Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut.
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28 Facts About New England Whalers
3.
In 1997, the New England Whalers franchise relocated to North Carolina, where it became the Carolina Hurricanes.
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4.
New England signed an unusually large number of American players, including Massachusetts natives and former US Olympic hockey team members Larry Pleau, Kevin Ahearn, John Cunniff and Paul Hurley.
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5.
Two other ex-US Olympians on the New England Whalers' roster had spent a significant part of their careers in Boston with Boston College and the Bruins, respectively.
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6.
However, the Garden was owned by the rival NHL Bruins, and the New England Whalers found themselves fourth in priority for dates behind the Bruins, Boston Celtics and even the American Hockey League's Boston Braves.
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7.
New England Whalers recorded losing records in their first two full seasons in Hartford, their final two WHA seasons saw more success.
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8.
The New England Whalers were the only American-based WHA team to join the NHL.
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9.
New England Whalers renamed themselves the Hartford Whalers in May 1979, at the insistence of the Boston Bruins who objected to the team naming themselves for New England.
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10.
New England Whalers were never as successful in the NHL as they had been in the WHA.
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11.
The New England Whalers acquired another NHL legend, Bobby Hull, near the NHL trade deadline in 1980.
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12.
On May 2,1983, the Whalers hired Emile Francis as their new general manager to rebuild the team.
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13.
The New England Whalers went on to eliminate the first-place Quebec Nordiques in a three-game sweep in the first round, winning their first, and only, NHL playoff series in Hartford.
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14.
The New England Whalers started the series strongly, winning the first two games at home, but, beginning in Game 3, the Nordiques were able to successfully take the New England Whalers off their game by playing a tough, chippy style of hockey.
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15.
New England Whalers went on to face the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.
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16.
New England Whalers went to the playoffs for the final time in 1992 behind Jimmy Roberts' coaching, despite winning only 26 games.
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17.
The New England Whalers acquired goaltender Sean Burke in exchange for former first-round draft pick Bobby Holik.
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18.
The New England Whalers were able to draft defenseman Chris Pronger, who began his career with the New England Whalers, playing alongside veteran defenseman Brad McCrimmon, and later became an NHL star.
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19.
The New England Whalers finished the season with 63 points, only a five-point improvement from the previous season.
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20.
One bright spot for the New England Whalers was the emergence of Sean Burke as their franchise and star goaltender.
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21.
On draft day, the New England Whalers selected the highly rated Jeff O'Neill in the first round.
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22.
Unfortunately, the New England Whalers played poorly down the stretch, winning only one game in the last seven and missed the playoffs by four points.
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23.
The New England Whalers won their first four games of the season, but then struggled for the rest of the calendar year of 1995.
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24.
On December 28,1995, the New England Whalers received a morale boost when they reacquired one of their most popular players from the 1980s, Kevin Dineen.
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25.
New England Whalers demanded a trade out of Hartford because he claimed he did not want to play in a small market for a team with an uncertain future about its location.
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26.
However, thanks to an aggressive civic campaign and the efforts of many fans, the New England Whalers announced that they would stay in Connecticut through at least 1997.
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27.
The "Save the Whale" campaign netted season ticket sales totaling 8,563 in less than a 45-day span, despite the New England Whalers raising ticket prices by an average of 20 percent, eliminating partial ticket plans and increasing the deposit amount for season tickets by 750 percent.
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28.
Unlike most sports teams at any level the New England Whalers' had an official theme song entitled "Brass Bonanza", a tune composed and arranged by Jacques Ysaye and originally called "Evening Beat".
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