There is a move afoot in New England to bring back professional hockey to the Hartford area, a part of the USA that once was the home of the Whalers. Long the thing of die hard fanatics, suddenly the long lost dream doesn't seem quite so far fetched.
The talk has picked up steam in the last few weeks with discussions taking place to determine the fate of the Hartford Civic Centre, a local developer would like to develop land and build a new 16,000 seat arena for the city and with that carrot return NHL hockey to the Connecticutt city.
The Whalers left for Carolina eight years ago, claiming that the fanbase in Hartford was not strong enough to support the NHL. Of course since that time, the fans in Carolina have not exactly been busting the doors down to view the Hurricane, so by comparison Hartford probably is a better long term bet than the southern markets that continue to struggle eight years later.
Hartford is just the latest city to throw its hat into the ring in a bid to bring NHL hockey to town. In the last two months the likes of Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Winnipeg and Hamilton have all expressed a wish to bring the game to their hometown.
Needless to say the flickering light of a return by the NHL has the locals pretty excited about the idea. Many are dusting off their green, blue, silver and white uniforms ready to head out for another Whaling season.
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