American Hockey League (1999-2002)
Tombstone
Born: 1999 – The Fredericton Canadiens relocate to Quebec City.
Moved: June 2002 (Hamilton Bulldogs)
First Game: October 1, 1999 (L 4-1 vs. Hartford Wolf Pack)
Final Game: April 17, 2002 (L 6-5 @ Hamilton Bulldogs)
Calder Cup Championships: None
Arena
Colisee Pepsi (15,399)11999-00 American Hockey League Guide & Record Book
Opened: 1949
Marketing
Team Colors: White, Dark Blue, Yellow & Silver21999-00 American Hockey League Guide & Record Book
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners:
NHL Affiliation: Montreal Canadiens
Our Favorite Stuff
Quebec Citadelles
Logo T-Shirt
Very cool goat’s head logo from the short-lived Quebec Citadelles (1999-2002) of the American Hockey League. The logo reportedly represents that caprine mascot of the Royal 22nd Regiment of the Canadian Army, historically stationed at the Citadelle of Quebec fortress that inspired the club’s name.
This design is available from American Retro Apparel in several colors and in sizes small through XXXL today!
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Background
Quebec City lost its National Hockey League in 1995 when Quebec Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut sold the team to the owners of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets for $75 million. The francophone provincial capital was the smallest market in the NHL back then and was further challenged by a weakening currency exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the aging and outdated Colisee de Quebec, built in 1949. After provincial officials rebuffed Aubut’s calls for a public bailout of the franchise, the Nordiques’ president took the Denver offer and sent one of the NHL’s most talented young rosters packing for the United States. In a final twist of the knife, the transplanted ex-Nordiques won the 1996 Stanley Cup the following spring in their debut season as the Colorado Avalanche.
Hockey’s top two minor league’s sought to fill the void left by the Nordiques departure from Quebec City. First up was the International Hockey League (IHL), a sprawling and ambitious hybrid of independent teams and NHL farm clubs. The IHL’s Quebec Rafales began play at Le Colisee in the fall of 1996. The Rafales littered the town with free tickets that winter en route to claiming an astounding minor league average attendance of 11,575 for the 1996-97 season. But freebies don’t pay the bills. The Rafales reportedly sold only 800 season tickets for their second season and were out business by the summer of 1998.3Tait, Ed. “Moose not a fashionable product … yet.” The Sun (Winnipeg, MB). November 9, 1997
Six months later, the American Hockey League took their shot. In the middle of the 1998-99 season, the Montreal Canadiens announced that their top farm club in Fredericton, New Brunswick would move to Quebec City for the 1999-00 campaign. The Canadiens leased the franchise to a group of local businessmen headed by Jacques Tanguay, a co-owner of the Quebec Remparts major junior hockey team.
On the Ice
The Citadelles were a consistently strong team on the ice. They posted a winning record in all three of their seasons, winning regular season division titles in 2000 and 2002. In the spring of 2001 the Citadelles made their deepest Calder Cup playoff run, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to the Saint John Flames.
Key future NHL stars that came up through Quebec City during the Citadelles era included:
- Goaltender Mathieu Garon (Citadelles ’99’-’02)
- Defenseman Stephane Robidas (Citadelles ’99-’00)
- Defenseman Andrei Markov (Citadelles ’00-’01)
- Defenseman Ron Hainsey (Citadelles ’01-’02)
The Citadelles’ all-time scoring leader was the eternal Canadiens prospect Pierre Sevigny, who led the Quebecers in all-time games (218), goals (66), assists (97) and points (163). Sevigny was the Habs’ 3rd round draft pick way back in 1989. The Quebecois left winger could always find the net in the AHL. In fact, he was not only the Citadelles’ all-time scoring leader, but also the all-time scoring leader for the Fredericton Canadiens, Montreal’s previous AHL farm club. Sevigny never quite put it together at the NHL level, scoring just four times in 75 games with Montreal during the mid-1990’s.
The End
At the end of the 2001-02 AHL season, the local syndicate operating the Citadelles decided not to renew their lease of the club from the Canadiens. On May 10th, 2002, the Citadelles announced they would not return for the 2002-03 season.
In a subsequent game of franchise musical chairs, the Edmonton Oilers moved their Hamilton Bulldogs AHL farm team to Toronto. A group of Hamilton investors mounted a campaign to keep the Bulldogs in the city by attracting a new team. The Canadiens moved their homeless AHL franchise, the ex-Citadelles, to Hamilton to form a new Bulldogs club.
In 2024, after a pair of subsequent relocations, the former Citadelles franchise is back in the province of Quebec. The club continues to serve as the Montreal Canadiens’ top farm team and is now known as the Laval Rocket.
Quebec Citadelles Shop
Links
###
