Today's Gazette
Quebec City fans embrace return of pros
Co-hosting world championship revives city's dream for NHL team
MARIANNE WHITE, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, May 08More than a decade after the Quebec Nordiques left town, big-time hockey is back in Quebec City and residents are loving it.
The city is co-hosting with Halifax the IIHF World Hockey Championship, held for the first time in Canada.
Quebec is hosting 30 games of the 16-nation tournament, including the gold-medal game on May 18.
It has been a long time since hockey fans have had the chance to see some of the world's best players skate at the Colisée, the former home of the Nordiques.
"This (event) is going to show the world that we are still a great hockey town," said Gabriel Bosse, sporting an old Nordiques jersey at the arena.
Team Canada, which is the defending champ, is clearly a fan favourite here, even if it is in the pool playing in Halifax.
The home team is expected to make its way to Quebec City for the final and Bosse hopes to see Team Canada win the title on home soil.
The event is fuelling the hopes of some fans to see the return of the NHL to Quebec City, 13 years after the Nordiques were sold and moved to Denver.
"When you compare Quebec City to Las Vegas or Kansas City, we are a better hockey market for the next available franchise," said Pierre-Éric Côté, wearing a homemade Nordiques shirt.
For others still mourning the loss of their beloved Nordiques, watching the world championship is reminiscent of the good old days.
"It's hard to forget what happened," said Yves Deslauriers, recalling that the Colorado Avalanche - formed with mostly Nordiques players - won the Stanley Cup one year after leaving Quebec.
Nonetheless, Yves and his brother, Claude, have attended a few games since the beginning of the tournament last week to cheer for hockey stars like Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Radulov. And they are anxious to see San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov join the Russian team today.
"This is high-class hockey and we have the chance to see it right here," Yves said.
Even if the siblings would like to see the Nordiques or another NHL team come back to Quebec City, they are not clinging to the dream.
"I don't think it's going to happen. I mean, we have to be realistic. But it sure is sad," Claude said.
Thousands of hockey lovers from around the globe have descended on Quebec City, just as they do for every world championship. The Danish delegation is one of the biggest and quite probably the loudest.
Sporting team jerseys, pounding drums, singing and drinking beer in the arena parking lot, the Danes are stirring up the party.
"We follow our team all over the world," Danish hockey fan Charlotte Poulsen said.
In a city where you usually hear people speaking French everywhere you go, the tournament is a definite change of scenery. Dozens of languages are spoken near the arena and from noon to midnight everyday, the city is all about hockey.
But Quebec came close to losing the championship last year when various levels of government balked at providing loan guarantees.
They feared the tournament would not be popular enough with Canadians focused on the Stanley Cup playoffs.
