Another reaction to the Carolina Hurricanes wearing the Hartford Whalers jerseys
Find out another take on the Hurricanes reintroducing the Whalers sweaters in 2019
For the first time in what seems like a long one, the Carolina Hurricanes may have actually done something right.
Well, maybe.
The team announced on Thursday that the Hurricanes are scheduled to wear an Adidas Adizero throwback (modernized) Hartford Whalers sweater on two occasions in the 2018-19 NHL season.
Whalers Night is coming to @PNCArena 🔥https://t.co/xTkyL1q22r
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) September 27, 2018
NHL fans across the globe have been waiting 20 years for the Whalers logo and uniforms to make a return at NHL rinks across North America. The Whalers were an NHL team based out of Hartford, CT. From 1979 until the end of the 1997 campaign.
The franchise then relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina where the Hurricanes were officially born for the 1997-98 season.
The Whalers brand has always been marketed by the league and embraced by the fans since the team’s departure for Carolina, though. The classic “W” whale-tail logo with a hidden “H” in the middle of the crest is arguably one of the most iconic hockey logos of all-time.
Honoring our history pic.twitter.com/rPPSuf05me
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) September 27, 2018
Since NHL teams decided to reintroduce vintage-throwback jerseys as either an alternate sweater or special occasion jersey, fans have always wondered whether or not the Hurricanes would don a Whalers jersey in honor of the appreciated franchise.
Yet, there’s a fair argument that Hurricanes ownership and organization never appreciated the franchise’s roots that dates back to the Whalers; and that Carolina solely focused on ditching the Whalers brand and removing the Hurricanes as far as possible from any ties with the team and the city of Hartford.
Technically, skaters such as Gordie Howe, Brandon Shanahan, Bobby Holik, Kevin Dineen, Ron Francis, J.S. Giguere, Sean Burke, Pat Verbeek among others all have a place in Hurricanes’ history – since they all once played for the Whalers at one point during their illustrious NHL careers.
Yet, aside from Francis (Carolina Hurricanes skater from 1998-2004), none of those skaters have been truly recognized by the organization since its departure from Hartford in 1997.
There was always a hope that perhaps the Whalers would make another appearance in the NHL and a comeback similar to that of the Atlanta Thrashers leaving Georgia to transform into the “new” Winnipeg Jets.
Interestingly enough, the Hurricanes decided to bring back the green road sweaters from the Hartford days. In 1992, the Whalers switched up their uniforms’ appearances after the team introduced silver into the color-scheme and converted the green road jersey to navy blue.
The navy blue jerseys are gorgeous to say the least, but it’s a fair argument to say that the green sweaters do justice for the comeback.
While some fans may dislike the idea of a team such as Carolina wearing the Whalers sweaters on occasion next season, primarily because they believe they’re gipping Hartford and for economic reasons, it is nice to see the jerseys being reintroduced and on a part-time basis.
The jerseys are awesome and perhaps the notion to bring them back may inadvertently hurt Carolina.
The jerseys are going to act as a lucrative marketing deal for both the Hurricanes and the NHL. It’s possible that the league may take in to account just how appreciated the Whalers’ brand is and that there is a potential business opportunity for the league again in Hartford.
Only time can tell.
AS of now the NHL is expected to expand to Seattle, WA for the 2020-21 season. The NHL’s last two expansion franchises have designated in the Western Conference, so an Eastern Conference club may be on the clock and in the works.
Kyle McKenna
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