The end of the Whalers in Hartford: Memories of players

A text by Alexandre Gascon

Much more than for their success, rather rare, on the ice, the Whalers will have been famous for having brought back Gordie Howe in the National League, for their period logo which crosses time and still makes the happiness of nostalgic and nostalgicFor the incomparable refrain, the Bonanza brass, which resounded in the amphitheater dilapidated each time they scored a goal.

Arrived in the NHL in 1979 from the World Hockey Association (AMH), they will have experienced a rather brief journey in professional hockey.

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Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull before a Whalers match onMarch 8, 1980

Photo: Associated Press / William Smith

In 18 seasons in the NHL, the Whalers reached the eliminatory series on eight occasions and were able to win a single one, in 1986, a series swept away in three games against the Nordiques de Québec before losing, theCanadian lovers will remember, in seven games in front ofMontreal during the semi-finals of the deceased Division Adams.

Claude Lemieux had completed the Whalers in overtime during the ultimate match thanks to a goal from the reverse, which became famous, successful against goalkeeperMike Liut.

Hartford should never see the second eliminatory round again, while the Canadian continued on the way to the conquest of his 23rd and penultimate Stanley Cup.

Whalers' agony will have been long.The assistance began to collapse in the late 1980s without ever really getting up, if not a junk in the last campaign of the team once the move almost assured.

The amphitheater, adjacent to a shopping center - which earned him the wacky nickname of TheMall - today the XL Center, could accommodate 15,635 spectators, but rather housed in fact of 10,000 to 12,000 during theLast seasons of Whalers in the 1990s.

Figures that resemble the moribund statistics of the Hurricanes de la Caroline in 2016-2017, where the Whalers moved: 30th in the NHL in terms of assistance with an average of 11,778 per game.

Twenty years after the last NHL match in this city, we still remember the Pat Verbeek, Geoff Sanderson, Chris Pronger, Brendan Shanahan, Kevin Dineen and other great players who wore this unique logo, still very popular with lovers ofHockey, imagined by a man named Peter Good.

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Chris Pronger in Whalers uniform on October 6, 1993, against KirkMuller and the Canadian

Photo: Canadian press / Ryan Remiorz

Good also told the local WFFSB-TV channel, an ABC subsidiary in Hartford, in 2014, how he came to draw the legendary W with a whale tail and an integrated H integrated.A tasty anecdote (new window).

Obviously, some irreducibles always believe in the possible return of the NHL to Hartford.The governor of Connecticut, DannelMalloy, and the mayor of Hartford, Luke Bronin, raised their hands to signify their interest in February when the setbacks of the New York Icelanders in their new home in Brooklyn have been spread out in broad daylight.

Mm.Bronin andMalloy sent a co-signed letter to the Icelanders Staff.If the approach does not appear most serious at the moment, it has made it possible that the culture of hockey in the city is not buried.

To relive the last moments of the Connecticut franchise, Radio-Canada Sports asked three former Whalers to dive into their memories.

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Jean-Sébastien Giguère began his NHL career with the Whalers

Photo: Associated Press / Hurricanes de la Caroline

Jean-Sébastien Giguère, the last of theMohicans

The last Whaler disappeared from the NHL when Jean-Sébastien Giguère retired at the end of the 2013-2014 season.

The Quebecer played his first eight games in the League with Hartford in the last season of the team.He collected his first victory there on December 28, 1996, a 3-2 gain against the Ottawa senators.

Jocelyn Lemieux, the peak of her career

Claude Lemieux's brother concluded the best season of his career, or 18 goals, with the Whalers in 1994 after being exchanged from Chicago Blackhawks.

Sean Burke, a unique adventure

The goalkeeper from Windsor, Ontario, obtained 256 departures with the Hartford Whalers, the concession record.He was the team number 1 of the team in the last season in 1996-1997.

In Connecticut, Burke has established himself as a leading goalkeeper.He will know his best moments around the millennium with the Coyotes de Phoenix.


