May 6, 1997 marks a day that will live in infamy in the eyes of Connecticut sports fans. On that day, Peter Karmanos, owner of the Hartford Whalers, announced he was moving the NHL team to North Carolina and renaming them the Carolina Hurricanes. Connecticut has lacked a major professional sports franchise ever since.
Goaltender Jason Muzzatti, who played for the Whalers in 1995.Connecticut’s only pro hockey team was founded in 1971 as the New England Whalers. 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. The Whalers moved to Hartford and played their first game in the city’s brand-new Civic Center Coliseum in early 1975, which remained their home rink for the remainder of the team’s stint in Hartford.
In 1979, the World Hockey Association merged with the National Hockey League to form the modern-day NHL, and the New England Whalers were renamed the Hartford Whalers. While the Whalers were never one of the most popular or successful NHL teams, they had an incredibly dedicated fan base in Connecticut — one that has waned very little in the years since the team’s departure.
The latest iteration of the Hartford Whalers logo, designed by Connecticut artist Peter Good.According to Reebok and other retailers, Hartford Whalers merchandise remains popular — and surprisingly profitable — not only in Connecticut, but nationwide, owing to a mix of nostalgia and the strong, iconic design of the Whalers logo. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Megan Fox have been spotted wearing Whalers merchandise since the NHL reauthorized the use of the logo in 2009.
The hope of bringing the NHL back to Hartford remains one of the most quixotic and unshakable dreams of many Connecticut sports fans. That dream was bolstered after the sale of the Carolina Hurricanes to a new owner in January 2018. He announced a desire to embrace the Hartford heritage of his team by playing select home games in Whalers gear. The Whalers uniforms (1975 road uniforms) returned to the ice for the first time in a Carolina home game against the Boston Bruins on December 23rd, 2018. The team repeated the uniform switch the following March at a Bruins home game in Boston.
Some recent Connecticut political candidates have claimed to make return of the Hartford Whalers a top priority for Connecticut state pride and economic growth. Regardless of the Hurricanes’ future plans, the Hartford Whalers still remain one of the state’s most beloved symbols, despite their departure many years ago, today in Connecticut history.
Further Reading
“The Hartford Whalers Historical Timeline,” Hartford Courant
“Vintage photos: The Whalers Through the Years,” Connecticut Post
Nate Silver, “Is it Time to Bring Back the Hartford Whalers?” fivethirtyeight.com
Debra Rughoo, “18 years after departure, Hartford Whalers brand still a money maker,” Hartford Business Journal
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