MONTREAL – The antics of a construction worker have been causing some controversy, consternation and few good laughs in Quebec this week.
It all started on the building site for the new arena in Quebec City, which many are hoping will house the now defunct Nordiques if and when the NHL team makes a comeback.
After a construction worker filmed himself dropping a puck with a Canadiens logo into the wet concrete of the building’s foundations, he uploaded the video to Facebook and unleashed the ire of…Nordiques fans.
In the video, he’s seen with a huge smile on his face. As he drops the puck he said: “Here I am at the Quebec arena. I’m about to put this nice Canadiens puck in one of these compressed piles.”
The puck is clearly labelled with the logos of the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre.
After the puck drops, Rivest continued, rather ambiguously, “And voilà, Nordiques, we have you in mind.”
Many have questioned the construction worker’s motivation – especially after it was discovered he worked for Petrifond, a company specializing in foundations based in Montreal.
Were these truly the actions of a Nordiques fan? What made him commit what many are calling a sacrilege?
Rivest has rebutted claims that he is a secret Canadiens fan, with dreams of defiling the Nordiques’ future home.
He defiantly told French newspaper, Le Soleil: “I am a Nordiques supporter and I always have been.”
Apparently, he wanted the puck to be walked on, as a symbolic reminder to Nordique fans that the Habs were beneath them. For Rivest, having the puck underfoot meant the Quebec City team would always be on top, literally.
The mayor of Quebec City, Régis Labeaume reassured reporters on Tuesday that he had matters in hand. “If I have to drive the backhoe myself,” he joked, “we’re going to find that puck.”
This controversy is reminiscent of a similar story from 2007 involving the construction of Yankee Stadium in New York. A Boston Red Sox jersey had been buried in the foundations of the building by a construction worker in order to bring bad luck to the Yankees team. A year later, in order to break the curse, the sweater was extracted.
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