What are your memories of your visit to Hartford?

Jean-Sébastien Giguère: I lived with Jeff O’Neil there.He was a young person from the organization [5th choice of the 1994 draft, editor's note].I'm not sure they would do this today, they would think of their business because Jeff was still quite young, he was 21-22 years old.You put two young people together, it is not necessarily they who will eat the best or who are the most professional, but I really liked.

We stayed in the suburbs of Hartford where there was the practice arena in Avon.It was good, the practice arena was really good, even for the standards of the national league today.It would still work, there was really a beautiful gymnasium.It was something good.You should know that no one lived in town there.The city center is not very very inviting.

I remember, Jeff had lent me his car so that I could walk around.I was stopped with a red light after a match and everyone was missing me, nobody stopped in this light.After that, I asked the guys why nobody stopped and they said to me: "You can't stop in this neighborhood at night, too dangerous".Right next to the arena.It was not ideal.

La fin des Whalers à Hartford : souvenirs de joueurs

Jocelyn Lemieux: At first, it's a bit of a culture shock when you arrive from Chicago [Lemieux had been exchanged during the 1993-1994 season].At the city level, the team, the structure and all that was completely different.

In Chicago, I left the time of (Mike) Keenan, from (Darryl) Sutter where it was excessively intense, structured and demanding.Training and everything we did were super demanding.You arrive in Hartford and it was not the same thing.It was not as disciplined as in Chicago.When the team was sold, Paul Holmgren came out of his general manager office and returned to coach.It changed things a little.

It was perhaps pleasant for young players who could have fun in university places.From my first year, my wife was pregnant.For a couple with young children, it's good.The pace of life is calm, the suburbs are still safe.No one lived in town.But when we have justMont-Laurier, we can adapt to anything.

Sean Burke: I really have good memories.At that time, it was really unique to play Hartford, because it was not a city with other major professional teams.So, you were really the only game in Town, apart from university sport.The team players were really close to each other.We all lived in the same corner [in Avon, in the suburbs, editor's note], that cement the group.It was a good place to raise your children, have a family.So, my memories are really good, except for the move.

The market was too small, among others because of the wages that exploded at that time.Overnight, it was necessary to move to Caroline.

We were playing in a shopping center.But it was still a good rink.It’s not like one of the big recent amphitheatres, it was a little dismal, narrow.The locker rooms were very small.

Today, with a little hindsight, I tell myself that it was really an intimate place where to play.Whalers lovers were passionate.It was almost a cult.Amateurs, even today, want to see a team.

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Sean Burke in front of the Whalers net onMarch 24, 1996, in a match against Washington Capitals

Photo: Reuters / Joe Giza


Was it a good hockey city?

JSG: We didn't have a good team, we were in the last in the league.It was not all the time full, but I felt that there was enthusiasm for the team.There were supporters who knew hockey.There was a lot of atmosphere in the arena.But since we were not very good, with rumors of moving and everything, I think people came less.In general, I felt like it was a good hockey and even sports city.

JL: The biggest shock was to see so many empty seats.When we played against Boston, there were more people from Boston, the same thing against Philadelphia.It was ordinary.The competition in Hartford was the Uconn Huskies (University of Connecticut) which were a force in male and female basketball.

In a university city like Hartford, there were quite a few people in basketball matches than in hockey matches.

SB: I wouldn't say it was a hockey city.It was first and foremost a university city, which was bigger in town (basketball at the University of Connecticut).But because there were no other major professional sports, people supported us.You had a lot of amateurs from the six original teams, many supporters of Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, that's right.But for those who followed us, the Whalers had really become their team.

Hockey has managed to set up its roots, you saw more and more young people playing hockey.When you have a NHL team in your city, young people want to learn.There is proximity to the city, it is a community atmosphere.It is certainly not for everyone, and it is not the size of the current League markets, but it was interesting to play it.

