If you want the Hartford Whalers back.

[Doggie Style]

Support Uconn Hockey!!! At least that the message the Governor wants everyone to hear. Just finished watching Face the State with Dennis House and the Governor made mention of the fact that there were two, but are now THREE groups that have approached the State regarding their interest in either buying and moving an NHL team to Hartford or acquiring an expansion team and making CT their home. I see this as a very good thing in many ways for Hartfords economy and future options for Uconn Hockey/Bball. At the end of the day, the XL Center needs to be taken down and rebuilt, we all know this but there is no way the state can justify the cost without having a long term tenant like an NHL franchise. His message is that we need to show the NHL and others that we have an appetite for hockey here in the state and can show this by packing the XL when all the Hockey East "Big Boys" show up starting next season. At the end of the day, who knows how this all plays out, but I enjoy hearing that there is at least conversation in our future and we are potentially not just trapped in this pit of despair !!!!

 

[huskymedic]

 

[The Viking]

Countdown until the haters show up in this thread....

 

[The Viking]

By the way I plan on buying season tix to UConn hockey. Never interested in the rangers - I mean wolf pack - but supporting UConn hockey, absolutely.

 

[Doggie Style]

Countdown until the haters show up in this thread....

Ha! Seriously...... It's funny what sets them off. It's a good thing those same alarmists weren't present at a recent conversation I had with a senior exec from a sports channel regarding conference realignment and our doomed fate! It would be Armageddon on the Board!!!!

 

[SixRings]

I couldn't agree more with Malloy. The only thing he forgot to add is that Bettman's a deuwshce bag. Probably was on his mind though.

 

[Adios]

Couldn't we build this stupid new arena earlier?

 

[Doggie Style]

Couldn't we build this stupid new arena earlier?

Butch I think the Governor has the whole chicken and the egg issue to consider with this mess. Clearly we need a new arena but he can't commit the resources unless we have a full time tenant, and a way to cover himself politically. Either way something's gotta give...... Soon!!

 

[FDNY99]

I will be a Whaler fan till the day I die...probably one of the few that hopes the Hurricanes lose every game they play. While I would rather see the state money invested in facilities on campus for UCONN athletics (something I think is needed to help us move to a P-5 Conference)...it would be nice to see the Whale on the ice again in the NHL. This shouldn't be tied to UCONN in any way though. As for Bettman...unfortunately it will take a lot to get him to agree to a team moving to Hartford. He will be the BIGGEST roadblock in the whole process..he is a Class A at it's best!

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Countdown until the haters show up in this thread....

I'm here.
Actually not really a hater, more indifferent. I'm of the uneducated opinion that we won't see the NHL here any time soon unless the team buses are passing through from NY to Boston or vice versa.

 

[Dooley]

I plan on attending a lot of UCONN hockey games. I wish I could plan on attending lots of Whaler games too.

 

[Adios]

College hockey is addictive. Yale's and QU's rises have filled New Haven's AHL void. UConn can certainly fill Hartford's NHL void better than the Wolf Pack. The AHL is not a bad league, at all, but college hockey is far more enjoyable than the AHL. Even high end high school hockey is more fun.

Said it before, I expect Sacred Heart hockey to develop, as well. I actually imagined a day must come that UConn is in the top tier in hockey. I was asking myself why were we not? We're now there.

 

[SixRings]

College hockey is addictive. Yale's and QU's rises have filled New Haven's AHL void. UConn can certainly fill Hartford's NHL void better than the Wolf Pack. The AHL is not a bad league, at all, but college hockey is far more enjoyable than the AHL. Even high end high school hockey is more fun.

Said it before, I expect Sacred Heart hockey to develop, as well. I actually imagined a day must come that UConn is in the top tier in hockey. I was asking myself why were we not? We're now there.

As a newbie to UConn hockey but was a season ticket holder to the Whalers for many years, this is exciting. I could care less about the Wolf Pack but I would get 100% behind a UConn team playing downtown. Especially if we have great, in-state rivalries and tournaments combined with Hockey East play.

 

[Adios]

I think what the governor is saying is prove there's a widespread hockey fanbase in CT and maybe the NHL will become interested in gouging the fans here as they would in Winnipeg with just 15K seats or in Toronto with a historical franchise that has not won the Cup since before the creation of the Whalers.

The NHL can go F itself. I'll just watch the Stanley Cup Finals. (Unless the Whalers come back...)

 

[Husky25]

Probably won't get season tickets, but I certainly will go to games, especially if the television schedule is spotty.

I work to far from HTFD to make season tickets worth it on their own. Does anyone know if they will attach points to credit for football or basketball? How about 3-5 game packages? Those are considerations too.

 

[TheDoggPound]

I'm all in for UConn Hockey. Season tix for me.

No disrespect to the AHL, it's a fine league having been to my fair share of Wolf Pack & CT Whale games but personally I'll never wrap my head around the idea of a New York farm team in New England. The Sound Tigers work because it's the perfect fit for Bridgeport, it's close to Long Island and the Islanders are more or less a neutral affiliate for the area. Vice versa a Rangers farm team in a market filled with Whalers & Bruins fans makes little sense for the state and city as you alienate much of your potential fanbase off the bat affecting Hartford's bottom-line. Had the Rangers never moved here in the first place (makes me sick they were courted to come here; great leadership!) and stayed in state like they should have, Hartford would have been able to carve out their own identity with another club that didn't merely treat us as another territory to conquer these past 17 years and the fanbase wouldn't be divided as it is.

Scott Gray had a "commentary" yesterday about Malloy being out of touch in believing UConn Hockey is the answer to proving support for hockey in Hartford county: http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2014/02/12/sports-commentary-21214-no-ahl-love-from-the-governor/

The top comments in the comment section sum up my feelings about the situation.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Shameless plug but: https://www.facebook.com/BringBackTheWhalers

https://www.facebook.com/BringBackTheWhalers

 

[Doggie Style]

Shameless plug but: https://www.facebook.com/BringBackTheWhalers

Dude, that's an awesome page!!!!

 

[TheDoggPound]

Dude, that's an awesome page!!!!

Thanks for the compliment! Come join us and talk some hockey!

 

[The Viking]

Not sure if this will work, but Carmen Electra dancing to Brass Bonanza

 

[The Viking]

Megan Fox wearing Whalers gear...