Hartford Whalers Look For NHL Return

The City of Hartford are set to make an audacious bid to bring the struggling New York Islanders out of their inadequate Brooklyn home and into the State of Connecticut in a move that would see the revival of one of the most famous names in hockey history, that of the Hartford Whalers.
Since the original franchise was re-located to Carolina, fans in the New England State have been clamouring for a return of their hockey team and with recent news that the Islanders are struggling in their current location, now might just be the time to strike.
The Yale Daily News had an interesting take on the current situation:


http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/02/08/138556/

The Whalers were always a team I loved watching when they were last in the NHL, and I was deeply saddened when they re-located South. The Islanders meanwhile are a team I have little time or affection for. I will never be able to forgive them for eliminating the Penguins in 1993 when Scotty Bowman's team were all set for a three-peat until a scrappy Islanders side pulled off the unthinkable. Then there was the down-right disgraceful scenes in 2011 when an Islanders team stacked with a bunch of goons that were called up from their AHL affiliate for the only reason of trying to hurt some of the Penguins star players.

The Islanders spent most of their existence in the Long Island town of Uniondale, playing out of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but relocated to Brooklyn to share the NBA's Nets' home at the Barclay Center. However, that venue has so far proved problematic, with an Arena purposely built to stage Basketball and not hockey. Their current deal with the Barclay Center has an option for a further two years, but it appears the owners are reluctant to commit at a place they are not happy with.
Returning to their old home in Uniondale, is a possibility since that has now been renovated and modernised, and the majority of their fans are based close to that area, however the option of having a fresh start in a new town could appeal to some. Certainly the residents of Hartford would love to get a team back. Despite the Whalers leaving, the City is still considered to be a passionate hockey hot bed, with thousands of fans still following the sport and amazingly the Hartford Whalers Booster Club still exists to this day, the only defunct franchise to do have one.

The Islanders arrived in the NHL in 1972 as an expansion team in a bid to kill off interest from a rival franchise by the WHA. Between 1979-83 The Islanders owned the Stanley Cup as Al Arbour built a successful dynasty which stole the attention from their cross city rivals the Rangers. However, with Wayne Gretzky's powerful Edmonton Oilers side fresh on the scene, the Islanders gradually slipped away as a cup contender, and aside from upsetting the Penguins in 1993 have done very little to impose themselves on the NHL stage since.
During that time they have witnessed both the Rangers and the New Jersey Devils make it to Stanley Cup finals, while the Fish Sticks have stagnated.
Currently the city is home to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and is the affiliate of the New York Rangers, so if the Islanders did re-locate to the city, clearly a lot of changes will have to be made. Maybe now is the best time to re-vitalise the franchise by making the short journey to Hartford.


https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-it-time-to-bring-back-the-hartford-whalers/