Who else loves this channel..

Am a die hard whalers fan.. the fans where not the reason the whalers left.. it was peter karmanos.. he never ever truly planned to keep the team there. He made it almost impossible for us to buy season tickets.. because he took the very favorite 10-20-25 game packages away.. he elminated them.... the fan base is still very strong! Am part of the booster club which still is alive and strong.... we believe one day we will get a team back.. conn is a hockey state! We love our hockey.. we will never ever stop the efforts to get our team back... the governor, the mayor are all behind getting our team back. We just need to get the xl center fixed.. we are... just at a slow rate. Go WHALERS

I've been waiting most anxiously for this video. Only God knows how much I miss the Whalers. They may not have been that good, but they were our team and it still hurts. We got screwed. Thanks for the support mate.

The PNC Arena was not ready until the 99-00 season. During the first 2 years, they played at Greensboro Coliseum, about 90 minutes drive west of Raleigh. Everyone in Greensboro knew their stay there was temporary, hence the low attendance in the first 2 years.

i still dropped a hot dog in 1986 at the civic center that rolled down about 20 steps and a fat guy picked it up looked around to see if anyone was looking and took a big bite; same night they swept quebec in playoffs

Still miss the Whalers

It's a shame the NHL is never going back to Hartford because they deserve to have the Whalers back and because they got screwed by Karmanos.

Yes! This is the video I've been waiting for! I was too young at the time to really understand why my favorite team went away!

The first 2 seasons after the move to NC, the Canes had to play in Greensboro...90 minutes from Raleigh. Just an FYI.

Still a Whalers fan. Would love to see them come Back. My family did the 4 game package for 4 of us. Saw the Howes, Hull, Keon. What a Shame. Still hurts. Bring back Brass Bonanza!

Great content as always man, thanks for the in-depth explanation of why my favorite sweater is in the "vintage" section of the NHL shop

Another great post. As a New Jersey transplant living in Carolina; I adopted the Canes as my home team in 2005. I honestly resent the people who cling to and wear their Whalers sweaters to Hurricanes game. Especially while the team struggles for identity in an extremely diverse city. It's a city of transplants so many of the games have an equal amount of fans in the seats from the opposing teams city. I respect the heritage of Hartford. Loved Francis and Verbeek. But PNC arena needs to be a sea of RED!!! *off soapbox*

Hartford Whalers have a special place in my heart. Francis & Pronger. Northern Ontario REPRESENT

With the right ownership, bringing the Whalers back to Hartford would work out for several reasons. They would start with a fan base already set, it worked in Winnipeg. Today’s NHL has the salary cap and revenue sharing, which weren’t there in the 90s. Also, if it was going to be an expansion team, an expansion draft would have them bringing in quality hockey driving in more fans. Being between Boston and New York sets up natural rivalries that would boost ticket sales. I can go on and on with more reasons why this would work, and the more I think about the more it seems like the best option.

Bring back the Whalers and Nordiques! Teams like those are the NHL as it should be - hockey-loving town with lively, loyal fanbases, not weakly supported, artificial crap like Arizona or Florida. Now that we already got the Jets back and Minnesota now has the Wild after losing the North Stars, let's not give up hope that the Whalers and Nordiques will one day come back, too.

We're dealing with a similar situation in Ottawa with Eugene Cheapnyk.

I'm a Penguins fan.. I truly miss the Whalers and Quebec..

Attendance is steadily rising with the new ownership, so I think the Canes are here to stay. Besides, they're developing a new brand of family-friendly, fun hockey that's growing like crazy in the south.

Move Florida to hardford. Sorry but did you see how empty that building looked tonight .

Carolina played in Greensboro its first couple of seasons which is 60 miles down I-40 many fans were not going to do that for a weekday game, which kept the attendance down until the now PNC Arena was completed ,I do agree PK did not know how to build up interest for the team upon relocation

Oh some other pieces of amazing history of this franchise was during its WHA days. If you recall the Soviet Red Army team was making its tour through the NHL destroying teams in the 70s. That same team played the Whalers in Hartford I believe in 76 or 77 and the Whalers beat them to the amazement of our NHL rivals in NY and Boston. The old Hartford Civic center held about 10,500 fans. The last two years in that arena they sold out almost every game and Gordie and his sons Mark and Marty were on the team. On a snowy night in 1978 the roof collapse destroying the arena. Thank God it was 3am otherwise the carnage would have been staggering. The Whalers had to play in Springfield MA for a few years until the new civic center was built. So Whalers fans made the 90 min trek to every game and sold out the 7000 arena for its last year in the WHA and first year in the NHL. The fan support was incredible. I also recall seeing the Whalers play the Indianapolis Racers the spring of 1978 in Springfield and a 17 year old skinny kid playing one of his first pro games was on the ice. His name was Wayne Gretzky.

