An estimated 1,100 fans from Quebec are piling into chartered buses and heading to Nassau Coliseum for Saturday night’s game between the Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers, intent on sending a message to N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman: We want a team of our own.

“This is not a demonstration,” said Vincent Cauchon, a radio sports show host and a founder of Nordiques Nation, the fan group that is organizing the trip. “We just want to show the N.H.L. that Quebec needs a team and is a better market; maybe a third of the markets in the N.H.L. aren’t doing so well right now.”

The Islanders and the Thrashers are in the midst of well-publicized attendance and financial problems. The Islanders, with the N.H.L.’s worst record, are 28th in attendance; the Thrashers are 29th, despite having a winning record.

“One reason we picked Nassau is because every time we watched an Islanders game on TV, there was no one in there,” said Cauchon, who noted that the price for the trip, hotel and game ticket was $200 per person.