Rangers fan here. If Hartford ever came back to the NHL, they'd be my 2nd team. Especially with those SICK green uniforms they used to have. One of the best jerseys in NHL history! :)
Rangers fan as well. My grandpa was a huge Whalers fan. I'd love to see the Whale come back. I'd follow them as well if they returned. Perhaps one day.
They stopped using brass bonanza for goals in the early 90’s, if not before that. The goal horn and rock and roll part 2 was all I remember as a kid going to games in the 90’s. Brass Bonanza was used whenever the whalers took the ice for warmups and between periods. Side note- still the loudest goal horn I’ve ever heard in my life, and I’ve been to plenty of hockey arenas. I used to be afraid of it as a kid 😂
I was at this game as a 13 year old. My dad and I were season ticket holders, while I’m sad they are gone I have so many childhood memories with my dad going to whaler games. Forever grateful for that, just can’t share that experience with my kids now. Carolina Hurricanes suck!!!!!
I miss the whalers so much. Im now 50. I was 24 when they left. Hockey for me has never been the same. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my channel. All we have are the memories. Let’s go Whalers!
THE NEW COACH OF THE FLORIDA PANTHERS!!! As a diehard panthers fan, I couldnt be happier to have a guy like Dineen for coach. He was a passionate, hardnosed player, great captain for the whalers, great coach in the AHL, and is exactly what we need down here in florida.
I'm a Penguins fan, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the Whalers (as I quite honestly believe EVERY hockey fan, regardless of allegiance, does as well). That "Brass Bonanza" song of yours is quite catchy.
man my first NHL game that i went 2 was against the Hartford Whalers in 93 in Edmonton my dad suprised me @ the age of 7 with tix and man i still remember that night just 2 see the sharp blue n green was amazing even though 2 watch the 1st time 2 watch me beloved oilers was great!!!..... But i will aways be Whaler thats A part of me.The First Experince ever watching a puck dangled around like that was awesome. i wish 2 this day that the Whalers were still round.
One of the best goal horns in the league! I'm glad Carolina kept it. I wish the Whale would come back though, it would be nice to have another local rival for the Rangers.
I had a rough childhood being a hockey fan from connecticut. I have a vague recollection of my dad taking me to a nighthawks game. I was probably only 6 or 7......Then when I was only 11, just getting old enough to enjoy hockey, the Whalers packed up and left. New Haven hockey didnt fare very well in my life time, the Beast (AHL) then the Knights(UHL) both failed after only a few seasons...then I had to witness the Coliseum get imploded. :( maybe the NHL will come back someday. (prob not)
I'm an Islanders fan in Connecticut. I was thinking about this recently: if the franchise was still the Hartford Whalers, they'd probably be my favorite team now, but instead the Carolina Hurricanes are my most hated team. I did get to see the Whalers a few times and loved the uniforms and Brass Bonanza!
@avengemm9dog Brass Bonanza was in fact the original goal song back in the day. I think it was sometime around 1993 that the Whalers got the goal horn and started to play the "Hey Song" after goals. Look at some of my older Whaler goals and you'll see.
I'm not saying Carolina is better than Hartford market wise, but Carolina has been a really good market and is still on the rise. We've won one Cup, have a solid, and still rapidly rising, season ticket base and are really getting a strong foot hold in a place that didn't even know what a puck was 12 years ago.
@EdzieProv Absolutely true. BB WAS the "horn" up until "no more Mr. Nice Guy" whalers that came w/ Karmonos. In fact.. so "keyed up" was the tune, the P.A. guy often would blare the 1st few trumpet blares by mistake on a close call, similar to a goal judge miss-hitting a red light.
I'm so glad I followed the Whalers over to Carolina. Even though many hate what happened, I followed them and am soooo blessed with the 02-06-09 playoffs oh ya...AND THE CUP! Still wear my jersey and have more Whaler crap and any one man should own! I mean what choice did I have when they left? Cheer for the leafs? NEVER! LETS GO WHALERS!!
I'm afraid by the time the Whalers are back in Hartford, I will be at college, and I may not move back to CT, but I will always see Hartford when they are in town to play my future local team, wherever it may be, and you better believe I will be rooting for the Whalers.
Although the Canucks had the blue and green first, when the Whalers joined the NHL in 1979 the Canucks had switched their colors to black, red and yellow. That being said, the Whalers have never switched their colors since their conception in the NHL and if you ask just about any hockey fan born before 1985 whose colors were blue and green, they're going to say the Hartford Whalers.
I am from Montreal and they should bring them back along with the Jets and Nordiques. They are just some markets right who should not have a hockey team. I miss the old adam division when it was Hartford, Boston, Buffalo, Quebec and Montreal because it was great playoff moments
I would love to see the Whalers come back. I live in Michigan, so one would think of me as a Detroit Red Wings fan. Not quite. I am a proud fan of the game itself and I would love to see the Whalers/Bruins rivalry. Moving them out of Connecticut was just wrong, in my opinion. Although there were many other reasons behind it, I'm sure.
