Can Hartford Really Make a Power Play and Return to the NHL?

The last time the Hartford Whalers played a home ice hockey game, Puff Daddy topped the charts with "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down," Will Ferrell regularly portrayed U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno on SNL, and Comet Hale-Bopp reached its brightest point as it passed at its closest point to the Sun.

That was 1997, on April 13, to be exact. A month later, the Whalers were off to Raleigh, North Carolina.

And now, 26 years later, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont will be speaking to the National Hockey League about the possibility of relocating the homeless Arizona Coyotes franchise to the Hartford Civic… excuse me… the XL Center.

Is it a longshot? Quite possibly, but who really knows at this point. There are a lot of cities that would love to host a relocated NHL franchise, but Hartford seems to be the only one on the list that used to have a team.

So You're Telling Me There's a Chance. YEAH!

Well, as a lifelong Connecticut resident and a Hartford Whalers fan since the 1979 (don’t mention the name Peter Karmanos Jr. or the Carolina Hurricanes in my presence or I will get angry), I’m not going to say that there’s NOT a chance.

But I am going to say that a lot needs to be done before the NHL commits to moving the Coyotes to Hartford.

I’m also going to add that there are a lot of things that have changed since 1997 that could make or break such a move.

Whalermania is Alive and Well

Despite 26 seasons off the ice, Whalermania is not only alive and well, but the team is even more popular now than it was when it played its games in an arena dubbed “The Mall” (Yes, The Hartford Civic Center was attached to a small urban shopping mall).

To be quite honest, you can’t wear Whalers gear around here without a random stranger bonding with you about the 1985-86 playoff upset over the Quebec Nordiques, the 1986-87 Adams Division championship, or even the hidden “H” inside Peter Good’s iconic Whalers logo.

Speaking of the logo, Whalers merchandise is still among the top sellers in the NHL, and that phenomenon is still hard to explain. The quirky jazz tune “Brass Bonanza” that was known as the Whalers theme song and was played whenever the Whalers lit the lamp has crept into arenas across the country.

If you want to know more about the colorful history of the Hartford Whalers, then I strongly suggest you read “The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England's (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise” by my friend Patrick Pickens (Full disclosure: I traded Pat a bunch of photos that I took in 1994 for use in the book for lunch at the Merritt Canteen, and or schedules will someday sync up for me to order the entire left side of the menu board).

Why Did The Whalers Leave Hartford?

Karmanos. That’s the answer. See? Now I’m angry.

Karmanos decided that if the Whalers were unable to sell at least 11,000 seats for the 1996-97 season, he would likely move the team. But there was a catch: Karmanos eliminated the popular mini packages and made season ticket holders go all-in on 41-game packages. Karmanos felt that this would get corporations and rich folk to buy season tickets and save the Whalers.

Oh, yeah, and at the same time, the average ticket price rose $6.05. Clearly, it wasn’t a great way to do business, but it was a great reason to skip town.

What Was The Average Whalers Fan Like, Grandpa?

Despite Connecticut appearing to be the Grey Poupon capital of the world, the average Whalers fan was not loaded. I’d have to say that Whalers fans were mostly middle-class working folk who were loyal as Hell to the Whalers.

The problem was, there weren’t a lot of Whalers fans out there. And if you lived in Fairfield County, like I did, there was very little opportunity to see them on TV. That was part of the New York market, which already had the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils.

If you were a diehard Whalers fan, a mini season ticket plan was a must.

The problem is there weren’t a lot of Whalers fans out there. Keep in mind that before the Whalers entered the NHL from the defunct World Hockey Association in 1979, Hartford was for the most part Boston Bruins territory.

There would be 12,000 people at the games, but it seemed that only 3,000 fans were there for the Whalers. The rest were fans of out-of-town teams who found tickets easier to find and less-expensive to see a game there than in Boston or New York.

For the final Whalers season, the average ticket price was $41.03 (as mentioned above, that was a $6.05 increase over the prior season). For the 2021-22 season, the Florida Panthers had the LOWEST average non-premium ticket price at $41.79. The league’s average was $82.58, so NHL fans coming to Hartford will see a significant increase from the 90s.