I’m from ct and I would love to see the Whalers come back. I think that there should at least be a pre season game in Hartford (probably Rangers vs Bruins), see what the attendance is like. There is going to be a game between former Whalers, like Bob Crawford. A lot of people stopped being hockey fans when the Whalers left. The only major problem is money. Yes we need a new rink but there is a money problem. If the NHL says that they are at least looking into Hartford, some body with money might step up.

I could listen to this dudes voice all day. This is great.

'97-'98 the canes were at Greensboro which was why attendance was lower. Also one day Karmanos in '97 at Hartford held a press conference with revenue stream graphs and charts and explained there is more than attendance revenue, that Hartford's location was squeezed by Rangers just south and Bruins just north for tv contract revenues.

I'm 25 miles south of DC and the Capitals, but for the last two years I've attended games with my son-in-law in Carolina. Even though it's a multi-hour drive, the cost is so much less that it makes it a great value.

You just described WHY I became a Whalers fan in 1997. Needed a team like them where Gordie played for and followed Burke over to Hartford where he made some quick trades and drafted Chris Pronger in the NHL draft. (And yes I traded 1 bad owner for another).

Sounds a lot like Melnyk and the Sens

Brass bonanza! I recently saw the broadcast of the last game there (its on KZfaq) and it’s very sad to see the fans and players reaction. There are horrible owners in every league, buy a team and wrench them out of the city to some place else.

Just watching this. Great video. You really hit on all the points, especially picking up on the Patriots thing which most of CT really thought was happening. Couple of things today. 1. Xl Center is still servicable but they would need a new arena. I would put it out by where UConns football stadium is just outside of Hartford. 2. They should try to piggyback with Uconn and avoid the boston RSN. Instead go with SNY, which has an exclusive CT feed and no winter pro sports. 3. The best example of Whalers mismanagement was the trade tree turning Chris Pronger into Keith Primeau and Kevin Haller. This sums up why they struggled in a nutshell.

Love u HOCKEY GUY! GREAT VIDEO!

Funny do you have all the draft previews because I have from 1987 to 2019 and find it very interesting looking back and remember reading about Bure before he got drafted

Bring back the Whale!

I just found this video. The first two years they had bad attendance in Carolina because they didn't playing in Raleigh, because the arena wasn't finished. Much like in the NFL when the Titans, played in Memphis for a year or two, until Nashville finished their stadium. That wasn't mentioned in the video!

I was born in CT in 89. I went to Culinary school in Vancouver in 07. 99% of the reasons why I fell in love with the Canucks was when the color scheme almost (other than grey) in 07-08 changed to the classic blue green and white. (Even though now I favor the flying V and skate logos) I now live in Massachusetts. I do wish this team was back. I don't see it but I damn well finally dropped $200 to the canes Retro Reverse jersey. I'll always be a die hard 'nucks fan. But, the Whalers Jersey is iconic. Glad you're in BC always have respected your outlook on hockey

If the Whalers ever return they should market themselves as the New England Whalers and play game at Boston Arena and other venues as well as In Hartford to expand their fanbase throughout New England, they did this when they were in the WHA, and I feel if they were to do this now it would significantly expand their fan base and establish an even better rivalry with the Bruins.

Their first couple of years in North Carolina, they were temporarily playing Greensboro (?), until their permanent arena in Raleigh was finished, right?

Thanks for your support and advocacy. Hartford loves hockey!

