It's time to finish off this month's
series of all-time NHL teams, and we're doing it with the most
successful of the now-defunct former WHA teams: the Quebec Nordiques.
(For an abbreviated history of the WHA, see 7 May's article on the
Winnipeg Jets).
The Nordiques hold the distinction of
being the only major professional sports team in recent memory to be
based in Quebec City, one of Canada's northernmost major cities
(though Edmonton is the farthest north to host an NHL franchise). The
team was a goal-scoring behemoth in the WHA, but was forced to give
up most of its good players during the 1979 merger and thus finished
dead last in the standings of its new league. But with the
development of young stars such as Michel Goulet and the three
newly-defected Stastny brothers the Nordiques quickly regained their
scoring touch, becoming a force to be reckoned with. Quebec made the
playoffs seven years in a row from 1981 to 1987. Unfortunately they often wound
up having to play against the Montreal Canadiens or the Boston
Bruins, no easy feat. And yet Quebec managed some respectable forays
into the playoffs in the 1980's, winning six series and making it to
the conference finals twice.
During this time, the Nordiques
developed a big-time rivalry with the Canadiens, the only other
hockey team in the province of Quebec and the only other French
speaking team at the time. The teams often competed for their
division title, they faced off in the postseason four times (in the
80's), and their games commonly involved fights (sometimes even
bench-clearing brawls). In other words, it was heaven for hockey
fans.
But in the late-1980's the team
spiraled downwards in the standings, finishing last in their division
five years in a row (1988-92), as well as last in the league three
years in a row. The upshot is that this landed Quebec some excellent
draft picks, including top prospect Eric Lindros. Unfortunately,
Lindros whined and cried like a baby because he didn't want to play
in Quebec City. So the Nordiques traded him away in 1992 to the
Flyers for five all-star players and a few other dudes too. This
windfall deal, combined with the development of recent draft picks,
was a massive boost to the struggling Nordiques who doubled their
season point total from 52 in 1991-92 to 104 in 1992-93. Their
triumphant return to the playoffs was cut short by (who else) the
Canadiens who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that year.
Quebec struggled with injuries the
following year, but would rally back in the shortened 1994-95 season
with the best record in the Eastern Conference. They were knocked out of the playoffs by the defending Cup champion New York Rangers. For the previous few
years, the team's financial difficulties had been mounting. Just like
with the Winnipeg Jets, costs (especially player salaries) were
rising faster than revenues in a weakened Canadian dollar from an
already small fanbase could keep up. Unlike the Jets, the Nordiques'
organization conducted operations almost exclusively in French, which
severely limited the franchise's marketability and made the team look uninviting to some non-francophone players.
In one of the saddest franchise
relocations ever, the Nordiques moved to the States to become the
Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup in their very first
year there. Since moving in 1995, the Avalanche have won two Stanley
Cups, two President's Trophies (best regular season record), and nine division championships
(including eight in a row) while making the playoffs in 13 of 21
seasons. Now that's impressive.
In their NHL years, the Quebec
Nordiques wound up winning two division championships. The last
Nordiques player still active in the NHL was Adam Foote and he
retired in 2011. Today, the Quebec Nordiques are remembered for being
one of the few French-langauge NHL teams, their intense rivalry with
Montreal, their cool logo, their unique name, and their individual
stars whom we're here to look at today.
Here's my picks for the all-time Quebec
Nordiques. As usual, I've tried limiting it to players who've played
at least 200 games with the team. And again, only these players' NHL
performances as members of the Nordiques (not the Avalanche) will be
considered: the reason why Peter Forsberg, Valery Kamensky, and Guy
LaFleur aren't here.
Forwards
 |
| L-R: Michel Goulet; Marion, Peter, and Anton Stastny; Dale Hunter |
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Michel Goulet (1979-90) | Peter Stastny (1980-90) | Real Cloutier (1979-83) |
| Anton Stastny (1980-89) | Joe Sakic (1988-95) | Marian Stastny (1981-85) |
| Tony McKegney (1983-84, 1989-91) | Dale Hunter (1980-87) | Owen Nolan (1990-95) |
| Alain Cote (1979-89) | Paul Gillis (1982-91) | Wilf Paiement (1981-86) |
For most of its history, the Quebec
Nordiques were blessed with a wealth of scoring talent. First off is
career points leader Peter Stastny, the second highest scoring player
in the 1980's, seven time 100 point scorer. On his left is four time
50 goal scorer Goulet and on his right is consistent high-scorer Real
Cloutier. On the second line is the high-flying captain Joe Sakic
supported by the capable productive abilities of the other two
Stastny brothers. The third line is made up of power forward Owen
Nolan, the gritty and reliable fan-favourite Dale Hunter, and the
special teams... uh... specialist Tony McKegney. The fourth line is
designed to give a bit of defensive depth. That's why I've added
defensive forward Cote, two-way playmaker Paiement, and the
grinder/penalty killer Gillis.
Honourable mention: Mats Sundin, Marc
Tardiff
Defencemen
 |
| L-R: Mario Marois, Curtis Leschyschyn |
| Mario Marois (1981-85, 1988-90) | Jeff Brown (1985-90) |
| Curtis Leschyschyn (1988-95) | Adam Foote (1991-95) |
| Randy Moller (1981-89) | Steven Finn (1985-95) |
With the first defensive pair we've got
two guys who are good at making plays from the blueline: the speedy
Jeff Brown and the toughened Mario Marois. Leschyschyn and Foote are
both excellent positional players who anchor the second pairing. And
the third pairing is made up of a couple hard-nosed fellas known for
using their brawns to clear their endzone: Moller and Finn.
Honourable mention: Gord Donnelly, Dale Hunter
Goaltenders
 |
| Dan Bouchard |
| Dan Bouchard (1981-85) |
| Stephane Fiset (1989-95) |
Like in Winnipeg, good goaltenders were
few and far between in Quebec City. So it's no wonder who the #1 spot
goes to on this all-time team. Dan Bouchard, the only goalie to win
100 games as a Nordique, with three seasons of 20 or more wins. He
even had a winning record, a rarity for Quebec netminders.
Honourable mention: Clint Malarchuk
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