amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; However, given the team's uncertain future, and that he didn't want to play for a small market club, Shanahan asked for a trade and was granted that wish two games into the 1996-97 season. Hartford Whalers Individual Records (NHL), http://sophia.smith.edu/~jeue/John/pete4.html, http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=15, http://www.sportslawnews.com/archive/articles%201999/Patriots1.html, http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11734, http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_463240.html, http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/6544654, Hartford Whalers Stanley Cup Playoff Results. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; We love the past and all the traditions of the NHL. The team returned to the Eastern Conference Final in 2008 only to be swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. 1979 Present / National Hockey League

This is a carousel. The next season was not so fine, but while age finally caught up with Gordie Howe, the slack was picked up by Andr Lacroix, the WHA's all time leading scorer, acquired from the folded Aeros. However, the Whalers could never play consistently during that first season, started off 2-7-2.

Legendary goal scorer Bobby Hull would be acquired late that season in a trade with another former WHA team, the Winnipeg Jets, and play the last games of his career not only as a Whaler, but also as a member of the same team as his childhood idol, Gordie Howe (who also retired following the Whalers' first NHL season). This is what they looked like in action: The last goal scored by the Hartford Whalers went to long-time captain Kevin Dineen. Though its our dump, Anderson said, full of memories of not only Whalers games, he deeply wants to see the state commit to gutting the building and creating an entirely new arena, like Seattle did turning Key Arena into Climate Pledge Arena. Karmanos announced that if the team could not sell 11,000 season tickets fro the 96-97 season, he would likely move the team. The latest iteration of the Hartford Whalers logo, designed by Connecticut artist Peter Good. In This State. Two years after purchasing the team in 1994, both of which saw the team struggle at the box office, owner Peter Karmanos said indicated that if the team did not sell 11,000 season ticket packages (a number the team never achieved during its time in Hartford) the team would consider moving. 1979 1997 / Hartford Whalers 18 years after departure, Hartford Whalers brand still a money maker. It can't be anybody but Ron Francis. In 1994, Compuware founder Peter Karmanos purchased the Whalers. section: | slug: lost-franchises-remembering-the-nhls-hartford-whalers | sport: hockey | route: article_single.us | The team played in Boston until 1974 as a member of the World Hockey Association, a professional hockey league that rivaled the National Hockey League until 1979. With the exception of a period in the late 1970s when the Whalers played at the Springfield Civic Center while the Hartford Civic Center was being renovated (due to the collapse of a portion of its roof after a blizzard), the franchise was located in Hartford until it relocated to North Carolina in 1997. In the Kevin Smith written movies Mallrats and Chasing Amy, two different characters played by Jason Lee reference the Whalers. The pandemic kept them from going on road trips, but theyve been to New Jersey, Long Island and Philadelphia, among other places; Boston has become too expensive. The Hartford Whalers were an American professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. This article was originally published in July, 2013. Remembering the Whalers, Ill never forget them, put it that way, Cortesa said. There are times it feels like 25 days, you know what I mean? Note: This list does not include selections from the WHA. They only beat Vancouver once or twice in a lifetime." Only twice (1986-87 and 1987-88) did they average more than 14,000 per season. Rutherford became the teams new General Manager and Holmgren came back as the Head Coach. Its hard to believe its 25 years, said Mark Anderson, membership chairman of the clubs board of directors. The franchise has now been the Carolina Hurricanes for as long as it played in the northeast, beginning life in Boston as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association in 1972, moving to Hartford in 1975 and becoming the Hartford Whalers when it joined the NHL in 1979. Scheduling conflicts at the Boston Garden naturally became a major issue and resulted in their move to Hartford in 1974. If not, we will remove the player. For the first 2 years of their existence, the Whalers played home games at the Boston Arena, Boston Garden, and The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield. Even today, the tradition of the Whalers is still felt with its former players and its gear that sells extraordinary well, but until the ol Brass Bonanza and the foghorn are heard through the XL Centers loudspeakers again as the green and blue of the Whalers take the ice, will Hartford begin the healing cycle. The last game was hard, said Cortesa, president of the Hartford Whalers Booster Club, still 65 members strong. Unlike the Cleveland Barons, the first team we looked at in lost franchises, the Hartford Whalers did not cease operations or merge with another club and no longer exist. What amazes Pat Pickens is that, even as the loss is still felt by those who were here then, the Whalers may have never been more popular to everyone else. Despite their lack of success the Whalers are still one of the most popular teams that no longer exists. : There's been a constant push to bring back the Whale ever since they left for Carolina, but given the arena situation, the way Hartford is sandwiched between major markets in New York (Rangers, Islanders, Devils) and Boston (Bruins), and the way the Whalers struggled attendance-wise during their first run through the league, the NHL's return to Hartford doesn't seem to be in the cards right now. Howe helped lead the Whalers to the playoffs during the 1979-80 season, their first as a member of the NHL, by scoring 15 goals to go with 26 assists. To make matters worse, he eliminated the mini-plans in favor of the full game packages further hurting ticket sales. Gordie Howe finished his career with the Whalers: After spending two seasons with the WHA version of the Whalers, Gordie Howe played one final season in the NHL with the Whalers, eight years after he last suited up for the Detroit Red Wings. He was dealt to Detroit for Keith Primeau, Paul Coffey, and Detroit's first-round draft pick. While in Boston, the club played their home games at the Boston Arena and Boston Garden. That title could have been the city of Hartfords, but alas, it belongs to North Carolina and Hartford is still pining for its long-lost team. When they left, the Whalers color scheme included a darker blue that had replaced green as the base of their dark sweaters, with silver trim. And, truth be told, we're still pretty big fans of Pucky The Whale, the team's mascot Best player: Ron Francis. The Beast lasted just two seasons, but that minor-league franchise came out of dormancy in 2001 in a then-new arena in Bridgeport and has been there since. The song is still very popular with Hartford crowds, and continues to occasionally be played at Civic Center events (including University of Connecticut basketball games) and, in recent years, at Fenway Park during Boston Red Sox games. It made the playoffs both years, winning its sole playoff series in 1986 and its lone Adams Division championship in 1987. However, with sagging attendance related to the ebbing of the early 1970s hockey boom in the Boston area, ownership decided to move the franchise to Connecticut, an area which, except for various minor league teams in New Haven, had been largely bereft of pro hockey. The archives of THW contain over 40,000 posts on all things hockey. However, since the attendance was very low, it all but killed any hopes of the league returning. Is it Time to Bring Back the Hartford Whalers? For instance, they dealt star defenseman Mark Howe and their first scoring leader Mike Rogers in separate deals for players and draft picks which never panned out, and also swapped hardrock defenseman Gordie Roberts for the remaining half-season of Mike Fidler's NHL career. amzn_assoc_title = "NHL Products"; League History

