NHL The Whalers return for 2 games this season and many in Hartford are angry

[Spanky185]

I hear ads on the radio from time to time talking about finding a billionaire to buy a team and bring it to Hartford

 

[smithformeragent]

I used to take the Whalers in NHLPA93 cause I’m a sucker for Kelly green.

Underused color in sports.

Kay Whitmore sucked in the game though.

 

[Baddkarma]

Those were the days. Bruins/Whale was right behind the Bruins/Habs in terms of must see sports in those days. Man I hated Kevin Dineen and of course Ulf...

 

[JRull86]

I fully support a team going back to Hartford. Move Carolina back to Hartford and Florida to Quebec city. It would make the conference very interesting and nobody will miss the hurricanes or the panthers.

I'd guess Phoenix is first in line to move before anyone else.

 

[Over the volcano]

It's great that they're donating some of the proceeds to support youth sports in Hartford.

 

[BMC]

It's a cash grab using "heritage" as a gimmick.

Only way I'm ok with this is if Karmanos doesn't own them. Cuz screw that guy.

It's like an ex-wife wearing the dress you bought her to celebrate the anniversary of her new marriage.

(not a popular opinion, but if they wanted to honor the old team, they should have never changed their colors).

Karmanos is a first class son of a bitch, he & JJ are two of a kind

 

[BMC]

If you grew up in or near Hartford you would have known plenty. I went back to visit family a year or two ago and there was a guy with a table outside stop and shop, he was covered in old school memorabilia and had people signing a petition to return the team to Hartford. It’s still very much a thing for old school locals.

Think R Kelly was one of the first to start adopting whaler gear as a fashion statement rather than one of a fans loyalty.

A few years ago a guy lived on my street and he flew his Whalers flag every.single.day.

 

[Fenway]

I never understood the move to Raleigh when Karmanos had other options.

When he announced he was leaving Hartford he had no set location in place. The belief was he wanted to move to Auburn Hills, Michigan and Bettman told him anywhere but there. Hamilton, Ontario tried to woo him but the Canadian dollar was very week in 1997.

Hartford’s plea to save the Whalers

Karmanos in retrospect made a huge blunder leaving Connecticut as the value of the cable channel they owned 25% of was about to explode. The Whalers and Celtics were part owners of Prism, which became Sports Channel and today is NBC Sports Boston. The Bruins allowed the Whalers to televise into Boston so NESN would continue to have access in Connecticut. 2 years after the Whalers left the channel moved to basic cable as did NESN and revenue exploded.

Instead, the team became nomads for 2 years and SI did a feature on them - the author will surprise you.

NATURAL DISASTER THE HURRICANES HAVE STORMED INTO NORTH CAROLINA, BUT THEY HAVEN'T BLOWN ANYONE AWAY

The team's headquarters and eventual home are in Raleigh (where
a new arena is scheduled to be ready for the 1999-2000 season);
the interim arena is in Greensboro, 80 miles away; and one of
the practice facilities is in Hillsborough, which is somewhere
in between. The fans, well, we're not sure where they come from,
but it probably wouldn't take long to ask. The Hurricanes drew
18,661 on opening night in Greensboro three weeks ago, but since
then they've played before quaint gatherings of friends and
family. The paid attendance for last week's 3-3 tie against the
Buffalo Sabres was 6,278, but only about 4,000 fans attended the
game. That's about the same number of people who wait outside
after games in Philadelphia to watch the Flyers' Eric Lindros
drive away.

Spread throughout the Greensboro Coliseum--the venue seats
20,800 but is reduced to 15,902 for Hurricanes games so it
doesn't seem quite so empty--the sparse crowd looked like a
reunion of normal, well-adjusted Kennedy cousins. The
season-ticket base is 3,083, by far the lowest in the NHL. "To
say it has all gone smoothly, the way we had hoped, that
wouldn't be true," says veteran defenseman Adam Burt. "I think
everything will be great when we get to Raleigh, but for now, a
lot of people in Greensboro are like, Hey, why bother? You're
not our team."

