After watching the Pittsburgh Penguins feed off a raucous sea of white at the Mellon Arena (or, as it is appropriately nicknamed, “The Igloo”), and win their 16th game in a row at home to cut the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup finals lead in half at 2-1, it is hard to believe that as recently as October 2006, that game and atmosphere might never have been possible. Remember the Penguins were almost sold then to Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion, the company that makes BlackBerry mobile devices. Of course, earlier this decade the team was also bankrupt and if not for their greatest player Mario Lemieux, would have folded or been relocated then as well.

For natives of Quebec City, watching this amazing scene and this young and talented team win a Stanley Cup finals game after being so close to extinction, had to make them wonder:

“Why not us? Why couldn’t our team have been saved and why can’t we get another NHL team?”

Of course each situation was different and there were many reasons why Quebec lost their franchise but Pittsburgh was somehow able to hang on. However, after recently hosting the 2008 World Championships, and helping to lure in the third largest attendance in the 100-year history of the tournament, the hockey-crazed citizens of Quebec, must be drooling at the thought of what could’ve been and what could be.

Just prior to their relocation to Colorado and subsequent Stanley Cup win the following season, the Nordiques organization; just as the Penguins have been over the past two seasons, were on the rise. Like the Penguins with Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin, they also had two of the league’s greatest young stars in Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. After stockpiling young talent via the famous Eric Lindros trade (in which they acquired Forsberg), they had one of the greatest turnarounds in NHL history during the 1992-93 season, jumping from 52 points in the previous year to 104, and in the process, going from the second-worst record in the league to the fourth-best.

The Nordiques made the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, but fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Canadiens in the first round, winning the first two games but then losing the next four. Sakic and then-Nordique Mats Sundin both scored over 100 points each, and head coach Pierre Page was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Quebec would miss the playoffs during in 1993-94 but finished first in the Eastern Conference during the lockout-shortened season of 1995, before once again falling in the first round of the playoffs, this time to the Rangers.

But unlike Lemieux and company in Pittsburgh, the Nordiques potential would never be realized in Quebec as the organization was sold by then owners Paul Racine and Marcel Aubut to an ownership group in Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. And as if losing their team wasn’t hard enough, Nordiques fans then had to watch that potential be realized when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup during their first season in 1995-96. To rub salt in the wound, Patrick Roy, a native son of Quebec and longtime goaltender for the Nordiques archrivals, the Montreal Canadiens, helped lead Colorado to the Cup and Joe Sakic be named the Conn Smythe Winner.

Hall of Famer, longtime Nordiques forward and fan favorite Michel Goulet ironically was also part of that cup-winning team in Colorado as a Director of Player Personnel. Goulet was at the World Championships earlier this month and reflected on the irony of winning the Cup with what was once the team he spent his best years as an NHL player.

“Well, on one side, I really believe that if the team was still in Quebec, the Roy trade would’ve never happened because of the rivalry (with Montreal) and without that trade and the one for [Sandis] Ozolinsh we probably don’t win that Cup,” he said. “But on the flip-side, yeah it was sad in a way because they were building towards that in Quebec and you wonder what could’ve been. It would’ve been amazing to win a Cup here in Quebec.”

Goulet, a native of near-by Peribonca, treasured his time playing for his hometown team, and the World Championships reignited memories of his Nordiques years.

“It was a great experience for the fans because this is a great hockey city and we’ve seen that here again,” Goulet said. “This has reminded everyone here how much the fans appreciated the game. But it’s also sad to be reminded there is no team here anymore.”

With Quebec being one of the smaller markets in the league, there was always a sense that the players were truly playing for their fans and the city, unlike the unfamiliarity and anonymity so many players experience in the NHL today.

“I still remember the faces in the corners that were here every season and every game,” Goulet said. “You would see these people around town too. Everyone treated us as one of their own. From the restaurants, to the bars to the market, we all knew each other and we were playing for them. That was a great feeling!”

While Goulet acknowledges that small market aspect was also the reason for the Nordiques demise, he still believes the passion of the fans could preserve that feeling and support a team. But like any realist, he knows the economics aren’t there right now. If someone were to step up and back a new arena though, the presence of a NHL team would do wonders for the city’s economy.

“It would be amazing to have a team here again, but there needs to be some group to step in and back a new arena,” he acknowledged. “You can’t imagine how much losing a team hurt the economy here. But you see what’s happened in other cities like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, and you know it can happen if the situation’s right.”

The boost in the economy that an NHL team could provide was clearly evident during the World Championships. Colisée de Québec was packed for every game with festive fans tailgating outside. The bars and restaurants were filled to the brim every night and hotels were booked solid. Of course, the International fans who traveled over from the neighboring United States and Europe played a large factor, but having games to attend or watch, united in the bar, was a rare event for the natives and for those who make their living off such events.

“This has been a great event for us and brought lots of business,” said Josianne Sévigny, part-owner of Edward Pub in Quebec City. “We don’t have enough sporting events and when we do it helps so much. When we had the Nordiques, the economy was so good and the bar business would benefit from having the team. We would love another team as workers and fans.”

While in Quebec City for the World Championships and a charity game featuring the likes of Roy, Goulet and Balsillie, former NHL referee and Nordiques player Paul Stewart agreed that the city was still one of the best he ever played or refereed in and that the economy fed off it.

“We were treated so well here by the people in the city especially at the restaurants and bars,” Stewart said. “To be able to play here was a privilege. To be part of the tradition of hockey here, with the likes of Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur and Michel Goulet was simply amazing. I know there was a language barrier and the Lindros trade where he and other players wouldn’t play here because of that was really hard and not a reflection on the city. Robbie Ftorek and I were Americans and we were treated just fine. I think now years later they’re even more bilingual, so that wouldn’t be an issue. This city loves hockey and deserves a team!”

While in Quebec, Balsillie actually agreed and said he believes the city of Quebec needs an NHL team again. But as many pointed out here, it will take someone like him to fund a new arena and make it happen. The question is when, if ever, will that happen? Until then, the people of this beautiful, historic and hockey-crazed city will have to watch rising teams like the Penguins and wonder “why not us?”