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AB5642 t1_j6dirox wrote

They're gone man. I miss them too, but based on Wolf Pack attendance we don't deserve a NHL team

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RedditZhangHao t1_j6dpr3m wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,582,892)

Some people went to games in good seasons, but the NHL, media, and Madison Avenue know, then and now, most of the state’s strongest hockey towns never really supported the Whalers (Fairfield and New Haven counties), some state corporations in Hartford county which once upon a time supported the Whalers subsequently shrunk in-state operations and/or moved HQs elsewhere, financial obstacles exist to build a competitive 21st century arena let alone even bring the outdated, architecturally-challenged up to snuff, etc.

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bobbidoll666 t1_j6dvnug wrote

We do better with our professional sports teams masquerading as students.

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solomons-marbles t1_j6e3c6e wrote

As someone who was there watching games with less than 1/4 of the HCC occupied, it’s never going to happen. The league doesn’t want a team in small market sandwiched between larger markets. I don’t see them adding more teams in the distant future either. There was a plethora of reasons the Whale left. Attendance & fan support was only one.

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captainXdaithi t1_j6ebqox wrote

Not gonna happen. CT is too small, and the NY Metro area has Rangers, Devils, Islanders, while the Boston side has Bruins.

Also, the rights to the Whalers name and the franchise rights are with Carolina. They moved the team from Hartford and rebranded. Carolina even wears the Whalers gear at special throwback games, and they sell the merch to this day.

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SherrickM t1_j6ed5n9 wrote

Considering who owns the Civic Center, no professional hockey team will ever play there again full time.

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BeachAdjacent t1_j6eekp3 wrote

I feel sorry for that poor dead horse. It just keeps getting beaten and beaten.

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CalligrapherDizzy201 t1_j6eu3d4 wrote

Replying to AB5642 (#1,590,167)

We don’t have a team because the facility they played in was outdated for years before they left and it’s only gotten worse.

If you’re talking about the Wolf Pack, you’re right, I’m not a fan. They aren’t the Whalers. If you’re talking about the Whalers, go fuck yourself.

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Lost_city t1_j6f0z4f wrote

Replying to RedditZhangHao (#1,584,090)

Yes, to me, the answer would be a new team and arena in Stamford (adjacent to the train station). It would be pretty convenient for people from Fairfield, Westchester, and New Haven counties. That’s basically 3 million people. It would also be easy for fans from NY, Boston, and DC to see away games…

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QueenOfQuok t1_j6fak3o wrote

I think the whales would object to that.

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Relevant_Link_ t1_j6falm4 wrote

Just support college hockey in Connecticut! It’s growing and amazing!

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PrpleMnkyDshwsher t1_j6fd0bk wrote

Replying to AB5642 (#1,590,167)

No way in hell am I going to support a minor league team of the fucking New York Rangers.

I guess I'm a non fan too with my Sean Burke and Stu Grimson Jerseys.

I pretty much stopped watching hockey after this...just left a bad taste in my mouth...was at the last game and cried like a baby. I still casually check in on my backup teams (Pens, Sens) to see how they are doing, but as long as Bettman is running things, fuck the NHL.

The fans were not the problem. As I said in other Whalers posts, We threw a goddamn parade when they won the Addams....not a conference...the division. We lost the team because Karmonos couldn't afford his precious Red Wings, Bettman wanted his legacy to be a southern and western expansion of the NHL, and Rowland was too busy being used as a pawn by Bob Kraft to get a better deal in Foxboro to notice.

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SherrickM t1_j6fdvwn wrote

Replying to phantompenis2 (#1,593,670)

Owned by the New York Rangers, and their parent company, MSG Inc owns the building. There will never be ANOTHER pro team there full time is what I should have said.

The area barely supports the minor league hockey team it has. A pro team will not come.

It's hockey. That's the issue. The Yard Goats have no issue packing their stadium and they're objectively not that good.

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MBertolini t1_j6fltxu wrote

The CT Whale plays at the ISCC in Simsbury. They can't legally call themselves the Whalers but wear the same colors and have an extremely similar logo.

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MattinglyDineen t1_j6fnzqz wrote

Replying to MBertolini (#1,595,549)

I work for the Whale. It's a fun time and we play Brass Bonanza after goals! We've got three more home games left in the season (February 18, 19, and 26). Come on out to a game!

Fun fact: Former Hartford Whaler Bryan Marchment's niece, Kennedy Marchment, is on the Whale. She was the PHF MVP last season!

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kjar78 t1_j6fsnt7 wrote

Replying to sporky211 (#1,594,635)

The curtains are deceiving though. The XL Center is a massive arena by minor league standards; it’s the sixth-largest arena by capacity in the AHL, and two of the top five are NHL arenas that AHL teams share. Even with the curtains down, attendance can be in the 6,000-7,000 range, which is great for a minor league team.