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Glen Wesley in the uniform in Whalers on January 31, 1997 in a match against theMighty Ducks of Anaheim

Photo: Getty Images / Todd Warshaw / Allsport


SENTIEZ-VOUS QUE LE DÉMÉNAGEMENT DE L'ÉQUIPE ÉTAIT IMmINENT?

JSG: There were rumors.It was taking a new arena, that's clear.He was in a kind of shopping center (the Civic Center complex).Everything was in sheet metal, it was not very beautiful.We had to build a new one and there was no money.At that time, in the United States, there was no public money available.It was not a very popular idea.

JL: Not really.But it is certain that the amphitheater was dilapidated.The arena was part of a shopping center in which there was more space to rent than occupied.It couldn't stay like that.

The economy has a lot to see in all of this.It was a city mainly insurance company at the time and you are talking about a university city, it is not necessarily people who have big income to support sporting events.

SB: We were naive, most of us.We told ourselves that no matter where we are moving, it would be a good place.It's been several years that there were rumors, the guys were tanned, they said to themselves that we do it and we don't talk about it anymore.But you also realize that you will leave your friends behind, the community.

I was there five years.I was really attached to the community, to some people.It was confusing because until a few weeks before the end of the season, the rumor sent us to Columbus.Everyone had turned to this city and suddenly we were told that it was Caroline.

But, obviously, it was weird.During that year, that's what everyone had in mind.This is the first thing we discussed when arriving at the arena.Playing hockey became secondary.

Some guys were preparing to say goodbye to their friends, others were feverish at the idea of starting a new chapter in their lives, others thought of being exchanged, etc..

It was difficult to concentrate.


Did you feel like Peter Karmanos wanted to move the club when he bought it in 1994?

JSG: I'm not sure, but honestly, I think he would have stayed.It is more a hockey city than Caroline [Raleigh, Home of the Hurricanes, editor's note].

JL: No, we didn't feel it at all.The first thing he did is to redevelop our cloakroom, more comfortable.They were big changes in terms of development: a new gymnasium, an enlarged wardrobe, renovated.We felt that there was a push to try to develop the hockey market again.I was disappointed a little.At one point, he started to have a lot of rumors and it turned to vinegar.But at the beginning, we had no idea.

SB: I don't know.I couldn't say.We (players) learned about a month before the end of the season.M.Karmanos gathered us all.He got up and told us that it was 95 % sure that we were moving.At that time, he told us about Columbus.The place was not defined, but we were told that the team lived its last moments in Hartford.It was not really ideal.At least we knew it a little in advance.

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Sean Burke en action le 8 mars 1997, contre lesMaple Leafs de Toronto

Photo: Reuters / Andy Clark


Do you believe in a return from NHL to Hartford?

JSG: If there was an infrastructure, it would be feasible [that a team settles there again].Mais il y a plusieurs autres villes qui ont déjà un aréna et tout.For me, they are at the bottom of the list, but it is a team from the northeast American.They have the University of Connecticut, but other than that they do not have a professional team.It’s still a big Hartford region.I am not saying it would be impossible, it is not far from New York.Feasable, but I don't think it's in the interest of the League to go there.

JL: I don't believe it.The state of the connecticut is not so bad when we talk about unemployment, but the city of Hartford, the percentage is very high.Not only do people get out of the city, they go more and more in distant suburbs.This is not a good sign.

If Quebec was not able to have a team still with the super center they built, I cannot believe that Hartford could be a candidate with renovations only.

Il y a des rêveurs, tout comme les gens àMontréal qui voudraient avoir une équipe de baseball, comme les gens à Québec veulent retrouver les Nordiques.You will always have real supporters who will believe it until the end of their existence.Mais si Québec est incertain pour la Ligue nationale de hockey parce qu’ils ne veulent pas ajouter une équipe dans l’Est, et tout ça avec une situation économique plus favorable qu’à Hartford.It is going to be difficult.

SB: The only way that could perhaps become a possibility is with a new arena.And in addition, it would take the support of large companies, sponsors.You must never say never, we saw other small markets succeed too, I would like to believe it.Yes, supporters were passionate, but it takes much more than that.

