Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Nordiques fans to have “Blue March” to show they’re serious about NHL again

Tkachuk

FILE- This Oct. 31, 1992 file photo shows Quebec Nordiques’ Curtis Leschyshyn checking Winnipeg Jets’ Keith Tkachuk in front of the Quebec Nordiques net minded by Ron Hextall, in Quebec City. First Winnipeg, then Quebec City?While Manitoba awaits word on the return of NHL hockey, the would-be owner of a team in Quebec described plans to bring a second franchise back to Canada. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Jacques Boissinot,File)

AP

Quebec City’s renewed vigor for the NHL is a truly fascinating thing. From the stories about how they’re looking to build an NHL-ready arena in the city to replace the vastly outdated Colisée de Quebec to speculating on which teams they think would be most ready to move out of their current home to move to La Belle Provence it’s incredible to see such interest in pro hockey there once again.

Making things all that much stranger is an event being called the Blue March set to happen in Quebec City and featuring lots of former Quebec Nordiques and Quebec politicians to rally for the return of the NHL including Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny.

“I had my greatest moments in Quebec City,” said Goulet, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998. “I had 10 great years so it’s important to show my support to the fans.”

Slovakian scorer Peter Stastny, who played alongside Goulet for a decade in Quebec City and was inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year, says making the trip from Europe will be symbolic for fans and important to him.

“I know how big this will be for the people,” Stastny said from his office in Brussels, where he serves in the European Parliament.

Aside from the former dynamic duo, other former Nordiques who plan to travel to the capital for the rally include Steve Finn, Mario Marois, Alain Cote and Pierre Lacroix.

What’s baffling about this is that this rally is happening 15 years after the Nordiques left Quebec City for Denver where they became the Colorado Avalanche and promptly won the Stanley Cup in their first season in the city. It’s possible that this is just a lot of political grandstanding to help get a new arena built there and improve the standing of the city as a location for a team to move or as a candidate for future expansion.

For everything that went wrong the first time in Quebec, what held the Nordiques down were politics, taxes, a bad Canadian dollar, and rapidly decaying building. While politics and taxes will always be an issue, the Canadian dollar has vastly improved against the American dollar and getting a big, new arena would instantly make Quebec City a great destination as compared to Winnipeg. As for what the Blue March itself, I hope the fans in Quebec City enjoy the day to relive the memories of the Nordiques, but I sure hope they’re not expecting anything more than a politically motivated dog and pony show.