Hartford Whalers
| Hartford Whalers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Eastern Conference |
| Division | Central Division |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Home arena | XL Center |
| City | Hartford, Connecticut |
| Colors | Navy, Green, Orange, Silver |
| Owner(s) | Connecticut Media Group |
| General manager | Johana Burke |
| Captain | Cody Taylor |
| Stanley Cups | 0 |
| Avco World Trophy | 0 |
| Conference championships | 0 |
| Presidents' Trophy | 0 |
| Division championships | 0 |
| Official website | (TBA) |
The Hartford Whalers are a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Eastern Conference, and is owned by Connecticut Arts & Entertainment, playing its home games at XL Center.
The Whalers were established as the Virginia Destroyers on 25 June 1997, and began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season. Connecticut Arts & Entertainment then bought the team in May 2023, and revamped the entire team and relocated the franchise to Connecticut prior to the 2023-24 season, making them the first NHL franchise to relocate since the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg during 2011. The team was renamed the Whalers after Connecticut's original WHA-NHL team, which relocated after the 1996–97 season due to financial issues to become the Carolina Hurricanes.
History[edit]
Original Team (1971-1997)[edit]
On 27 December 1971, the Hartford Whalers was granted as one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association (WHA). By 1979, many of the WHA's teams had folded, but the Whalers were absorbed into the NHL along with the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets as part of the WHA–NHL merger. In 1996, team owner Neal Karmanos announced that they would be leaving Hartford after the 1996–97 season, before moving to North Carolina to become the Carolina Hurricanes.
Virginia Tsunamis (1997-2011)[edit]
The city of Richmond was awarded an NHL expansion franchise, named the Virginia Tsunamis on 25 June 1997. It was the first NHL franchise for Virginia. In the 12 years within Virginia, the Tsunamis qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs once, during the 2006–07 season, and (somehow) never won a playoff game. Partially due to their lack of playoff success, the team had difficulty drawing fans to attend their games in their final seasons.
Players[edit]
(TBA)
Trivia[edit]
(TBA)
