Quebec Nordiques' Old/New Logo

To the left is the logo of the Quebec Nordiques when that city was part of the National Hockey League. Nordiques is a French word which translates into English as "Northerners"or "from the north". At the time Quebec was the northern most city in the NHL.The logo was a lower case red letter "n" outlined in blue with a red hockey stick to its right and a blue hockey puck above that. Paying tribute to the north theme, the "n" and the hockey stick combined to form the profile of an igloo, with the blade of the hockey stick forming the opening of the igloo.

From 1979-80 to 1994-95, this was the only logo ever used by the Nordiques during its NHL stay before the franchise was sold and moved to Colorado, becoming the Avalanche. However, had the team not moved and stayed in Quebec, what a lot of people don't know is that the Nordiques were all set to take to the ice in '95-'96, in a completely new uniform design, including color scheme and logo. To the right is the logo that would have adorned their jerseys for the next season, had there been one. It appears to be a snarling wolf's head emerging from a blue triangle with the name Nordiques across the bottom. The letter "I" is in the shape of an icicle. Overall, the predominant colours of the logo are blue and grey, giving it a frosty mood.. This logo has a more harsh and cold look to it with all its angles and jagged points.

The new uniforms, with the new logo would have looked like this:
White Jersey
Blue Jersey

When the Nordiques moved to Colorado in 1996, The Avalanche went with their own logo and colour scheme, thus the new Nordiques' jerseys were never needed and never manufactured, existing only on the drawing board and never to be seen by the hockey-going public.

In a way, I am glad the Nordiques moved to Colorado. That is not to say I wanted the team to move. The Nordiques were part of , in my opinion, one of the greatest sports rivalries in history. Games between the Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens are legendary. So this was a huge loss, I think. However, looking at that new logo and uniform, I can't warm up to them and prefer the originals a lot more. They're a little more creative and fun in my opinion and I'm glad the Nordiques never got the chance to use the new ones.

Habs vs Nordiques