From 1987-88 to 1991-92, the team finished last in their division every season, and three of those times they finished last in the league. This included a dreadful 12-win season in 1989-90 that is still the worst in franchise history. As a result, the team earned three consecutive first overall draft picks, used to select Mats Sundin (1989), Owen Nolan (1990) and Eric Lindros (1991).

From 1995 to 2003, the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche won an NHL record 9 consecutive division titles (1 in their final season in Quebec, 8 in Colorado), breaking the Montreal Canadiens' streak of eight, won between 1974 and 1982.

In 1986-87, Brent Ashton scored 25 goals on just 98 shots for Quebec, giving him a franchise record 25.5% shooting percentage before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings mid-season.

On March 8, 2004, as revenge for another incident in a prior game that season, Bertuzzi grabbed Steve Moore from behind and punched him in the back of the head. As Moore fell unconscious to the ice, Bertuzzi's weight and momentum drove Moore's head into the ice. After laying motionless on the ice for ten minutes, Moore was carried off on a stretcher. He suffered three broken vertebrae, had to wear a neck brace for a year, and never played another game.

Peter Stastný, also known as "Peter the Great," won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1981 after becoming the first player in NHL history to collect over 100 points in his rookie year (109).

After being drafted first overall, Eric Lindros made it clear he did not wish to play for the Nordiques, even refusing to wear the team's jersey for press photographs. On advice from his mother, he refused to sign a contract and began a holdout that lasted over a year. On June 30, 1992, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for five players, the rights to Swedish prospect Peter Forsberg, two first-round draft picks and $15 million. The Eric Lindros trade turned the Nordiques into a Stanley Cup contender almost overnight, and in hindsight is seen as one of the most one-sided deals in sports history.

Joe Sakic eclipsed the 100 point mark six times in his career, including 2000-01, when he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award. That year, he led the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship, defeating the defending title holders New Jersey Devils in seven games. Memorably, after receiving the Cup from the NHL commissioner, Sakic broke with tradition by not hoisting it first as most captains do, instead passing the Cup straight to Ray Bourque, a player who had waited a record-breaking 22 seasons to win the Stanley Cup.

Although they had previously drafted players as part of the World Hockey Association, the Nordiques struck gold with their very first NHL draft pick in 1979, landing future Hall of Famer Michel Goulet who would spend 11 seasons with the team and still holds the franchise record for goals per game (0.56).

Joe Sakic wore the captain's "C" for 13 years. He is one of the few players to play his entire career with one franchise, being drafted by Quebec 15th overall in 1987 and moving to Colorado when the Nordiques became the Avalanche.

Michel Goulet became one of the most prolific snipers of the eighties in the NHL. He achieved 50 goals in a season for four consecutive years, including 1982-83 when he set a franchise record with 57 goals.