The NHL Back in Hartford?

It has been almost 10 years since the Hartford Whalers packed up and left for greener pastures on Tobacco Road. The Whale were reborn as the Carolina Hurricanes. Just last year, they won the Stanley Cup. I was 14 when the Whalers left and, while I didn't have a firm grasp on things then, it was rather easy to discern that it was a huge loss for Hartford. Hartford has suffered from an inferiority complex throughout its entire history. What do you expect from a city placed smack dab in the middle of Boston and New York City, two of the world's biggest cities? Hartford could never compete. There's no baseball team here. The Boston Celtics played a couple of regular season games at the Hartford Civic for a time in the '80s but that stopped when the Fleet Center opened. The New England Patriots used a stadium in Hartford as a bargaining chip to get Gillette Stadium built. My mom still holds a grudge against Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

In the final years of the Whalers, before anyone knew they were actually moving, no one cared. In retrospect, it made financial sense for the Whalers to move. They drew horribly. I'm actually a big Islanders fan (blame a Long Island grandmother for that) and I'd go to the Civic Center every time the Isles were in town. There were plenty of good seats available. The Whalers never sold out. Ever. But when we found out they were leaving, we were upset. How dare they, some cried. A part of Hartford's soul is leaving, the papers read. Let's not forget that this coincided with the early 90's recession that wiped out a huge portion of Hartford's insurance business and downtown Hartford by the end of the millennium was a downtrodden, deserted reminder of how good things were in the 1980's and how bleak things looked now.

For the past decade, there have been more than a few people who have pledged to bring the NHL back to Hartford. For whatever reason, there seems to be more Whalers fans today than there ever was before. I have season tickets to UConn football. There is always at least one guy wearing a Whalers shirt and there is always a chant of "Let's Go Whalers!" I've heard the chants in bars, on the street, in the bathroom of said football games and, obviously, at minor league Hartford Wolfpack games. The Hartford region has made progress in recent years: the new football stadium for UConn in East Hartford, the new convention center downtown and new luxury apartments that shocked many when its development was announced.

But arguably the biggest news to hit the Civic Center and Hartford in 10 years came Wednesday when the Connecticut Development Authority handed over the reins to the Hartford Civic Center to Northland Development Corp. and AEG of Los Angeles. While the deal is only for the partnership to run the Civic Center in its current state until 2013, all Northland boss Lawrence R. Gottesdiener wanted to talk about Wednesday night was the NHL. And why not? AEG runs the Staples Center in Los Angeles and has a stake in the L.A. Kings. Northland has the money, being the company that is developing the aforementioned luxury apartments in Hartford and the city's largest taxpayer, and the drive. But will it actually happen? Will the NHL actually return to Hartford in the near future?

It's not probable. For once, though, it's possible.

The most important aside to the CDA's decision to move the lease to the Civic Center is that it effectively ends the reign of Madison Square Garden over the building. MSG has run the Civic Center for several years and the Rangers' farm club is the Wolfpack that inhabit the building. MSG released a brief statement Wednesday night basically stating they were going to wait and see about the new partnership but the early indication seems to be the Wolfpack are leaving. That wouldn't be good for Hartford in the short-time but might be necessary in the long-term. MSG also runs Rentschler Field, the new digs for UConn football, but I doubt that will be affected by this deal. MSG wanted absolutely no part of another NHL team, in addition to the Islanders and Devils, within a two hour drive. MSG had to be eliminated for this to be a possibility.

There is still one giant, major hurdle for Hartford to clear before it can even begin the process of wooing the NHL to return: a new arena. The Civic Center is a decrepit building that has long outlived its usefulness. This is not the old Boston Garden, a building people wanted to keep around forever because of its history. There's not too much history at the Civic Center, though WrestleMania XI headlined by Lawrence Taylor is a moment I will personally never forget. Seriously, there has just been no reason to replace it, no money, no impetus. Will Hartford and possibly the state government take the gargantuan leap to build a brand-new arena with only mere hopes of landing a pro sports franchise? Kansas City did something similar and they're waiting. Will Hartford do the same?

A key component could be the University of Connecticut. Both the UConn men's and women's basketball team play about 30 total games in the Civic Center each year. No UConn student likes it because Hartford's about 30 minutes away, there are less tickets for students and it's clearly a money grab. Well, would UConn consider moving even more of the basketball games to a new, state-of-the-art arena?

Lastly, the question remains just what NHL team would move to Hartford? I highly doubt Gary Bettman would give Hartford an expansion team when they couldn't even support one a decade ago. This isn't like Cleveland, where the NFL team left because Art Modell was a jerk and support was clearly there. So where's this NHL team coming from? A look at this year's NHL attendance figures provides a couple of possibilities.

-Five of the bottom six in attendance aren't going anywhere: Chicago, Boston, N.Y. Islanders, St. Louis and Washington. Chicago, Boston & St. Louis are good hockey towns not supporting bad teams. The Isles are preparing to build a new arena and Bettman's not losing the Washington, D.C. market for Hartford. The Devils could be on the move but they've never drawn crowds in their history. I just can't imagine the Devils leaving, but I couldn't imagine the Cleveland Browns moving either.

-Pittsburgh was a possibility until that city finally got its act together and decided that having Sidney Crosby in town for the next decade might be good for business. The Canadian teams all have good attendances but who knows if they'd move anyway. It leaves four potential teams to move...

Team, Homes Games, Total Attendance, Avg. Attendance, % Full
Atlanta 37 594,449 16,066 86.6
Florida 36 553,426 15,372 79.9
Nashville 36 544,221 15,117 88.3
Phoenix 35 517,907 14,797 84.6

-Ah yes, the glories of Gary Bettman's Southern manifest destiny that nearly crippled the NHL. Will Bettman admit that Phoenix doesn't need a hockey team? That despite having a Stanley Cup contender, people in Nashville can't be bother to fill the house? That Hartford might have more hockey fans than Miami? Or that Atlanta lost a hockey team in the 70s, maybe bringing one back wasn't the best idea in the world?

As of March 22, 2007, Hartford, these are your candidates. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe Northland/AEG will be tossed onto the trash-heap of failed investors looking to revitalize a long-dormant Hartford sports marker. Or maybe, just maybe, the Florida Panthers will head north to please a Hartford hockey community dying to get back into the game.

I hear Brass Bonaza already!

Sean O