Sophomore Season Scorecard

When the LNAH skated into the offseason last May, the lone question mark was the Quebec National. With wins few and far between, attendance last in the league, and local news coverage hard to come by, saying the inaugural season was rough would be putting it lightly. A late season win streak and an opening round playoff victory would end the season on a high note, but certainty of their second season wouldn't come until a mid-summer press conference. As the league enters the second half of its current campaign, we check in on the sophomore season progress of the National.

Good: On ice, the team has clearly found its winning ways. By returning a group that was put together over the previous season, and experienced playoff success, the team had its core. Veteran leadership from the likes of Yanick Riendeau and Benjamin Legarde, as well as the team’s first home grown star, Tristan Cote-Cazenave, were the foundation of the current roster. Key signings like former NHLer Michael Chaput and solid #2 netminder Samuel St-Hilaire have only added to the team’s capability. The biggest difference may be behind the bench with Alexandre Picard’s role being adjusted from player-coach to head coach. 

The National have clearly figured it out on the ice. Their 5th place standing at the Christmas Break is a bit misleading due to a log jam at the top of the standings. At 10-8-3 the National sit just 3 points out of first place. The product has vastly improved.

Interesting: Last season, the National finished as one of the league’s least penalized teams in both total penalty minutes and number of majors. That may have been a calculated move, as owner Jimmy Gagne spoke of the difficulties of convincing sponsors that the league wasn’t just about fighting. This season has been an abrupt shift

Going into the break, the team has not only eclipsed its majors from all of last season, but they sit in 2nd overall. Trailing only fight-happy Laval, the National have gone from 0.7 majors per game last season to over 1.5 in the current campaign. Whether this is a marketing attempt to sell tickets, a strategy to open up the ice, or something completely different, the National’s style of play is noticeably different. Led by Bare Knuckle Ice Wars competitor Sebastien Laferriere, the National are winning in more ways than one.

Bad: The National are still not selling tickets. In fact, they’re selling about 70 less per game than at this time last season. While the foundation of economic success in minor league sports generally starts with sponsorship, attendance is usually an indicator of it. 

A picture from Le Soleil shows an all too familiar scene of the Nats playing in front of too many empty seats

Averaging just 860 fans per game, the National have a lot of work to do. To their defense, they’re a small fish in a very big pond. In terms of hockey, the Remparts are king, and the PWHL is once again teasing the market. Off ice, there are more than enough entertainment sources to keep the National relegated to back page news. Still, cracking the attendance nut shouldn’t be this hard. Currently less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the Quebec City Population is showing up to games. Attracting a few hundred more fans per game in a city of 550,000 people shouldn’t be this difficult.  The promotions are there, the prices are there, and now the team is there on the ice. What it will take for fans in the capital city to respond continues to be a mystery. 

The team had a nice attendance uptick in the second half of last season, so here’s hoping for the same in 2026. Otherwise, the right product is going in the wrong direction.