Could This Create a Home-Team Disadvantage?

As MLB’s Oakland A’s talk about relocating to Las Vegas and how their ballpark will be a destination for out-of-town fans, you have to wonder if regular-season history will repeat itself.

But quite frankly, with two American Hockey League teams (including Hartford), four NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey programs (and four NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey programs), and a professional team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League, there is a huge potential fan base that is hungry for an NHL team.

Oh, don’t forget the teams and people who live nearby over the Massachusetts border. Springfield, we see you.

The average ticket price is, obviously, a lot higher than it was in 1997 (as are NHL player salaries). This could be bad news, however, as fans of these teams are accustomed to shelling out a lot less money to see the game they love.

What About Corporate Sponsorship?

Connecticut is an interesting state. It’s home to 15 Fortune 500 companies, but many of them are in the New York City market. However, Hartford is still the insurance capitol of the world (think Aetna, The Hartford, Travelers, etc.). It’s also home to Pratt & Whitney, Stanley Black & Decker, and ESPN, and three major casinos (MGM Springfield, Mohegan Sun, and Foxwoods) are also nearby.

So, yes, in theory, the Whalers should be able to pull in sponsors of all sizes.

Both the Hartford Yard Goats (baseball, Eastern League) and the Hartford Athletic (soccer, USL Championship) have proven that… and by the way, they have also pulled in some pretty decent crowds.

But Isn’t Hartford a Small Market?

Surprisingly, it is not. Hartford-New Haven is the 34th largest designated market area in the United States. Even more surprising, Hartford-New Haven has a larger DMA than NHL cities Las Vegas (40) and Buffalo (54).

And from the “size doesn’t matter” department, Phoenix, which doesn’t seem to want the Arizona Coyotes, ranks 11th. Atlanta, which has lost two NHL teams (the Flames to Calgary and the Thrashers to Winnipeg), ranks 6th.

However, if it is about the size, Houston (7th), Orlando (17th), Sacramento (20th), Charlotte (21st) and Portland (22nd) could be waiting in the wings. ?But how many of those cities would be considered “hockey towns?” That’s a big reason why Phoenix and Atlanta lost out as expansion and/or relocation cities, and the NHL wants to keep the league as stable as it possibly can.

But… But the Wolf Pack Isn't a Big Draw!

Yes, that is true. The Hartford Wolf Pack, the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate, averaged 4,647 fans per game this past regular season. That placed them 23rd in the 32-team league.

While the Wolf Pack has never been as big of a draw as the Whalers, they have played more seasons in the XL Center than their NHL predecessor. The fan base has shown its loyalty to the team over these past 26 seasons (even the years when the teams’ name was switched to Connecticut Whale in an odd attempt to cash in on the Whalers’ name and color scheme).

There’s a trickle-down effect in sports. While fans flock to arenas to see certain teams play, they also go for a family night out. I asked a Wolf Pack fan why they don’t do to see the Danbury Hat Tricks of the Federal Prospects Hockey League play, and they said they weren’t a fan of that “level of hockey.” On the contrary, there are a lot of Hat Tricks fans who support the team because of their community involvement, the family entertainment value, and the camaraderie of the fandom.

At the same time, if the Coyotes were to relocate to Hartford, you’ll see NHL fans come back and Wolf Pack fans trickle up (unless the Wolf Pack can find a way to co-exist in the XL Center with the NHL and UConn men’s and women’s basketball, which have recently threatened to leave the arena despite recently renewing its lease).

And What About the Hartford Ci… the XL Center?

After years of on-again off-again talks about renovating or replacing the XL Center, the Capital Region Development Authority has?a new $107 million renovation plan in place.

When completed, the arena will have an increased amount of premium seating in the arena, and better ADA compliance. In addition, the XL Center will include a sports gambling hall (which is a slippery slope, IMHO).

Of course, Governor Lamont could have a different plan under his sleeve when he meets with NHL officials this week. Maybe there are plans for a new hockey arena that the general public is not privy to. We will have to wait.

And even then, we may never know.

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