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Will Hartford get another NHL team?

Rwarky

By Rwarky
in Greater Hartford

Will Hartford get another NHL team?  

51 members have voted

  1. 1. Will Hartford get another NHL team?

    • Yes
      32
    • No
      19

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MadVlad Town

MadVlad

Posted
Posted

Well, the $43 million figure is from a letter to Rowland signed by Peter Karmanos...can't get much more credible in fact. And based on the article, the team demanded those losses be covered. Upon further review, it looks like the state was willing to subsidize about $21 million of the losses...leaving a difference of about $22 million. In my opinion, Rowland should have told Karmanos to take a hike the second he demanded subsidies for operating losses. Even if Karmanos accepted that offer, it would have set an awful precedent. If there is blame to go around on the state side, it should go to Lowell Weicker who played a role in Karmanos and company getting the team. Based on everything I have read, the fate of that franchise was sealed on that June day in 1994. Of course, the market should also be blamed. Had more fans showed up in the early and mid-90s, there wouldn't have been as many sharks (read-potential owners) smelling blood in the water and positioning themselves to buy the franchise and move the team. Bottom line: Peter Karmanos was NOT interested in owning an NHL franchise in the city of Hartford, CT. Given that fact, I can't really blame any state official who came after the franchise was sold in 1994.
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uconn99 Hamlet

uconn99

Posted
Posted

In my opinion, Lowell Weicker is as much to blame as Karmanos. Lowell Weicker gave the team to Karmanos over a higher bid from a local consortium, saying he didn't like their financing. 5 years later, he sat proudly on the Compuware Board of Directors. If that isn't a conflict of interest, I don't know what is. Also, you can't necessarily blame the fans; they had the crappiest team in the NHL to root for for years, with no help from management. One boondoggle after another, AND they still supported the team better than other cities supported their teams. Look at the attendance in Long Island when that "storied" franchise sucked a few years back, it was ALMOST as bad as the Hurricanes attendance, which was pathetic. The fans of North Carolina have no idea the gift they were given, they were bascially handed a winning team, culminating in a Stanley Cup, and it took them way too long to support that team. I'll let the rest of you speculate on reasons for that.
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brick Burg

brick

Posted
Posted

A friend forwarded this to me. sorry if I missed it posted somewhere else here:

FROM THE HARTFORD WHALER BOOSTER CLUB

DATE AND TIME: Saturday, November 11, 2006, 4PM

Rally will conclude at the will of the guests

LOCATION: Joe Black

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drc72 Burg

drc72

Posted
Posted

PURPOSE: The purpose of the Rally is to display our desire to have The National Hockey League back in Hartford.

The Hartford Whalers Booster Club is proud to announce our establishment of the

NHL Season Ticket Deposit Program. All details will be given at the Rally and you will be

able to put your deposit down ($100 per ticket - cash, money order or personal check only,

we do not have the ability to take credit cards) for a season ticket.

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  • 7 months later...
Justadude Burg

Justadude

Posted
Posted
If you look, that also ramped up heavily toward the end of the season when the chances looked good that they'd go far and that they had a really good team. If that team ever played in Hartford you could guarantee 20k per. Karmanos had to go past the second round to make money, doesn't sound like a good financial plan to me...
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uconn99 Hamlet

uconn99

Posted
Posted

Dude, do yourself a favor and don't come in here and tell us what all those Huricanes fans have told us.

Simply put, you obviously don't know the facts. Did you read the artcile above by any chance? Did you see what kind of sweeheart deal the state gave the Whalers and they refused the offer! The Whalers didn't have sold out games nightly simply because the team SUCKED. Show me a team who had as much losing seasons as the Whale and the kind of support the Whale had over the years. The Whalers were Connecticuts team and most people, evan if they weren't hockey fans loved the Whalers. You still hear Whaler chants at concerts to this day! I started a Whalers chant with success at a concert at MSG of all places!

And you want facts? The canes didn't make a profit in North Carolina until they made the finals a few years ago. That is almost 10 years of loses. Also, the Canes with all their recent success should be selling out every game all season long, is that happening? Did anyone fail to mention to you that the attendance numbers are basically made up in the NHL these days, especially for the Canes? The number in the newspaper includes free tickets handed out to people, not people who actually pased through the gates. In Hartford the team was so f*uped they didn't evan count the people in the suites!

As far as corporate support goes, Hartford has a lot more business base than Raleigh. However corportate support only goes so far with a loser once again. Sound like a similar story to fan support? Give the canes 10 more years and see where the corportate support is after the novelty of a new team wears off.