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A supporter of the Whalers at the Fan Fest Whalers, August 14, 2010

Photo: Associated Press / Hartford Current, Stephen Dunn


SUR LE PLAN SPORTIF, COMmENT ÇA S'EST PASSÉ?

JSG: I was the fourth guardian of the organization. J’étais dans le junior (avec lesMooseheads d’Halifax), mais les Whalers n’étaient pas contents de leur gardien de but dans les mineures, c’étaitManny Legace.They were not satisfied with him.He was not in good physical condition, so they wanted to send him a message.Instead of reminding it, as they knew that their season was nowhere, they reminded me.It was more to send him a message than something else, but it was doing my business.It was a great experience, despite that it was not the eight best games I played in my life.

I was there almost two months.I played just eight games, but I was the second goalkeeper when I was there, Sean Burke was injured. JasonMuzzatti était le numéro 1 pendant ce temps-là.

I got to know Sean Burke.Throughout my career, I met him.He worked with the Phoenix coyotes after.I liked it.I was even a cochamberurous with him and he gave me good advice.

These are good memories.I consider myself lucky to have played in the NHL.When I told young recruits, during my last years in the League, which I had started in Hartford, they all had the same reaction, they all were laughing.

JL: I have experienced good times, I was lucky to play a lot when I arrived. PierreMcGuire m’a utilisé jusqu’à épuisement et quand tu es dans une situation comme à Chicago où mon temps d’utilisation était de plus en plus coupé, eh bien là ça devenait le fun pour moi.

I still enjoyed my experience there.I was even chosen the favorite player for supporters a season. SiMcGuire n’était pas parti, je pense que je serais devenu assistant, peut-être même capitaine.

SB: I was absolutely not a veteran before arriving there, despite my time in New Jersey.The Whalers allowed me to become a guardian established in the National Hockey League.


Were you tanned to hear the theme song of the Whalers, the Brass Bonanza?

JSG: ha ha ha!It's a classic.The guys found it funny.The guys jumped on the ice and it was motivating.I repeat, there was a lot of atmosphere in the arena.

JL: Oh Boy.Precisely, I see Hartford as a franchise that has not evolved, which has remained at the same level too long.The majority of guys who played there long were enough to hear it.Même si les gens qui l’entendaient à l’occasion trouvaient ça intéressant.For the players, we would have liked it that it evolves.

SB: I don't remember being disgusted.I remember that when Brian Burke became the managing director, he wanted to stop this.It didn't happen at all.Supporters have gone crazy and they were forced to bring the song back.It's funny to say, but I understood at that time that it was really part of Hartford's hockey culture.

But I never fired it because it meant that we had just scored.


Your best memory?

JSG: I actually have two, this is the first match I played against Philadelphia, we had lost 3-2.Ma première victoire contre Ottawa, il me semble que c’était à Hartford [victoire de 3-2 à domicile, NDLR].It's a beautiful memory, it's always special when you can have a victory in this league.

JL: The best memory I have is my son who was born while I was there.He's a native of Hartford.

SB: I remember my last game, my daughter was only two and a half years old.She came to the ice, we went around together.We greeted the supporters, I thanked them.It was a great period in my life.I did not always have the chance to play in markets that supported me, who supported the team.Ma famille a beaucoup aimé aussi.

The last game was soft.We had won 2-1 against Tampa Bay and that is really where we realized that we would never play in this arena again, but we were not yet sure of the place where we would move.It was a funny way to finish.

The only thing that was missing was success.I still have good friends there today.We had a lot of good players: Chris Pronger, Geoff Sanderson, Brendan Shanahan.We had a lot of good songs in place, but unfortunately no success.

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Geoff Sanderson dans l'uniforme des Whalers le 31 janvier 1997 dans un match contre lesMighty Ducks d'Anaheim

Photo: Getty Images / Todd Warshaw / Allsport

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