Plus, UConn recently opened their new hockey arena in Storrs, which has led to an increase in attendance for Wolf Pack games. Just last night attendance was over 6,700.

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johnsonutah t1_j6ft89c wrote

Fairfield County could support a sports team. Connect it to the Metro North system and it would work out very well. Biggest issue here would be flights in/out for away teams, as they’d have to use a NY airport I’m guessing unless Tweed was workable.

Hartford County could not support a team nor is it viewed well by any league lol.

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ayyyImaos t1_j6fuq36 wrote

Dah dah dah dahnt dahnt dahnt dahnt dah...oh I miss it.

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11BMasshole t1_j6g0p49 wrote

Replying to johnsonutah (#1,597,176)

If marketed well a Hartford area team could draw from the Springfield area. Although I’m pretty sure they tried back then , but the Bruins were very much the preferred team with the Rangers a close 2nd.

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johnsonutah t1_j6g2w2i wrote

Replying to 11BMasshole (#1,598,789)

Doubtful that anyone from MA would pull for a CT team over a Boston team. It would just be out of convenience - being closer to Hartford so they could attend games. And even then, everyone who’s been to hartford knows its infrastructure blows, traffic sucks, and the city isn’t a place you want to be.

Better to set up shop in New Haven or FFC along the train line. You’d get all the Hartford people anyways + the massive quantity of people living in FFC

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JasJoeGo t1_j6g367s wrote

Replying to FlippinWaffles (#1,588,170)

Peter Karamanos wanted the government to build him a stadium where he’d make all the money from concessions, as opposed to the civic center where he just got ticket revenue. I loved the whalers and was devastated when they left but using public money to make a rich man richer is not ideal. So frankly Hartford didn’t fuck it up.

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Lcomotive t1_j6g3b3t wrote

Funny because as much as I’d love an NHL team I enjoy the cheaper tix to enjoy watching UCONN or The Wolfpack. Great hockey can still be enjoyed at a quarter of the price.

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FlippinWaffles t1_j6g499j wrote

Replying to JasJoeGo (#1,599,307)

Oh I was talking about all the wolfpack crap plus the yard goat fumble. Wolfpack gets 0 support from the city as far as I can tell. I never see anything remotely close to hartford supporting them. In fact I remember several years ago when the circus was in town, the pack had made the playoffs and they ended up playing 5 straight away games because Hartford decided that the circus was more important. I just don't see how they even have the wolfpack staying around

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rubyslippers3x t1_j6gkiek wrote

Whales.. ladies pro hockey... plays in Simsbury. You should watch!!!

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The_Book t1_j6gss9s wrote

Replying to hasek3139 (#1,604,276)

Yeah but I don't think it's fair to view it as just Hartford and not CT as a whole. New Haven is like 40ish minutes drive. Why separate the two metro areas? It's really gonna be the CT whalers and that makes sense when you consider other areas that have teams.

Also Cleveland/Cincinnati/Baltimore/Jacksonville/Green Bay/rando Canadian towns/New Jersey! have sports teams lol

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kjar78 t1_j6gv1wd wrote

Replying to hasek3139 (#1,604,365)

Early in the season the Wolf Pack were more in the 2,500-5,000 range. Since UConn left for Storrs, the bump in attendance has been quite noticeable.

Sat January 14: 6,189

Fri Jan 20: 7,032

Sat Jan 21: 4,960

Wed Jan 25: 1,947 (outlier, Wednesday games don’t draw as well as weekends and it was snowing that day)

Sat Jan 28: 6,780

Would love to see the figures for pre- and post-UConn move once the season is over.

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hasek3139 t1_j6hkye6 wrote

Replying to The_Book (#1,604,349)

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.

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hasek3139 t1_j6hlb1r wrote

Replying to kjar78 (#1,604,815)

Well I’m glad they can draw in more, but Instill wish CT people would like hockey as much as they like uconn basketball, which seems to average 10k a game.

Big thing is hockey is not affordable, so a basketball has more of a reach.

I’d be interested to know how the whalers attendance would be if it were in maybe Stamford instead of Hartford

Looking at the 1990s, whalers attendance was abysmal…

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johnsonutah t1_j6imk4b wrote

Replying to The_Book (#1,604,349)

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

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TriBeer t1_j6ipt3r wrote

Replying to captainXdaithi (#1,587,819)

Can’t blame them for the move. Average attendance at Hurricanes games is around 15K people over the past 3 years or so, which seems to be the average for an NHL team (hurriedly checked by picking random NHL teams and Google). Raleigh is also built up better than Hartford to actually get fans to the games as well.

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