The first couple of years the team were in Greensboro when they came to Carolina add in the fact a lot of people were not glued in on when games were going to happen because of no advertising was hardly done . once the team had an arena in raleigh then that is when attendance went up big time to the games because it was less of a drive to the games and they started advertising for games . North Carolina is a hockey market because a ton of people from up north have relocated to the triangle and lots of them are fans of their teams like boston , new york , toronto , philly , new jersey , and so on . and their families have kids who are becoming fans of the hurricanes . over generations the fandom for the hurricanes will grow even more because more people are moving to carolina because of jobs or the place itself .

I'm late to the party, but one other reason for the Canes' struggles with drawing fans early was that TV and radio coverage was largely pre-empted by NC State basketball. Basically, unless you had a ticket to the game, you didn't get to watch or listen to the Canes play.

Do the nordique

Funny enough the junior hockey team here in Hampton Roads is named the Whalers. Also there were talks of Karmanos moving the Whalers to Detroit to play at the Palace.

You are so right. I really hope that this happens. I’m from a small town in CT, and all people talk about is the Whalers. That’s the only thing that we are somewhat known for. We have the Patriots but that’s the whole New England. If the Whalers came back to Hartford, I would have the season passes and go to every game. I love hockey, and I really hope they come back. Thanks so much for making this video.

I was a season ticket holder with the Whalers. They had a die hard following and great history with just terrible ownership. There were so many horrible twists of fate and unscrupulous characters that caused their move. When the Whalers were sold to Karmanos, Lowell Weiker was the gov of CT. Karmanos was not the highest bidder for the team. There was another CT based ownership group that promised to keep the team in CT longer and bid higher but somehow Karmanos was awarded the team. After Weiker’s term ended, John Rowland (who ended up going to jail for a crime later in his tenure) became Governor. A year or two later Lowell Weiker mysteriously showed up on the Compuware board which is the company owned by Karamanos! Yes we were literally sold out. Enter Robert Kraft and John Rowland. Kraft had no intention of moving the Patriots to CT but knew if he negotiated with CT he would use that as leverage to get Gillette Stadium. Roland hated hockey and was completely suckered by Kraft. He kept saying that it was fine to let the Whalers go because we’d get the Pats. So we were screwed every which way. People don’t realize that Whaler fans were some of the most passionate in the league and it ripped the heart out of that city and its fans. I saw the support the Whalers received in Hartford and it would be a great market for the NHL but Bettman will never allow it. I still to this day have a big hole in my heart for that team. I remember Gordie Howe walking around the arena after he retired just shaking fans hands and talking to fans. I remember sweeping Quebec in 1986 for our only NHL playoff series win and the OT game 7 loss to Montreal who ended up winning the cup. The crowds during those games were as loud as you’d ever hear in an arena. Good memories. I’ll always bleed green.

Decent job! Thank you.

I'm a big Cannes fan and I love the new owner!

I think the major reason the Whalers left Hartford was Hartford's market size and location. Hartford was one of the smallest markets with a "big four" Pro sports teams. Another primary reason was that Hartford was 100 miles southwest of Boston and 100 miles northeast of New York. Hockey fans in Hartford and points to the north, east, and southeast were likely fans of the Boston Bruins. Hockey fans west, south, and southwest of Hartford were likely fans of one of the New York area's three NHL clubs most likely the New York Rangers. A secondary reason was the University Of Connecticut women's basketball team, which has a huge following in Connecticut.

wish the canes did another Whalers throwback night. I went to see the canes in Boston in the jerseys last March it was an awesome night.

I was so pissed that Hartford moved I stopped watching hockey atleast 15 years. I live in Vegas now so I’m fully back into hockey! I only started watching again because of the Kings around 2011. My first hockey game was the Whalers at the Civic Center in 86. I was a junior Whaler lol.

IIRC it was said that Bruins and Rangers Ownership will prevent any tries to bring a Team back to Hartford.

Not only awesome sweaters but a kick ass horn and song. I’d love to hear Brass Bonanza cranking in XL

The Canes at least kept the horn which is one of the best in the league. They should bring back Brass Bonanza. And don't forget John Forslund.

bring back the Whale! I used to was a season ticket holder (partial)

All you’ve said was absolutely true because I lived it in Hartford (1964-2011.). And to give you an idea, my old man and my friends fathers used to rotate trips from our home in Hartford to Springfield when they were the New England Whalers; long before coming to Hartford not to mention the NHL draft where they raped the Whaler franchise best players in the entry draft! At the end of the day, dual dirtbags, commissioner Gary Bettmen and Karmanos worked together to move the franchise (PERIOD). Nothing was going to keep the Whalers in Hartford, nor will a franchise ever come back to Hartford, because the NHL does not want a city in between New York and Boston siphoning fans and revenue from the Bruins, Rangers and Islanders. End of story. To this day I have not returned to an NHL game nor bought a single licensed trinket, even though I now live in Vegas and the Golden Knights have been incredibly successful. Screw them!

