Quebec Nordiques
- Canadian Division Champions 1975
- Eastern Division Champions 1977
- AVCO Cup Champions 1977
For a team that would eventually become one of the WHA's more
successful,
the
Quebec Nordiques made an uncertain debut. The franchise was originally
awarded to San Francisco and named the SeaHawks, but the necessary financing
never came to be and the SeaHawks folded before playing a single game.
Almost
as an afterthought, the team was sold to a group of Quebec City investors
for
$215,000 before the innagural 1972-73 WHA season. The team was named the
"Nordiques," (roughly translated: "northerners") because it is located
further north than any other WHA team.
Although Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe's defections to the WHA grabbed
more
attention, the Nordiques pulled off a coup of their own, luring standout
two-way defenseman J.C. Tremblay away from the Montreal Canadiens.
Another
Canadien, the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard, became the team's first
head coach, but quit after only one game. Meanwhile, despite Tremblay's
league-leading 75 assists in 1972-73, the Nordiques missed the playoffs.
In 1973-74, Quebec picks up players like Serge Bernier and Rejean Houle
and
improve, but miss the playoffs again. But the next year les Nords acquire
both Real Cloutier and Marc Tardif, who along with Tremblay in 1974-75
lead the team to their first division title, their first playoff berth and
their first Avco Cup final, defeating Phoenix and Minnesota en route
before
bowing to Howe and the Houston Aeros in the final series.
In 1975-76, Quebec cracks the 100-point mark for the only time in the
WHA
but
falls to the Calgary Cowboys in the playoffs, due in no small part to a
violent hit on Tardif by Calgary's Rick Jodzio, knocking him out of the
series. The Avco Cup would have to wait for Nords fans, but not for long.
Quebec skates to a 47-31-3 record in 1976-77, good enough for 97 points
and
the Eastern Division title, but this was a team that clearly wanted more.
The Nordiques eliminated New England and Indianapolis in the playoffs to
qualify for their second Avco Cup final in three years, this time against
the Winnipeg Jets. After a hard-fought seven-game series, the Nordiques
prevailed and won what would prove to be their only league title in either
the WHA or the NHL.
By the 1977-78 season, the WHA was clearly in trouble and the turmoil
seemed
to have affected the Nords play. Although basically the same team that
won
the league championship in 1977, Quebec lost in the second round of the
playoffs in each of the WHA's last two seasons. New owner Marcel Aubut
was
more interested in getting the Nords out of the doomed WHA and into the
NHL,
and was in fact the prime mover in the partial merger. Although the NHL
rejected an outright merger, on March 30, 1979 they agreed to admit four
of
the stronger WHA teams into the NHL: the New England Whalers, Winnipeg
Jets,
Edmonton Oilers and the Quebec Nordiques.
The Quebec Nordiques would play the 1979-80 season as an NHL team, but
the
team made one last, fitting gesture as a WHA club. J.C. Tremblay, the
only
player who stayed with the Nords throughout the entire WHA era, retired
after
the 1978-79 season. In a ceremony at the Colisee that summer which marked
the turning point in club history more than anything else, his number 3
was
retired.
This history was not written by me. It was written by W. Lane Startin.