The Colorado Avalanche wearing Quebec Nordiques uniforms against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre will serve as a reminder of the province's fierce hockey rivalry that featured gruelling playoff battles.
The Colorado Avalanche will wear Quebec Nordiques jerseys in Montreal on Thursday.
The Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens' matchup revives the Battle of Quebec, a rivalry built as much on history as it was on raw emotion.
As part of Colorado's celebration of its 30th year since relocating from Quebec City this season, the Avalanche are wearing a Nordiques specialty jersey on select nights. They previously wore the uniform at home against the Canadiens on Nov. 29, which Colorado won 7-2.
The NHL reportedly approved the jersey matchup in early December. It should be a thrilling matchup, with the Avalanche sitting first in the NHL with a 35-7-9 record and Montreal holding the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot at 29-17-7.
Now, Colorado wearing a Quebec jersey won't completely bring back the Nordiques and the Battle of Quebec. But this night is more than just a throwback game with a jersey change. It's a chance to remember a rivalry that once defined Quebec's hockey culture.
The Avalanche wore their Quebec Nordiques specialty uniform at home when beating the Canadiens 7-2 on Nov. 29. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)From 1979 to 1995, the Nordiques and Canadiens were bitter rivals, meeting in five playoff series. Montreal won three of the five, but each series was hard-fought and often brutal. Each team won at least twice in each series, and they needed a winner-takes-all game three times.
The rivalry's most memorable game came on April 20, 1984, in Game 6 of the Adams Division final, known as the Good Friday Massacre.
Quebec opened the scoring with a power‑play goal by Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, and Michel Goulet made it 2-0 early in the third. But Montreal responded with five straight goals, notably two by Steve Shutt and others from Rick Green, John Chabot and Guy Carbonneau, leading to the Habs' 5-3 victory and 4-2 series win.
The game was one of the most violent in NHL playoff history. It had two bench‑clearing brawls, a total of 252 penalty minutes and 11 ejections. The chaos spilled everywhere, with fights involving Mario Tremblay, Chris Nilan, brothers Dale and Mark Hunter on opposite sides, and even backup goalies Clint Malarchuk and Richard Sevigny.
The particularly dark moment of the game was when Quebec's Louis Sleigher punched Montreal's Jean Hamel while he briefly looked away and knocked him unconscious. Hamel's head hit the ice and caused bleeding and a serious eye injury that eventually led to his retirement.
The Nordiques' revenge came the next year when they eliminated Montreal in Game 7 thanks to Stastny's overtime goal. Montreal would eventually win the final playoff series between the two in 1993, overcoming a 2-0 series start before going on to win the Stanley Cup.
When the Nordiques relocated to Colorado in 1995, the rivalry came to a halt, but it never fully disappeared.
Even decades later, the rivalry's energy remains. Fans still wear Nordiques jerseys, and discussions about bringing an NHL team back to Quebec City often come up when talk of expansion makes the news.
The Avalanche have donned Nordiques throwbacks a few times this season, but doing it in Montreal makes the night different. Inside the 21,000-seat Bell Centre, the past will meet the present, offering fans in Quebec the rare chance to see the Nordiques jersey in action again.
Quebec may not have its second NHL team back, at least not yet, but on Jan. 29, the province's historic hockey rivalry returns to the ice. It should serve as a celebration of history, passion and the spirit of hockey in Quebec.
Marissa Guido is an intern at The Hockey News.
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