I would LOVE to see the Whalers back in Hartford. And I want to hear "Brass Bonanza" blasting through the speakers every time they score a goal. Wouldn't it be great if Joel Quenneville became their coach?!!! What a great story that would be. By the way, I never thought of the Whalers as perennial doormats. They were at the top of the WHA, winning multiple AVCO Cups as the Boston and New England Whalers, so they had a cup-winning championship history/tradition of their own. We mustn't forget 1985-1986 NHL season when the Whalers came within a cat's whisker of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Montreal Canadiens and the greatest goalie of all time, Patrick Roy in OVERTIME, GAME 7. You don't get any closer to making it to the finals than that! And the fact that the Canadiens went on to win the finals in just 5 games suggests a pretty safe bet that if that overtime game 7 had gone a different way, that the Whalers would have won the Stanley Cup. And it was all because of Patrick Roy, who was in his prime. ONE MEASLY OVERTIME GOAL from the Stanley Cup. The very next season, the Whalers won the Adams Division. So don't be dissin' on the Whalers and calling them a bunch of losers. The Pittsburgh Penguins have the Whalers to thank for former-Whaler acquisitions who contributed to them winning consecutive Stanley Cups.

I’m a Chargers fan. Very familiar. Crappy teams, coaches. Made hard for fans to go to games. The Q looked like a visiting stadium most of the time. He wanted to “turn the page” on SD. I totally can feel Hartford’s pain. I’m a Kings fan but kinda liked the Whalers. #BringBackTheWhale

I remember watching The Whalers’s final game. I thought they left because of “arena problems”, similar to how Seattle lost its NBA team.

this is a bedtime story for hockey fans, and I'm from bristol and would love to see any major league franchise in Hartford

tv markets play a huge role now but i think for how close Connecticut is to New York, i would think the TV deal would be very a lucrative one

Just to help out Karmanos a little but also hurt him at the same time, the first 2 years of Carolina hockey was played at a much smaller venue in Greensboro NC which was only holding 11,000 people on average at the time while the PNC Arena (REX Center or previously know as RBC Center) was being build in Raleigh, very poor planning on his part for sure! I am a die hard Canes fan and I personally would love to see Hartford come back to the league but moving Carolina isn’t the answer. Florida Panthers to either Quebec City and NY Islanders to Hartford or visa versa. I think seeing what I missed on growing up would be an awesome and historical move back to the present day!

I lived in Raleigh when the Canes came in. Even interviewed for an office job (pay was shit). I didn't think they'd last more than 4 years there. Then they actually won a cup. Bravo for the Canes. They are an entertaining team to watch in recent years and are one I root for, but have been a Pens fan since 1991. The fan base there is all about College football/basketball. I'm a little surprised Hockey lasted, though attendance is sub par. Maybe Seattle should be the Whalers. Fitting name and colors, but I'm wondering how they are going to go w/a color scheme with Vancouver so close by? All the Seattle teams have similar colors + the Canucks. The names they floated were all bad. I had a few good ones, but doubt they were considered. The Seattle Wave (where the fan wave gained notoriety....plus near the water/ocean. The Seattle Sound (maybe too much like the Sounders...but double meaning). Snowcaps. I hope they don't chose something stupid like the Totems. These days something more fitting might be the Seattle Junkies or SJW's

They poisoned the well with the fans when they dropped Brass Bonanza as their fight song

0:13 Crazy how much difference a new owner and 3 years makes. Nobody is asking for them to move now.

Uconn's success sank them also. Not picking Yzerman, or Lafontaine, instead of Turgeon also sank them. They would of had at least 1 or 2 cups in the 80's with either of those two guys with Dineen, Ferraro and Francis.

