New Year, New Beginnings (or Revivals)- Part 6 Vive Les Nordiques

As the dawn of the New Year begins to fade, I conclude the exploration of the possibilities of relocation and expansion. In this excessively informal post, I’ve taken a look at what some of the best concept jerseys are for a team that needs to be revived! In each case, I’ve looked at numerous designs, courtesy of Icethetics.co and the forums over at Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net, and highlighted the ones that I would pick if I were the owner of a new franchise looking to establish its identity.

QUEBEC NORDIQUES

Quebec City, once a city that was the northern most city in all North American professional sports, gracefully became widely known as a great hockey market with it’s WHA’s presence that then turned more mainstream in it’s welcoming into the NHL. Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques paraphernalia continue to be top selling merchandise among hockey fans, despite the fact that both teams have long since relocated to their current markets in North Carolina and Colorado, respectively.

If I were going to be the owner of a new inception of the Quebec Nordiques, I would emulate a move by the current Winnipeg Jets in that I would design a new logo and a new set of uniforms, effectively replacing the old franchise. I would instead seek a design that incorporates the old franchise and even incorporates Quebec City’s history in the NHL, with the Quebec Bulldogs.

With that said, I would also have the hardest time picking the best jerseys out of a long list of concept jerseys. In any case, I’d want the right combination of the traditional, light blue, Quebec Nordiques and a return to the initial darker blue days of the WHA Quebec Nordiques with a modernized logo that better defines the region.

This set of jerseys provides just the right combination of old and new. A logo reminiscent of landmarks of Quebec City, the snowy owl, a symbol of the people of the North, and the timeless fleur-de-lis that was ever so perfectly encompassing of the province of Quebec and its relation to the Quebec Nordiques of yore.

There were a couple of alternate jerseys to consider, the first of which, I’d use for at least a couple of seasons (or simply for an outdoor game). The first alternate jersey combines stylish elements reminiscent of the Quebec Bulldogs era with the original Quebec Nordiques on a slimming, modern jersey design. .

The second fits better with the home and road jerseys and is actually something from the same artist as the home and road sweaters.

With these jerseys in mind as the representation of the franchise, I sorted through these other ones that just didn’t have quite enough of what I was looking for.

First, a look at some of the other designs the winning artist created that just didn’t resonate with me.

Here we have too much of a blend among the colors. Nothing really separates these jerseys out from one another. On the plus side, however, the alternate uniform in this set does look spectacular.

In this design, the artist approaches the right combination of colors, but lacks the ever important fleur-de-lis in the actual jersey (although placing them on the side of the pants is catchy).

Moving on from that artist we have a set that I seriously considered to be the chosen one. However, a bit too bright blue for regular use in the NHL in this day and age, these would probably see time as a specialty or future set of alternates. Heck, a current minor league team should really take this look and run with it.

This jersey has potential as an alternate, but the nameplate font is what ruins its chances in its current form. Remember kids, just say “no” to lowercase letters in a player nameplate unless it is part of their name. Even then, if your font looks better without specialization, then don’t implement specialization. Other than that, I love the number styling of this uniform.

Here’s what you get when you combine the Winnipeg Jets with the Ottawa Senators!

This looks plain and blue. Nice use of the old logo. I appreciate the attempt to modernize a classic, but it just doesn’t work for me. Perhaps a different number stylization would set things in a better tone, instead of something that says “we’re still the Arizona Coyotes, but instead of red we used blue and changed our logos for this set of practice uniforms.”

But hey, at least we’ve moved on from the early days of RBK Edge jerseys, right? Ew. It’s the Quebec Islanders, everyone!

All in all, a classy look is appealing, but in the interest of preserving hockey history, I think it’s best to retire the igloo- no matter how awesome these modernized jerseys might look on the ice.

Especially if you’re teetering on the border of old school Winnipeg Jets territory.

And so ends this chapter of the journey, “New Year, New Beginnings” has officially come to an end. We’ll move forward with new content coming in February, with a look back at reality, more analysis is on the way, created by fans for the fans.

Thank you for enjoying this series, I had a great time delving into everything about it. – NL