The Press in Colorado | What’s left of the Nordics

(Denver) A wise colleague once told this author, in mourning the death of one of her cats, that adopting animals is tantamount, because of their short life expectancy, to ensuring to be heartbroken. Unless, of course, you adopt a bowhead whale or a Galapagos turtle.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

But we digress.

Going in search of a trace of the history of the Nordiques in Denver, it’s a bit like that, too: the certainty of coming out of it disappointed, not to say saddened.

Obviously, within the team, we will understand that 27 years after the move, there are fewer and fewer survivors of Quebec. In fact, there are only two left: Matthew Sokolowski, chief sports therapist, who worked for a year in Quebec, as well as a public relations specialist who became an advisor. We could add Joe Sakic, but his employment relationship was broken for two years between his retirement as a player and his hiring as councilor and governor.

In the corridors of the Ball Arena, no photos from the time of the Nordiques. A colleague from Denver believes he has seen one near the Avalanche locker room, but his memories are fuzzy, the place having been inaccessible to journalists since March 2020.

On the ceiling, no trace of numbers 3 (Jean-Claude Tremblay), 8 (Marc Tardif), 16 (Michel Goulet) and 26 (Peter Stastny). The 8 may well end up there one day, mind you, but it will be with the name of Cale Makar.

That said, the Avalanche aren’t the only team doing this. In Arizona, Ryan Dzingel and Anthony Duclair were allowed to wear the number 10 that Dale Hawerchuk had in Winnipeg before the move. Hawerchuk, however, was immortalized on the ring of honor at the Gila River Arena, from where the Coyotes have just been expelled.

We go to the souvenir shop, and that’s where we see the first logos of the Nordiques. But you have to search. A scarf, a pair of socks, a cotton swaddle… The clerk points out a jacket to us, in a corner. And the official vests? We see plenty of them in the stands during the matches!

“We don’t have any more. We received some during the season, and it sold out so quickly,” he explains, snapping his fingers to support his point.

Gossip would say that Nordic nostalgia is valued when it sells merchandise, but let’s not go there.

Then, like a gift from heaven, we discover the existence of a street called Quebec, in Denver. Nod to the Nordics? Cruel way to turn the iron in the wound of the former supporters of the team? Lets go see.

Quebec Street is not at the door. From downtown, a good thirty minutes by bus are necessary to get there. The ride is nonetheless entertaining. Everyone greets each other, seems to know each other.

Ah yes… and Shea Weber is traded during the ride. We still owe a great debt to brother Simon-Olivier for having taken over, because once he got off the bus, it was so hot that the telephone suffered from heat stroke, which disabled certain functions, like the internet. Bye, bye, videoconference from Kent Hughes.

We then feel at the height of usefulness at work, lost in the suburbs, at 35°C, taking pictures of the equivalent of Boulevard Tricentenaire in Pointe-aux-Trembles, on a street that clearly has no Sacrificing link with Quebec, while real hockey news is happening.

“Quebec Street is located in an area where the streets are in alphabetical order, with two streets for each letter, explains Phil Goodstein, author and local historian. The first street is named in honor of a person, a literary figure or a geographical location, and the second, for a plant. »

The two names selected were therefore Quince (which means “quince”, the fruit of the quince tree) and Quebec. “Because of the scarcity of places beginning with the letter Q, the choice of Quebec seems logical,” continues Mr. Goodstein.

“And it’s probably a coincidence, but just east of Quebec Street, on the grounds of a former military base, there is an area being revitalized, which includes a gym and a hockey rink. »

Our bus route took us several kilometers north of said sector, so no photo of the arena, unfortunately. However, the trip introduced us to Station 26, the microbrewery mentioned in Saturday’s postcard. At least the beer was good.