I played hockey with Dineen's daughter & got to meet (& even play with Kevin). I shot a puck & almost took out his head :) . Very nice guy & really classy. We in Columbus loved him.
We miss the rivalry we had with Hartford here in Buffalo. It just isn't the same with Carolina. Hartford was a hockey town, Carolina just doesn't get it. Same with Quebec and the Nordiques, those old Adams Division games were wars.
Hockey isn't life here in New York City, but the Rags still receive very good attendance. Of course, the Isles over on Long Island's non-city counties don't have as much support. Very rare is the American city where ice hockey is popular and widely available for playing. There are only two competent, and relatively widely inaccessible rinks in a city that calls itself "the greatest".
the Conneticut Development Authority owns the logo and licensing rights to the Whalers, so if there ever is a team in Hartford (and I hope there is) they could quite possibly be named the Whalers. The CDA recently reached a deal with the NHL and that's why you can no buy official Whalers gear at NHLshop
Enfield CT native, Seattle resident. This breaks my heart but makes me want to fight with the Sonics fans! Get the word out! It's the fans who can make a difference!!!
The current problem in Atlanta is the Ownership group's infighting and micro-managing by the GM. The average attendance is over 10,000 for the past three years, the reason for the lower attendance is that we have too many fans from the NY Metro Area that have moved down here and turn on their teams just like they do up there, another possible problem is the size of the Metro Area andthe lack of mass transit to get from the suburbs to the Arena. But We deserve a team, just as Hartford does!
I know Kevin Dineen only from coaching the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team. He was very handsome when he was younger. Excuse my female chauvinism. I just calls it as I sees it.
Sadly, the Hartford Whalers left because of indifference by most Connecticut sports fans. In Connecticut, the big spectator sports are University of Connecticut men's and woman's basketball. There wasn't enough fan interest to keep the Whalers in Hartford. In fact, minor-league hockey and baseball teams in Connecticut have problems filling up the stands.
FYI, Atlanta is the fifth largest Market in the United States, and not to mention that Calgary stole the Flames from Atlanta. I am a thrasher fan, true blue, but my first NHL Hockey Game was the Montreal Canadiens @ Hartford in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I went on a Booster Club trip from Binghamton, as we were the Whalers AHL Affiliate. Hartford deserves another chance, but if you don't have good ownership and a strong mutual relationship between the team and the Barn, you'll have no chance!
Carolina actually has a really good fan base. Phx is the one that has been bleeding money for years now, Atlanta never supports their teams other than the Braves and sometimes the Falcons and Columbus is an okay market. The Canes have the 4th fastest rising NHL brand name as recorded by Forbes.
The reason Hartford is flying under the radar more than Winnipeg is because several people (Jim Balsillie is the big name) had suggested moving teams (The Predators are mentioned) it already publically.
Just not right....The Whale is yet another franchise that should never have moved. Fans loved the team dearly and the NHL out of sheer greed and stupidity allowed them to move. They along with Winnipeg WILL be back! Bring'Em Back!
@PeteMcC11 I have heard about plans to rename the minor-league Hartford Wolfpack the Hartford (or Connecticut) Whale, but nothing about an eventual NHL return. I could see the Boston Bruins play a couple of "home" games in Hartford each year, but that would be the only way the NHL would return to Connecticut, and I can't even see that realistically happening.
The Lightning deserve to keep their team, their fans actually show for games. If it were me, I'd move the Thrashers over the Bolts. And as much as it pains me to say it, the Islanders may be next on the list of teams that might have to worry too.
You goddamn right! Phoenix can live w/o a hockey team and Nashville has the Titans and Vanderbilt U., but Winnipeg needs their Jets and screw the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets.....bring it back to Hartford where I'm sure hockey was truly appreciated.
I loved the Whalers, but the Hurricanes are doing quite nicely for themselves. Wish they never had to move. I hope they move Atlanta to Hartford and call them the Whalers again.
The whalers averaged at 11000 fans a game during 3 or 4 seasons before their move. I think it was mostly poor attendance that leaded to their demise, but I think they would have also needed a new building, considering Quebec Nordiques averaged at 14500 a game and still moved
Hartford fans would need to support their team more this time though. Back then They drew like 10000 fans a game, while Winnipeg drew 13000 and Quebec 15000. But, if Minnesota fans did with their new team, why wouldn't it work with Hartford? Minnesota Wild sells out every game
I hear after twenty years without a NHL franchise....the Islanders COULD be moving to Hartford. Screw the "Islanders" name....call them the HARTFORD WHALERS!!! :)
@kwalshsoccer also any fans who win sit in below zero weather for 6 hours to watch old timers and an AHL game are more than supportive enough for the NHL.
i know that this video kinda defeats the purpose of this comment because of the packed stadium, but on any normal day, the whalers had average 1/3 of the stadium full. no real support. people obviously liked the whalers, but look at the area they played in. you got the bruins in boston (huge fanbase), and both the islanders and rangers in new york. those teams were their long before the whalers were an NHL team. so when they joined the NHL, everyone was already a fan of another team. (boston/NY
