Colorado's "Nordiques" Uniforms are a Slap in the Face to Quebec Hockey Fans

[WordsOfWisdom]

Every team has 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 50th jerseys these days. I think most of you know my thoughts on that. 

 

This however, is perhaps the most tone-deaf, most insulting, most inappropriate jersey ever made:

 

 

I'm sure NOBODY in Colorado wants to see a fleur de lis on their team's uniform. I'm pretty sure most Americans and most English-speaking Canadians don't want to see a fleur de lis on any uniform. 

 

For Quebec hockey fans, seeing their team's logo being displayed in a non-francophone city, in a non-francophone country, on the very team that was stolen from them in 1995, that hasn't had any connection to Quebec since, is probably the greatest insult you could ever make. This is the ultimate middle finger to Quebec hockey fans.

 

 

[JR Ewing]

@WordsOfWisdom I know it's the history of the franchise, but yeah, I generally agree. The very best thing you could really say about the jersey is that it has nothing to do with Colorado Avalanche history. At worst, it's an insult to the fans who lost a team that was turning the corner and would win a Stanley Cup immediately in another market.

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

1 hour ago, JR Ewing said:

@WordsOfWisdom I know it's the history of the franchise, but yeah, I generally agree. The very best thing you could really say about the jersey is that it has nothing to do with Colorado Avalanche history. At worst, it's an insult to the fans who lost a team that was turning the corner and would win a Stanley Cup immediately in another market.

 

 

This would be like the Carolina Hurricanes wearing a Hartford Whalers jersey as a 3rd jersey. This would be like the Winnipeg Jets wearing an Atlanta Thrashers jersey. But it's even worse than that due to the circumstances under which the team left Quebec City, the enormous cultural and language difference, and the fact that the Avalanche have never paid any attention to their history as the Nordiques until now. An entire generation of Avs fans have grown up with the "A". I imagine there was a lot of confusion upon seeing these and I bet they won't sell a single jersey... because it's not their team's jersey. This is like taking clothes off a corpse.  

 

Then, if you look at it from Quebec's POV, what was the objective here? To get Quebec fans to cheer for Colorado? Is this supposed to be an olive branch? "Sorry we're not giving you an expansion team but you can always still cheer for the one you lost!" (Insert Gary Bettman going "he he he heh ehehe hehheh ehheeheh hehehe".)

 

Anyway, we're on the same page. Someone needs to burn these and never speak of them again. 

 

 

 

 

[Math]

Honestly, all people I talked with about that jersey here in Québec City come to the same conclusion: "My heart is bleeding (sic) but those jerseys are sharp". By seeing those for real in a shop, they are beautiful and are one of the best of the RR series (unlike the... Stars one). Some people actually liked the fact to see the Igloo logo back for the Lake Tahoe game. Don't forget that a large fraction of former Nordiques fans turned into Habs ones, the remaining part and Montréal haters turning into Bruins fans.

 

The "Fleurdélisé" remains one of the most popular one in the league, you still see people wearing it across the League, even in Colorado. When they moved, the Avalanche did some pre-game practice with those. The objective of this: Make money of course. This is still a marketing thing and I'm convinced a lot of them will be sold, even here in Québec.