What harm have we done to ourselves by liquidating two great professional clubs, the Nordiques (1995) and the Expos (2004), in less than 10 years?
We paraded with our Stanley Cups for a long time, with this beautiful old capital team in nationalist colors boldly stealing great talent from the communist regimes of the East.
In addition, Quebec would develop into one of the most spectacular players in the NHL. And our big stars from here, we loved them very much. The Lafleurs, Bossys, Lemieux, Bourques, Roys, Brodeur, Lecavaliers, St-Louis and more. We were big and we were big.
It’s as if Americans like Gary Bettman once said to themselves, “Okay, that’s enough. The little Franco bastion, we’ll put them in their place.”
Since then, the strokes of the ruler on the fingers do not stop, and we regularly go from insult to insult.
WE PAY AGAIN
Insufficient population, puny dollar, uncomfortable cold, modest television rights and so on. The haters had their hands full, too, disrespecting the lower-paying Canadian Football League and a wondrous star like Saputo, who took 25 years to almost kneel to MLS.
Meanwhile, Montreal nearly lost its Grand Prix because Bernie Ecclestone treated him condescendingly. Add to that the utter failure of trying to launch an electric F1 Grand Prix. Another slap on the nose, the crashed ice crowned the Quebec camp.
Don’t forget that Quebec also did a stupid about-face when we wanted to organize the 2002 Olympics. Instead, we preferred Salt Lake City, a city of just under 200,000 people.
It was pathetic to see Eric Girard, Minister for the Nordics, given a rude reception in New York as he begged Bettman to listen. We would have received it in the Portikus or in the garage and would have had the same impression.
Admittedly, Bettman publishes extraordinary numbers. He lined the pockets of his shareholders, the owners, but that doesn’t entitle him to humiliate a city like Quebec, a jewel of America that has indeed marked the recent and ancient history of the National League. It has become offensive.
PORTRAIT OF THE NHL
We can talk about the weakness of the Canadian dollar but seven clubs are living off it and it’s in the economic picture of this league.
Why wouldn’t Quebec be entitled to another chance when Winnipeg had that chance and is doing very well even though it barely attracts 15,000 fans per game?
It’s Canadian teams that generate the most profits, and two of the five richest clubs in the NHL are Toronto and Montreal.
We must respect the nature of this sport, its history and its origins. Three teams in California, two in Florida and possibly two more in Texas, where we have never seen a snowdrift, but no club in Quebec, which hosts the largest amateur hockey tournament in the world, where we can attract more than 17,000 people for junior game and where we had developed the fiercest rivalry in the NHL.
WITHOUT RESPECT
Bettman might be good with bank accounts and I think he’s really exceptional because he does it all without respecting a sport he’s never played. It’s obvious that he doesn’t respect this sport.
It’s normal that ice hockey doesn’t survive in the desert.
If the Coyotes games were as crowded as the Remparts, there wouldn’t be a problem.
From the enclave
- If you ask for it gaston pellerin, The big boss of the Lac Blanc chandlery (Saint-Alexis des Monts), how are you? He will tell you that things are going so well that he has too many solutions and no problems.
- There are exactly 4600 people per game (not 5000) that could enter Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona. pathetic.
- Erratum by myself last week. The director of SÉPAQ Mastigouche is not Francis Charbonneau but Francis Desjardins.
- Our condolences to the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren on the death of Lisawife of HenryRichard. A wonderful woman, playful and loved by all. A beautiful person.
- In the last season Nick Suzuki was sent to shootouts 7 times and scored 5 goals.
Photo archive, Pierre-Paul Poulin
Nick Suzuki
- Do you like fish and game? You need to get the book “From Nature to Your Plate” by author Julien Cabana, our hunting and fishing columnist. Over 100 recipes. A masterpiece, a collector’s item.
- Congratulations to the Montreal Alouettes, formed on May 20, 1946. You are 77 years old in the Trois-Rivières camp.
- May 20 also saw the longest home run in the history of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. willie stargel, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, catapulted a shot off the pitcher Wayne Twitchell 535 feet from home plate.
- my old friend Yvon Lambert celebrates his 73rd birthday today. Probably a little cold… or two to celebrate.
Photo archive, Pierre-Paul Poulin
Yvon Lambert
- Like the bell center house speaker, Michel Lacroix, Mathieu Joseph the Ottawa Senators, is now a member of the Kanawaki Golf Club.
- Did you know that prior to 1912, the Kanawaki Golf Club was the Outremont Golf Club?
- Conditions are already optimal at the magnificent Balmoral Club in Morin-Heights, although the grounds have only been open for a week. Are the famous members back like Robert Charlebois and his family Ron Fournier And Luc Dione.
- Murray Bay Golf Club in La Malbaie is the third oldest club in North America. Established in 1894, by 1928 we no longer saw any cows on the land. Know that the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, was a member there.
