Last year Hartford Whalers fans loved seeing the Carolina Hurricanes in throwback uniforms. Would Quebec Nordiques fans love to see the Colorado Avalanche in retro jerseys? That’s an interesting question.
Last season, the Carolina Hurricanes brought back one of the greatest jerseys of the NHL’s bygone era by bringing back the Hartford Whalers sweaters the team wore during its past time in Connecticut. It was a glorious return, even if it wasn’t at the Hartford Civic Center. The Colorado Avalanche have decided to follow suit.
For the franchise’s 25th anniversary in Colorado, they’re considering bringing back the old Quebec Nordiques uniforms. The Avalanche were inspired by the reception the Hurricanes got with their Hartford Whalers jerseys this past year and now they want bring back the royal blue and fluer de lis.
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Is this a good move for the Avalanche? Even though the team completely changed its identity after moving south of the border, it seems Avalanche fans have a basic understanding and appreciation for their history as the Nordiques. Avalanche fans might like it. Unfortunately Nordiques fans might not.
That might sound confusing, but compare the two former fan bases. Although Hartford wants an NHL team back, many Whalers fans have adopted the Hurricanes. They may not consider themselves fans of the Carolina team, but still root for the franchise that was once their home team. Hence the mostly positive reaction to Carolina’s throwback uniforms. Whalers fans seem to hold little hard feeling against the NHL, against owner Peter Karmanos Jr. might be a different story.
Up North fans of the team formerly known as the Quebec Nordiques have been less receptive to the move. Quebec has been pushing to regain an NHL franchise. Fans travel to NHL games in Nordiques apparel to gain attention and support the cause.
The recently build VideoTron Centre was constructed with the ultimate goal of bringing an NHL team, but Quebec City was completely left out of recent NHL expansion efforts that saw Las Vegas and Seattle receive teams. And considering the current economic state of the United States and Canadian dollar, the NHL isn’t setting its sights on Canada.
While the lines between Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes fans has begun to blur in recent years, the Quebec Nordiques and Colorado Avalanche fan bases have two separate identities. One is lucky enough to have two Stanley Cups and one of the NHL’s best young teams.
The other feels like their team was stolen from them and that another team is entitled to them to fill the void. To put it bluntly, Colorado team wearing a Nordiques jersey might seem downright offensive to the former team’s francophone fan base.
The best comparison is that of the Winnipeg Jets and the Arizona Coyotes. When the original Jets franchise moved to Phoenix in 1997, they tried to adopt some of the franchise’s traditions in the desert. Most notable of which was the “white out” come playoff time. Arizona tried to embrace Winnipeg, but Winnipeg did not embrace Arizona. Now Winnipeg have their new Winnipeg Jets team and the fact they had one team leave them is nothing more than a distant memory at this point.
Quebec City wants to be the next Winnipeg. Seeing the Avalanche wear jerseys of their beloved Nordiques would be a constant reminder that they are not. It’s also a stunning reminder of what the Quebec Nordiques currently are – a piece of NHL history.