Thrashers/Isles Game to Include Protest Rally

[lethalweapon3]

Parce que...

http://deadspin.com/5711366/thrashersislanders-game-targeted-for-quebec-relocation-rally

Nassau Coliseum isn't just for hockey. It's hosted a number of empty seat conventions this year, and Saturday night will be the destination for busloads of Quebecois, looking to raise support for the return of the Nordiques.

Nordiques Nation began, as pretty much everything does these days, as a radio show stunt. But things have gotten serious, and they're chartering 23 busloads — perhaps as much as 1100 people — down to Uniondale for tomorrow's game. For comparison, the Isles' last Saturday night game drew an announced 9,157 people (and that's a dirty lie anyway), so if they get the numbers they're expecting, the Nordiques faithful should be able to make their voices heard.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/sports/hockey/12nhl.html

Isles’ Boisterous Crowd Is Filled With Nordiques Fans

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — An estimated 1,100 fans of the old Nordiques traveled to Nassau Coliseum from Quebec for Saturday night’s game between the Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers, an effort to show the N.H.L. that their city deserves a team.

The excursion was meant to let the league know that a revived Nordiques club would draw more fans than the financially troubled and poorly attended Thrashers. (The Nordiques left to become the Colorado Avalanche before the 1995-96 season.) Trip organizers went out of their way to specify that they do not wish to have the Islanders move — but did say the availability of tickets here is one reason they came.

The contingent of Nordiques fans made up about 10 percent of the announced crowd of 10,056. The Islanders, who lost the game, 5-4, and have just one victory in their last 20 games, are 29th in the N.H.L. in attendance with an average of 10,770 fans a game. The Thrashers are 28th at 11,929.

Nassau Coliseum was half-filled at best for the 7 p.m. start, but a fair number of fans in the upper stands were in Nordiques wear. They made plenty of noise and later in the first period chanted, “Let’s go, Islanders.”

The fight Up North over the future direction of the Thrash franchise is turning into a Canadian West Side Story: Nordiques versus Jets. In the meantime, Go Thrashers! I think they're amidst a 9-2 stretch following last night's win.

~lw3