Your about half right about why they left. Yes Karmanos was a huge reason why they left however the root of the problem started before Karmanos even bought the team when in the early 90s the country was in a major recession and Hartfords number one industry was the insurance business which took a massive decline with major layoffs and companies starting to consolidate. The resulting lowered attendance was felt hard because the Whalers primary fan base was inner-city and local surrounding areas.

LONG LIVE THE WHALE TAIL!

Why even quote the attendance for first 2 years? Sure, you mentioned new building construction but did you mention the home games were played 70 miles from new building? 70 miles bro!

Another team i miss-i was a huge Pat Vrbeek fan...

What the best alignment of teams and expansion would be: Atlantic: Sens, Leafs, Hamilton, Habs, Maroons, Nordiques, Bruins, Sabres, Whalers, Wings Metropolitan: Jackets, Flyers, Pens, Rags, Isles, Devils, Caps, Canes, Panthers, Lightning Central: Wild, Hawks, Preds, Blues, Stars, Houston, Knights, Yotes, Kansas City Pacific: Jets, Flames, Oilers, Canucks, Seattle, Portland, Sharks, Ducks, Kings

Hartford Whalers had a lotta losing years but its a hockey town

As a Rangers fan,I miss the whalers myself.The Rangers going to Hartford was almost a home game,for the Rangers,but the whalers were competitive in some years.

The real reason , besides the new arena proposal, was that the economy in CT was down and so was attendance. They needed an average of 13,000 a game to stay afloat and were only averaging 11,500 or so. I' m a Rangers/ Pens guy now. I was a Rangers fan ( never really stopped but the Whalers became #1) before the NHL Whalers and returned when they left. I was born in Pittsburgh but my father left Westinghouse in Pitt when I was 3 and went to Pratt & Whitney.

Their best chance was 86 and the got eliminated in OT in game 7 against the Habs ,who went on to win the cup. It coulda been Hartford's cup .

You also have to look at tv revenues at Raleigh vs. Hartford.

as a life long Pens fan.. i loved the Whale!!! it was so wrong they moved... and aside from any 1 factor.. WINNING is what keeps a franchise.. if you are not an original 6 team.. you just cant lose as much as the whale did and expect to have the building filled.. this was ALL on the owner.. and the management who simply didn't field a winning team.. fans can only pay so much to watch losing hockey.. its a shame the NHL will keep propping up arizona... when Hartford is easily head and shoulders above them as far as love for the sport goes..

I remember they had a bad deal with Sports Channel and the media didn’t help either. UCONN Huskies stole all the sports coverage in the Hartford Courant and radio. The Whalers got no respect . It was frustrating. Most people in CT are either Rangers or Bruins fans. It was hard to find Whaler fans and jokes usually followed. I think they love minor leagues and supporting New York and Boston when it comes to NHL. That final season we had to pool together with other fans to buy complete season ticket packages to support the team, it wasn’t just corporations. It’d be nice to c them return but not sure the people care anymore.

The main thing about that first two years of the Hurricanes was the team played in Greensboro which is a full 2 hours away from Raleigh. Who's going to drive 2 hours to see a team that won't play in your home city for 2 years? And who's going to pay to go to games when the team is moving away from your city in 2 years? It was bad. Raleigh has been a good home to the Hurricanes, a better one than Karmanos deserves. It's going to be good to see things continue going positively as Dundon continues to improve fan experience and the team gets better too.

Geoff Sanderson was a great whaler player

I was there. All true. Agree.

Amen to bringing back the Whalers.... Bring back Quebec while we are at it. Great video

Just watched this video just after watching the one about the Quebec Nordiques... Now, I have a question: from memory, the Winnipeg Jets have the exact same building they had when the left many years ago... They agree that it's "too small", but it's better to have a small building that is full than to have a bigger one empty... hence the fact that even if the Quebec Nordiques would still be in the old Colisé, they would still draw more people than MANY other NHL teams...

Tom dundon won't give up the rights to the whalers name without a fight. It's such a good potential revenue stream for him.

Now that resident of north west CT I fully understand just how badly people of CT got screwed.

Carolina looked good this year.

Move Florida to Hartford? I wouldn’t mind tbh

Dude, you love the Canes!

