Quebec Rafales

The Quebec Rafales were an IHL team that played in the Colisee De Quebec from 1996 to 1998. Rafales, which is french for wind gust, were certainly effected by the way the relocation winds blew in the hockey world in the mid-1990s. The team started as the Atlanta Knights in Georgia. The team was successful and the team's owner had hoped to one day own an NHL expansion franchise. Well, expansion did come to Atlanta in 1996 in the form of the Thrashers, but the Knights' owner wasn't a part of it and all of a sudden the Knights didn't have a home. Seizing on the movement of the Nordiques to Colorado, the Knights moved north to Quebec and became the Rafales. 

Initally, the team had good support in Quebec and went 41-30 and made the playoffs. However, it turned out that much of the support and good attendance figures the team had was due to free and highly discounted tickets that were used to fill the arena. The team would have a much less successful second season in Quebec and would fold after the 1997-98 season.