Here are some facts for you below-

- During the 2008 season, Carolina is 20th in the league in average "printed" attendance @ 16,114

- During the 2008 season, Carolina is 20th in the league in % of arena capacity filled @ 85.0%

- The Hurricanes lost $16 million the first year away from Hartford.

- The Hurricanes lost $21 million the second year awat from Hartford.

- The Hurricanes lost $2 million, $5 million, $5 million, $13 million, and $15 million the next 5 years away from Hartford.

- The Hurricanes made 500k the year they won the Stanley Cup.

Year, Attendance, % of Arena capacity

2001- 13,355 71.3%

2002- 15,508 82.8%

2003- 15,682 83.7%

2004- 12,171 65.0%

2005- N/A

2006- 15,596 83.3%

2007- 17,386 92.8% (I wonder why?)

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MadVlad Town

MadVlad

Posted
Posted
It's worth pointing out that the Whalers were last in the league in attendance over the course of their final decade. Raleigh has actually put significantly more butts in the seats than Hartford, and with better corporate support.

Not to kick a city while it's down, but these revisionistic stories about the Whalers being popular are not consistent with the history of the team.

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beerbeer Burg

beerbeer

Posted
Posted

Whalers attendance was made to look artificially low by K. He refused to count the fans who sat in boxes. Only the attendance of fans seated in the bowl were counted as the official attendance.

My Prediction --- The NHL returns to Hartford between 2012 and 2014. And they play in a new arena.

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blackstone Whistle-Stop

blackstone

Posted
Posted

there are only 5 sports that are played with a ball that matter to me. we have 3 of them. games with pucks and cars don't matter much to me. i kind of think that most, way most of the people in metro hartford and the state (and lets face it, we are such a small state that we should not ignore it) don't care about games played without a ball. i feel lucky that we have 3 of those 5 games. i was a season ticket holder for the last few years of the whalers. my kids went to more than half of the games with me. loved the games at the XL center. but having it was one thing. spending my energy to want/get them back, and all that is implied with that, isn't worth it. i know i am in the minority on this site for thinking this way. i am not saying this to hurt anyones feelings. the nhl and whalers did enough of that when they left. there is something about loving and losing something that was really a charity case and then have that thing tell you that you are nothing.......well, it just does not sit well with me. yep, it was and is personal.

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The Voice of Reason Town

The Voice of Reason

Posted
Posted
there are only 5 sports that are played with a ball that matter to me. we have 3 of them. games with pucks and cars don't matter much to me. i kind of think that most, way most of the people in metro hartford and the state (and lets face it, we are such a small state that we should not ignore it) don't care about games played without a ball. i feel lucky that we have 3 of those 5 games. i was a season ticket holder for the last few years of the whalers. my kids went to more than half of the games with me. loved the games at the XL center. but having it was one thing. spending my energy to want/get them back, and all that is implied with that, isn't worth it. i know i am in the minority on this site for thinking this way. i am not saying this to hurt anyones feelings. the nhl and whalers did enough of that when they left. there is something about loving and losing something that was really a charity case and then have that thing tell you that you are nothing.......well, it just does not sit well with me. yep, it was and is personal.
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HartfordTycoon Town

HartfordTycoon

Posted
Posted

I think the Rockcats have done well and are truly a boon for New Britain. I would feel bad for taking that away from them personally, when they still play so close. I think the NBA would be the best choice for Hartford but would love to see the NHL make a return as well.

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blackstone Whistle-Stop

blackstone

Posted
Posted
For my entertainment dollar I would love an NHL team back in Hartford. My wife might not like it however. I grew up an old school hockey fan in the frozen North of Potsdam NY. A town of 10,000 people and 5, yes 5 ice rinks. Back then I was a Rangers fan because cheering for Montreal was just wrong as an American. My #2 team was the Minn. North Stars. Yes, I hated the Whalers, and Islanders and the Habs. I was pretty neutral outside of that. After moving away my passion slowly died down, and I only hated the Islanders (I was living on Long Island) The Rangers won the cup, life was good, and hockey spiraled into some disney version of itself in the 90's. After the strike the teams I knew were no longer the same as payers retired, and left due to free agency over that long break, and I hardly cared anymore. now I barely keep tabs on the rangers, and hold no interest in the wolfpack even though they are convenient cheep and associated with the rangers. I am still a Hockey fan. but dormant. If the NHL came back to Hartford I would walk down the the CC and buy 2 season tickets.

I voted Yes, but agree it would be in the 7 year range and I may not even be in Hartford by then, who knows? right.

I would also like to see MLS in Hartford. The scheduel runs April 7-Nov 18 and that would be a perfect compliment to NHL Sept 16-May 6

Lastly I would like to see the Rockcats move downtown.

call it a 20 year plan

NHL, MLS, and AAA Baseball by 2028

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