Yeah but all those places also have more space for sporting facilities, and have bigger metros in the area. Hartford is still low on that list of desirables areas to be. Also have you been to hartford? There’s really nothing going on, it always seems empty to me.

All the Canadian cities with NHL teams have much more to offer than hartford.

I started liking/watching hockey in 1996 as a kid, I didn’t even know hartford was a team, flipping channels I always got rangers games. Maybe it’s cause I grew up in southern CT? And my buddy who got me started on hockey kicked the Colorado avalanche as his team, and I think it was their first year being a team, vs hartford who has been in the NHL since 79?

My goal is to travel to every NHL rink to see my favorite team (the red wings) play. I’m at 19/32

I can tell you that each of those 19 cities I’ve been to are way more fun that Hartford, they have a great subway/public transport system/and care more about hockey

CT is more of a basketball state. Outside of the people I play adult league hockey with, no one I know is a hockey fan. College? Barley anyone I knew in 5 years there didn’t really watch. I work at a company with 100+ employees, don’t know everyone personally, but I know I’m the only hockey fan.

New Haven or somewhere in Fairfield County would be a far better and logical choice for a professional sports team than Hartford.

Hartford can barely exist as a city - it’s like 12 sq miles and relies entirely on the state of CT to fund tax revenue to it in order for it to continue existing.

New Haven on the other hand allows for access from central CT and Fairfield County, and it has Union station which could allow for a variety of mass transit to/from events. Alternatively, somewhere along the metro north line in Fairfield County would work.

Tying mass transit to a sports team / stadium is critical in a place like CT, as is locating the team in a city that is solvent / growing