Leafs’ visit a reminder of what Quebec City lost
The great hockey fans in these parts don’t need another Roch Carrier short story to rekindle their dislike of the Maple Leafs hockey sweater — and the hole in their NHL heart.
Auston Matthews is about to reopen those wounds, though it’s nothing intentional on behalf of Toronto’s young star.
When the Leafs met the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, it was another taste of what this town used to revel in during the Nordiques era, when its provincial team did battle on the big stage.
The grassroots passion for both the Nordiques and an appreciation for the game’s best entertainment made for many memorable evenings at old Le Colisee.
In the more than 20 years since the Nords moved to Colorado, there have been various attempts to get an NHL team back, either through expansion or moving a troubled existing team. How can the NHL ignore a proven northern market in favour of more U.S. experiments, wail the locals, especially when some American teams struggle at the gate and Quebec took a huge step by building the major-league $400-million Videotron rink?
That’s where the arrival of Matthews is having an adverse effect.
Born in California and raised in Arizona as a fan of the often-endangered Coyotes, his rapid rise in status is validation to many in the league’s New York office that its Sun Belt bet is paying dividends. Matthews was a burgeoning baseball player who fell in love with hockey on a half-sized rink and is among a number of NHLers who sprouted from non-traditional hockey states such as Florida and Texas.
Last season, Nashville made the Stanley Cup Final and, on Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights played their first preseason home game in front of more than 17,000 at T-Mobile Arena. Kansas City and Houston are still on the NHL’s radar, if Seattle doesn’t line up its internal competing interests and snag a team first. All of that is pushing Quebec City further down the line, when it should be a slam dunk to be the league’s evenly-balanced 32nd team.
Led by a potential ownership group of Quebecor publishing — a media company which had the US$500-million expansion fee in hand in 2015 — they might not even be the only Canadian city in the picture. Saskatoon keeps making noise about wanting a team in the 15,100-seat SaskTel Centre, site of recent NHL exhibitions.
“Quebec City’s love for hockey is close to mental illness,” local radio man Jerome Landry recently told Ken Campbell of the Hockey News, pumping his 90,000-strong Nordiques Nation fan club. “We’re completely crazy about the sport. I think we can be the Green Bay of hockey.” Unfortunately, it seems Quebec is going to continue being a bridesmaid — unless there’s a failing team needing a ready-made home.