The Carolina players spend more time on the bus than the
Partridge Family. Consider: The New York Rangers have six road
games this season that won't take them as far as the Hurricanes
have to travel for home games. At times the Hurricanes are bused
80 miles from Raleigh to Greensboro for games, and after the
morning skate they retreat to a hotel for lunch and a nap. Their
wives and children are bused down later in the day, and together
the players and their families return to Raleigh after midnight.
All but two of the players are married, and among them there are
31 children of the Cane. That adds up to a lot of blown
bedtimes.

"Two a.m.--that's what time we get home from home
games," says Burke, who is not one of the team's two bachelors.
"I haven't gotten home at 2 a.m. since I was a young guy hitting
the nightclubs." Burke says the players are planning to have
postgame buffets at the new arena because they have yet to find
a decent restaurant in Raleigh that's open after games.

 

[trenton1]

It will be a treat to see the jerseys again but I also think Tom Dundon is kind of a clown.

 

[Over the volcano]

I never understood the move to Raleigh when Karmanos had other options.

When he announced he was leaving Hartford he had no set location in place. The belief was he wanted to move to Auburn Hills, Michigan and Bettman told him anywhere but there. Hamilton, Ontario tried to woo him but the Canadian dollar was very week in 1997.

Hartford’s plea to save the Whalers

Karmanos in retrospect made a huge blunder leaving Connecticut as the value of the cable channel they owned 25% of was about to explode. The Whalers and Celtics were part owners of Prism, which became Sports Channel and today is NBC Sports Boston. The Bruins allowed the Whalers to televise into Boston so NESN would continue to have access in Connecticut. 2 years after the Whalers left the channel moved to basic cable as did NESN and revenue exploded.

Instead, the team became nomads for 2 years and SI did a feature on them - the author will surprise you.

NATURAL DISASTER THE HURRICANES HAVE STORMED INTO NORTH CAROLINA, BUT THEY HAVEN'T BLOWN ANYONE AWAY

The team's headquarters and eventual home are in Raleigh (where
a new arena is scheduled to be ready for the 1999-2000 season);
the interim arena is in Greensboro, 80 miles away; and one of
the practice facilities is in Hillsborough, which is somewhere
in between. The fans, well, we're not sure where they come from,
but it probably wouldn't take long to ask. The Hurricanes drew
18,661 on opening night in Greensboro three weeks ago, but since
then they've played before quaint gatherings of friends and
family. The paid attendance for last week's 3-3 tie against the
Buffalo Sabres was 6,278, but only about 4,000 fans attended the
game. That's about the same number of people who wait outside
after games in Philadelphia to watch the Flyers' Eric Lindros
drive away.

Spread throughout the Greensboro Coliseum--the venue seats
20,800 but is reduced to 15,902 for Hurricanes games so it
doesn't seem quite so empty--the sparse crowd looked like a
reunion of normal, well-adjusted Kennedy cousins. The
season-ticket base is 3,083, by far the lowest in the NHL. "To
say it has all gone smoothly, the way we had hoped, that
wouldn't be true," says veteran defenseman Adam Burt. "I think
everything will be great when we get to Raleigh, but for now, a
lot of people in Greensboro are like, Hey, why bother? You're
not our team."

The Carolina players spend more time on the bus than the
Partridge Family. Consider: The New York Rangers have six road
games this season that won't take them as far as the Hurricanes
have to travel for home games. At times the Hurricanes are bused
80 miles from Raleigh to Greensboro for games, and after the
morning skate they retreat to a hotel for lunch and a nap. Their
wives and children are bused down later in the day, and together
the players and their families return to Raleigh after midnight.
All but two of the players are married, and among them there are
31 children of the Cane. That adds up to a lot of blown
bedtimes.

"Two a.m.--that's what time we get home from home
games," says Burke, who is not one of the team's two bachelors.
"I haven't gotten home at 2 a.m. since I was a young guy hitting
the nightclubs." Burke says the players are planning to have
postgame buffets at the new arena because they have yet to find
a decent restaurant in Raleigh that's open after games.

That was a rough couple years for Hartford, between the Whalers leaving and then Kraft backing out of his deal to move the Patriots to the city.