbillies who have to pay millions of dollars to host a team.
On Wednesday, several curious people who came to attend the Kings training session at the Videotron Center described themselves as Nordiques supporters. None of them seemed very optimistic about the return of a team to Quebec.