New Boneyard Blog Article: The Legacy of the Hartford Whalers

[FDNY99]

http://the-boneyard.com/blog/the-legacy-of-the-hartford-whalers/

 

[Carl Spackler]

Gotta wonder what could have been, had the Whalers ever been able to get past game 7 and the Montreal Canadiens.

 

[freescooter]

Interesting take, but UConn hockey will to me rise or fall on its own, and successfully develop its own fan base or it won't succeed particularly. College hockey is a great game in its own right, just like college football is a great game in its own right. If you go into it looking for the NHL, you'll be disappointed. If you go into it appreciating it for what it is, you'll really enjoy it.

 

[Waquoit]

Gotta wonder what could have been, had the Whalers ever been able to get past game 7 and the Montreal Canadiens.

Could have been the Packers of the NHL.

 

[ZooCougar]

I wish we played Brass Bonanza at the Rent.

 

[Waquoit]

"When the Whalers were to be absorbed into the NHL for the 1979-80 season, the HCC was expanded to 14,460 immediately"

That's not quite the case. The HCC was expanded as a result of the rebuild after the roof collapse. That's why the concourses get so full, they were originally designed for 6,000 fewer people.

 

[Adios]

"When the Whalers were to be absorbed into the NHL for the 1979-80 season, the HCC was expanded to 14,460 immediately"

That's not quite the case. The HCC was expanded as a result of the rebuild after the roof collapse. That's why the concourses get so full, they were originally designed for 6,000 fewer people.

Blizzards aren't so bad, after all.

 

[Goat]

The collapse wasn't after a UMass game. It was 1/18/78 at 4 AM. The night before U Hartford beat Amherst. I was there.

 

[KennyD]

The collapse wasn't after a UMass game. It was 1/18/78 at 4 AM. The night before U Hartford beat Amherst. I was there.

NOT TRUE
I was at the UMASS game
Big Al (forgot last name) had a really good game for UConn

 

[KennyD]

NOT TRUE
I was at the UMASS game
Big Al (forgot last name) had a really good game for UConn

It was Al Lewis - he didn't play much but came off the bench - I think UMass had a pair of really great guards
Early morning after the game the roof collapsed - Next day I went to the top floor of the hotel next door to see the damage - it was quite a site

 

[Waquoit]

NOT TRUE
I was at the UMASS game
Big Al (forgot last name) had a really good game for UConn

Goat must have missed the warning about the brown acid. UHar wasn't even D-1 then.

Al Lewis owned UMass.

 

[Adios]

Edited. I am honored you guys bother to read this stuff. Thank you very much, for the corrections, too. I am trying my best.

 

[TheDoggPound]

In the end it was the NHL that left Hartford, not the other way around. This was a franchise that won ONE playoff series in 18 NHL seasons, ONE division title in 18 seasons and failed to qualify for the playoffs the last five years of its existence with a winning percentage of .345 over that period. Any American market in the league except for the Rangers would begin to grow apathetic in the same situation and we can look at several examples from Boston (05-07), to Pittsburgh (02-04) & even Chicago (00-07). The difference with those markets is they were allowed the opportunity to work through their difficult times and see their way out of them, we were not as lucky.

A team can and will work here again and I'll give a few of my reasons why.

• It's statistically impossible in today's day in age for a team to be as woeful as the Whalers were. (.500 in today's NHL is .560 due to the shootout and extra OT point)
  
• Whalers 2.0 would have an actual presence on television: NESN2, SNY, CSNNE or whoever else.
  
• Salary cap (allows small markets to be competitive with FA's) and revenue sharing now exist.
• Social media to help market the team.
• 500,000 additional Connecticut residents in state since 1997. (200k in Hartford County).
• Growing culture of hockey in the state, just look at the Olympics with Quick, Shattenkirk and Pacioretty representing CT (no players from Massachusetts) & the emerging collegiate hockey programs here.
  
• The Arena at Harbor Yard means the Whalers farm club could (most likely would) be housed in Bridgeport which could in turn help the team tap into Fairfield County, something the original Whalers struggled to do.
• The brand is more popular today than at the time of the teams existence.

With that said I'm eagerly awaiting the inaugural Hockey East season for UConn, it's going to be a fresh start for hockey in Hartford. New league, renovated XL Center and a team people can rally around. Exciting times are defiantly ahead in the short term even without the NHL.

 

[John]

renovated XL Center

Renovated how? Demolished? That's the only way that dump can be saved now.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Renovated how? Demolished? That's the only way that dump can be saved now.

Never said it would be 'saved' just saying it'll be more enjoyable going to events there after renovations versus what we have now. A new arena is obviously more preferable.

 

[TheDoggPound]

And necessary.

 

[ZooCougar]

Hate to say it, but if there is any chance that the Whalers coming back to Hartford would siphon of fans from UConn's major sports then I hope they don't come back.

 

[John]

Hate to say it, but if there is any chance that the Whalers coming back to Hartford would siphon of fans from UConn's major sports then I hope they don't come back.

There'd be several years of very good attendance due to novelty regardless of what's actually on the ice, but I really worry about Year 5+. Also, do people realize how expensive NHL games are these days? People really have that much $$ to pony-up for season tickets? And Corporations aren't buying blocks of tickets and skyboxes like they used to.

 

[Adios]

There'd be several years of very good attendance due to novelty regardless of what's actually on the ice, but I really worry about Year 5+. Also, do people realize how expensive NHL games are these days? People really have that much to pony-up for season tickets? And Corporations aren't buying blocks of tickets and skyboxes like they used to.

You get nosebleed seats in places like Anaheim, Raleigh and Nashville for the price of a college game here.

 

[John]

You get nosebleed seats in places like Anaheim, Raleigh and Nashville for the price of a college game here.

people who want to go the season ticket route are not going to want to be in nosebleeds.......

 

[Adios]

people who want to go the season ticket route are not going to want to be in nosebleeds..

Using Connecticut instead of Hartford as the geographical designation might have more of an appeal to people who live along the Connecticut River, as long as the team is marketed representing the state of CT and those along the Connecticut River.

 

[John]

You get nosebleed seats in places like Anaheim, Raleigh and Nashville for the price of a college game here.

not sure you're right

Go to this link for a game vs. Pittsburgh and the prices for remaining seats are a hell of a lot higher than 25 bucks

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004B07E626BAAF?camefrom=CFC_DUCKS_HCWeb_030714

 

[Adios]

not sure you're right

Go to this link for a game vs. Pittsburgh and the prices for remaining seats are a hell of a lot higher than 25 bucks

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004B07E626BAAF?camefrom=CFC_DUCKS_HCWeb_030714

Pittsburgh Penguins. If it was the Nashville Predators, easy 10 or below. Prices fluctuate for games now, unfortunately.

 

[John]

Pittsburgh Penguins. If it was the Nashville Predators, easy 10 or below. Prices fluctuate for games now, unfortunately.

You're right, but it seems like the cheapies are limited

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004B07E5FDBA7A?camefrom=CFC_DUCKS_HCWeb_040414

 

[Adios]

Compare home and road games. The demand here certainly would make nosebleeds be at least $20 for every game.

http://www.stubhub.com/search/doSea...50&searchMode=event&start=0&rows=50&geo_exp=1