I would love for the Whalers to come back. Unfortunately I think even though there are many die hard fans it wouldn’t change the fact that the people there are mostly Bruins, Rangers, Islanders fans now. If not the Whalers the NHL should definitely take back the Nordiques.

I was in NC when the Whalers came to Raleigh. I became a Caniac in addition to the Hawks soon after my shock of a hockey team down here wore off. While I indeed bad for the folks in Hartford, the Canes have given us some memorable moments. I’m not familiar with Hartford but the Whale 🐳 colors are the best 👍🏽

To be fair, Carolina didn’t have an area bigger than 10k for the first two years so...

u hit the nail on the head...karmanos was greedy...the other part that makes hartford a great spot for hockey is its in the middle of the east ..they draw in jersey..new york..boston montreal as rivalries..connecticut has spent the money on uconn sports and renovated the civic center and the highway system in hartford is a lot better and easier than it was in whaler days...the governer has a lot to do with this sort of thing too...im not sure why pvt ownership doesnt build a stadium w/o taxpayer money and reap the profits exxcept maybe the massive amount of $$ it takes just to call yourself an nhl franchise...if the nhl really wanted to expand they would have waived some of those costs for teams who already had a stadium and made $$ until a new one was built...i agree with you on all these points and it comes down to greed and corporate and greed are synonmous...it lleaves all the rest of us feeling empty...we need people who actually care for more thatn just money...because the whalers still have a huge following

Great video/ if dundon wants to play the brass and wear throwback jerseys he better do it in Hartford. Similar to Celtics playing games in Hartford in the 80s. I guarantee a sell out if they came up for one game. Obviously won’t ever happen though.

I’m just here as a hurricanes fan

Bring back the Nordiques and the Whalers, then put a new team in Seattle! Its time the NHL acknowledged traditional interest in the game as well as trying to generate new.

I really enjoyed going to whalers games, great food and good fans

I'm from Connecticut and the problem now with ever bringing a team to Hartford is that it's in Boston's market and the Bruins will fight it. Back when the Whalers cam to the NHL the Bruins couldn't fight it though they did make them change their name from New England Whalers (when they were WHA) to Hartford Whalers as the Bruins had the territorial rights. Now it would be different. Boston could fight and prob block Hartford from bringing another team which sucks.

It's not gonna happen. Hartford is bankrupt and isn't going to commit to projects that primarily rely on public money (see the recent Dillon Stadium issue). There's no clear ownership and the return would require territory payments for 4 different teams (NYR, NYI, NJD, BOS). Hartford is like Hamilton, it's fun to go through the hypotheticals but ultimately it just isn't going to happen

I would love to see the Whalers return but that's not a market the NHL is eyeballing. Both Rangers and Bruins can claim market share in Connecticut. If any Eastern team is moving, it's going to Quebec City.

The NHL kind of screwed Hartford over from the beginning. They let the Colorado Rockies relocate to an area that didn't need another franchise. This made the New England area more crowded. (Hell the Devils almost relocated to Nashville around the same time the Whalers moved). Had the Rockies stayed I believe the Whalers could still be in Hartford. Just a thought.

Three Detroiters at this time owned NHL teams. Ilitch of course owned the Wings. Karmanos owned Whalers/Hurricanes and Bill Davidson owned the Lightning. The last two really did not have their hearts in those NHL teams and would have rather had owned the Red Wings. Since they couldn't, they got choice #2 and while both would get their Stanley Cups, there was not that kind of love for those teams from their owners.

This could've been a 10 second long video: "Why did the Whalers leave Hartford? Because Peter Karmanos is a shitbag. The end." Karmanos was the Art Modell of the NHL, and in multiple ways. I live in Raleigh. Raleigh barely knows the Hurricanes exist unless they're winning, and if/when Dundon moves them to Houston? We'll not complain with nearly the same volume, or certainly duration, that Hartford has. I'm all for Hartford going back into the NHL. Hell, they can have the Hurricanes back provided you give Raleigh Major League Baseball in exchange somehow.

arguments about how to get revenue from the arena to the team is what contributed to the Jets leaving Winnipeg too. The team didn't own the arena, moreover they had to pay rent. So no ticket sales, or concessions went to team revenue. Nobody could afford to keep an NHL team without those streams of revenue