Real Cloutier was an absolute phenom in Quebec and rather than wait for the age restricted National Hockey League he would went directly from the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL to the Quebec Nordiques of the WHA where he could play professionally as an 18 year old.
Marian Stastny would join his two younger brothers, Anton, and Peter in the NHL before the 1981-82 season, and the three Czechoslovakian siblings would form one of the most feared lines in hockey.
The reality of Jon Klemm is that he fought for every shift he got in pro hockey.
Klemm was an undrafted Free Agent in 1991, and he would not play that much in the NHL for his first few seasons. That might be true, but the Defenseman would keep plying at his trade, and after playing 15 Games when the franchise was in Quebec, the first year when the organization relocated to the Rocky Mountains would see the Defenseman find a permanent home.
Curtis Leschyshyn was able to play over 1,000 Games in the National Hockey League (1,033), with slightly over half of them being with the Nordiques/Avalanche.
Chris Drury was Quebec's third round pick in 1994, but rather than join the organization that drafted him, and he elected to join Boston University, where he would stay for four years. As a senior, Drury would win the Hobey Baker Award as the nation's top player, and after that, he was ready to join the team who chose him, though they had now relocated to Colorado.
Playing the last half of the 1980s with the Quebec Nordiques, Jeff Brown got his start in the NHL in La Belle Province. The Defenseman was only with the parent club for 8 Games as a rookie, and he would be promoted for good midway through his second season (1985-86).
Scott Young won a Stanley Cup ring with the Pittsburgh Penguins and would be traded the year after choosing to play in Italy and represent the United States in the 1992 Olympics.
Alan Cote would spend his entire career with the Quebec Nordiques, which would begin when he signed with them in 1977.
Drafted number one overall in 1990, Owen Nolan had a slow start as a rookie, only scoring 13 Points in 59 Games, but he would turn it around the following season.
After being drafted 24th Overall in 1980, Quebec born Defenseman, Normand Rochefort, joined the Quebec Nordiques as a rookie and would play 56 Games as a rookie.
In 1989, Mats Sundin would make history as he would become the first ever European player to be chosen number one in the NHL Draft when the Quebec Nordiques did so in 1989.
Mario Marois joined the Quebec Nordiques where he would stay until he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in November of the 1985-86 Season.
The Quebec Nordiques were ahead of the curve in regards to looking at Eastern Bloc talents as they drafted many a player that was in Communist countries, which seemingly could never play in the NHL. As history has shown us, they were right.
Randy Moller went from the Gold Medal of the World Junior Hockey Championships with Canada to the NHL and the Quebec Nordiques. The Nords were blessed to have him throughout the '80s, where the towering defenseman used his size to intimidate and check among the best of them.
Anton Stastny was actually drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976, though that would be voided by the NHL, who deemed him too young for the draft (he was 19 at the time). The Quebec Nordiques drafted him the following year, but many thought it was pointless as he lived in Czechoslovakia, which was part of the Communist Bloc. It turned out to be a smart move by the NHL team.
Dale Hunter was a tough as nails hockey player who would score as quickly as he would enter the penalty box. As a rookie with the Quebec Nordiques, he would score 63 Points, and in four of the next five campaigns with Quebec, he would reach the 60 Point mark.
Prior to signing with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association in 1973, Serge Bernier has played for the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings and had done well producing a 50 Point Season for each of them.
When most people think of the 1977 Avco Cup Champion Quebec Nordiques, they think of the "Flying Frenchmen" of Marc Tardif, Real Cloutier, and Serge Bernier. There was also a Quebecer who was in the net who played a large part in those great teams. That man was Richard Brodeur.
Marc Tardif would win two Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, but like so many other players in the early 70s, he jumped to the upstart World Hockey Association for a higher salary.
Milan Hejduk was drafted in the 4th Round of the 1994 NHL Draft, but he elected to stay in the Czech League for five years before he would make his NHL debut. In his second and his third year, he would exceed the 70 Point threshold and helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2001. Hejduk was notably the playoffs leader in Assists that year.