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Hartford Whalers: From Heartbeat to Heartbreak

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Karmanos has admitted that if he had waited two years, the Whalers would have exploded in value with their part ownership of what is now NBC Sports Boston as RSNs shifted to basic cable but his dislike of the then Connecticut governor fueled the departure.

The Whalers were seen in the Boston market, along with the rest of New England except southwestern CT, which TV considers New York City.

When they left in 1997 nobody had a clue where they would wind up.
 
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Fenway said:
Karmanos has admitted that if he had waited two years, the Whalers would have exploded in value with their part ownership of what is now NBC Sports Boston as RSNs shifted to basic cable but his dislike of the then Connecticut governor fueled the departure.

The Whalers were seen in the Boston market, along with the rest of New England except southwestern CT, which TV considers New York City.

When they left in 1997 nobody had a clue where they would wind up.
Click to expand...

That governor subsequently had to resign office and then did time.

When released he hosted an afternoon talk show on Connecticut's most powerful radio station.
 
Fenway said:
Karmanos has admitted that if he had waited two years, the Whalers would have exploded in value with their part ownership of what is now NBC Sports Boston as RSNs shifted to basic cable but his dislike of the then Connecticut governor fueled the departure.

The Whalers were seen in the Boston market, along with the rest of New England except southwestern CT, which TV considers New York City.

When they left in 1997 nobody had a clue where they would wind up.
Click to expand...
I honestly hate Governor Convicted Felon as much as I hate Peter The Pig, he is every bit the villain in the Whalers demise. He actually was thrilled and wanted the Whalers to go because he thought he had a deal with Kraft for the Patriots when anyone with an above room temperature IQ knew he was being used by the cheese pimp to get what he wanted from Foxborough.
 
Fenway said:
Karmanos has admitted that if he had waited two years, the Whalers would have exploded in value with their part ownership of what is now NBC Sports Boston as RSNs shifted to basic cable but his dislike of the then Connecticut governor fueled the departure.

The Whalers were seen in the Boston market, along with the rest of New England except southwestern CT, which TV considers New York City.

When they left in 1997 nobody had a clue where they would wind up.
Click to expand...
Could this someday be a feature for a future whalers franchise, negotiating with NESN and MSG for the rights to show Hartford games?

Ive always found the "sandwhiched between NY and Boston markets, so it cant work" argument to be asinine in this day and age when a ducks fan can live in PEI or a Jets fan can live in Finland and reasonably expect to follow the team and watch some games/contribute some revenue. If anything the proximity to NYC is a huge feature, not a bug.
 
sabremike said:
I honestly hate Governor Convicted Felon as much as I hate Peter The Pig, he is every bit the villain in the Whalers demise. He actually was thrilled and wanted the Whalers to go because he thought he had a deal with Kraft for the Patriots when anyone with an above room temperature IQ knew he was being used by the cheese pimp to get what he wanted from Foxborough.
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Karmanos wanted to move the Whalers to Auburn Hills, Michigan and Bettman said NO.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland did broker a new arena for the Whalers but demanded Karmanos eat the losses for 2 years at the Civic Center while the new arena was built.

Nobody knew that UConn college basketball was about to explode in both men's and women's and Karmanos would have controlled the new arena. :banghead:
 
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Fenway said:
Karmanos has admitted that if he had waited two years, the Whalers would have exploded in value with their part ownership of what is now NBC Sports Boston as RSNs shifted to basic cable but his dislike of the then Connecticut governor fueled the departure.

The Whalers were seen in the Boston market, along with the rest of New England except southwestern CT, which TV considers New York City.

When they left in 1997 nobody had a clue where they would wind up.
Click to expand...

While the governer was a effinmoron. Karmanos bought the team to move it. He had no interest in Hartford.
 
I really have no idea why Hartford was ever considered to be an NHL market. It just never fit. There were so many other prospective NHL franchises that should have gotten a chance over Hartford. Even today the population is 120,000.
 
Crosby2010 said:
I really have no idea why Hartford was ever considered to be an NHL market. It just never fit. There were so many other prospective NHL franchises that should have gotten a chance over Hartford. Even today the population is 120,000.
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They were inherited from the WHA merger along with Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg 1.0
 
Crosby2010 said:
Obviously I knew that, I am just wondering why them? It never made sense.
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Well who would you rather? Birmingham?

And my point was they weren't an expansion city, they were an already up and running hockey team complete with name, logos and fanbase. I'm sure a big part of it for the NHL was to get rid of their competition. Hartford was probably one of the more successful teams in the league, as they made it all the way to the end without folding like many others did along the way. I think the Whalers, Oilers and the Jets were the only teams that lasted for the entirety of the WHA's existence if I remember right.
 
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BB79 said:
Well who would you rather? Birmingham?

And my point was they weren't an expansion city, they were an already up and running hockey team complete with name, logos and fanbase. I'm sure a big part of it for the NHL was to get rid of their competition. Hartford was probably one of the more successful teams in the league, as they made it all the way to the end without folding like many others did along the way. I think the Whalers, Oilers and the Jets were the only teams that lasted for the entirety of the WHA's existence if I remember right.
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That probably was the biggest reason, the NHL wanted to eliminate the competition and the Whalers still had Gordie Howe. Jets had Bobby Hull. Oilers had a young Gretzky about to unload on whatever league he was in. Quebec was built for a future rivalry with Montreal. I'm thinking without the Howe factor the Whalers aren't picked. But those 4 teams finished atop the standings in the WHA in its last year. Come to think of it, considering the sun belt teams wouldn't be considered as this is a decade before Gretzky gets traded, there aren't the big city names out there as much as we'd think. Plus Kansas City and Cleveland both lost their franchises recently, Colorado was already in the NHL as the Rockies. Maybe Calgary is a better option at this time than Hartford. Yeah I guess Hartford got into the NHL as a technicality.
 
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