The team that would become the Quebec Nordiques began in 1971 as the San Francisco Sharks, a charter member of the WHA. When the new league got skittish on San Francisco, the team was sold to a group of investors from Quebec City.
The Chicago Cougars were charter members of the WHA in 1972. The team played three seasons in the Windy City before folding in 1975.
The Quebec Citadelles were the top farm club of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens in the American Hockey League for three seasons from 1999 through 2002. The team played at the old Colisee de Quebec, former home of the Quebec Nordiques of the NHL and the World Hockey Association. The Citadelles moved to Hamilton, Ontario ahead of the 2002-03 AHL season.
The Quebec Caribous – or “Les Caribous” – were a pro box lacrosse team that existed for one season at Le Colisee during the summer of 1975. The National Lacrosse League franchise originated in Syracuse, New York during the league’s inaugural season in 1974 and relocated to Quebec City prior to the 1975 campaign. The Caribous won the final 1975 NLL championship, besting the Montreal Quebecois in six games, but were unable to defend their title after the NLL ceased operations following the season.
The International Hockey League’s Quebec Rafales set up shop at Le Colisee in 1996, replacing the recently departed Nordiques of the National Hockey League. For a minor league, the IHL offered a high quality of play. But by the late 1990’s the 50-year old circuit was unraveling following a continent-wide orgy of expansion earlier in the decade. The Rafales went out of business after two seasons of play in 1998.
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