Possible Nordiques revival holds allure for Bruins' Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron is a native of Quebec, but he did not grow up rooting for the Montreal Canadiens. Instead, the Quebec Nordiques were his team, as Bergeron was from Quebec City, the home of the Nordiques until they moved to Colorado in 1995. 

Bergeron still holds the pain of the loss of the Nordiques -- when speaking with reporters on Tuesday, he wistfully recalled his frustration from 1996 when the newly formed Avalanche won the Stanley Cup  -- and he said there was plenty of excitement back home when the idea of NHL expansion back to Quebec City gained steam this summer.

"I’ll go to the grocery store and then I’ll be just walking through aisles and people will stop me and be like: ‘What do you think? Do you think it’s going to happen?'" Bergeron said to reporters Tuesday. "I’m like ‘I don’t know, I hope so.’ I hope for Quebecers but I don’t know more than you do so I can’t really tell you.'"

Like his neighbors back home, Bergeron also said he hopes the Nordiques make a return. But Bergeron's perspective on watching the Nordiques has changed now that he plays in the NHL. Instead of watching the Nordiques as a fan, Bergeron said he imagines a day when he could play against his former childhood club.

"I'm going to play for the Bruins against them, but just to be playing the Nordiques there'd be a special meaning to it," Bergeron told reporters. "Just the fact that I am from there, it's my hometown. I could play in front of my family.  I grew up watching the Nordiques and playing against them would be special."

(h/t Sportsnet)