The Whalers moved to Hartford and played their first game in the citys brand-new Civic Center Coliseum in early 1975, which remained their home rink for the remainder of the teams stint in Hartford. Hopefully, the Whalers uniform tradition will continue into the future. Karmanos had basically reneged on his promise to keep the team in town for four seasons. While Francis was unhappy, and the trade made sense on paper, the players acquired in return did not lead the Whalers to success, while the very popular Francis promptly helped the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup titles. A hockey teams booster club is planning to gather at Buffalo Wild Wings in Wethersfield Wednesday night to mark the 25th anniversary of the last time they saw that team play. The Whalers' NHL history was plagued by disastrous trades, especially in dealing stars for several mediocre players in an attempt to gain "depth." They finished the regular season with a winning record just three times in 18 years. Instead, Governor Rowland decided to use his efforts on wooing the New England Patriots to Hartford, but the Patriots would later reach a deal to stay in Foxboro, Massachusetts in a brand new stadium, Gillette Stadium.

After Governor Rowland decided not to have the taxpayers fund a new arena, Karmanos announced that the team would leave Hartford. On May 6, 1997, Karmanos announced that the Whalers would move to the hockey hotbed that is Raleigh, North Carolina. While the first two full seasons in Hartford were not glittering (the Whalers recorded losing records both years), the final two WHA seasons saw more success. The Whalers werent exactly a winning team and attendance was still a huge issue that hadnt been solved yet. The hope of bringing the NHL back to Hartford remains one of the most quixotic and unshakable dreams of many Connecticut sports fans. They march in Hartfords St. Patricks Day Parade and play Brass Bonanza. They give out a $1,000 annual scholarship. It has somehow been a quarter century since the Hartford Whalers fans said goodbye to the states NHL franchise, which played its last game at what was then the Hartford Civic Center on April 13, 1997. The most psychologically damaging moment for the club was the 1991 trade of Francis, the team's captain and a bona fide NHL superstar, to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was traded, along with Andrew Cassels, for Gary Roberts and Trevor Kidd in August of 1997. Its different.. The Hurricanes co-opted Hartfords uniform as a throwback when they were at their lowest in 2018, with an on-ice product only just about to emerge from nine seasons without a playoff appearance. The Howes, Rogers, Ley, Keon, Smith, Roberts and Lacroix would go on to wear the uniform of the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers were led by center Ron Francis, emerging hardcore winger Kevin Dineen, superstar goalie Mike Liut, and troubled scorer Sylvain Turgeon. They had a more stable roster than most WHA teamsLey, Webster, Selwood, Larry Pleau, and Tommy Earl would all play over 350 games with the cluband scored a major coup when they signed legend Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty from the Houston Aeros (WHA) in 1977.

The annual WhalerFest in Hartford is a wildly popular event in Hartford with hockey events and basically to remind the citizens of Hartford about their soul, the Hartford Whalers. 2002 2012 / RBC Center Shanahan excelled during his brief time with the Whalers, scoring 44 goals to go wih 34 assists in 74 games during the 1995-96 season. He played just two seasons in Hartford before being traded to the St. Louis Blues, where he would become a superstar, for future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan. 1994 2017 / Peter Karmanos, Jr. Raised in Orange and at New Haven Nighthawks games, Fornabaio has been with the Post since 1997. On January 11, 1975, the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum. However, negotiations fell apart when Rowland and the State refused Karmanos' demand to reimburse the Whalers for up to $45 million in losses during the three years the new arena was to be built. They rebranded. Cullen and Zalapski proved to be serviceable, solid players. However, that was just a temporary solution to a growing problem. Giguere appeared in eight games for the Whalers during the 1996-97 season. The last active link in the NHL: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche, is the last player still active in the NHL to have appeared in the game for the Whalers.