Sports Card Tour 2019 - Hartford

The Whalers are back, and so is Sports Card Tour (for one night anyway)

For the second time this year, the Carolina Hurricanes paid tribute to their Hartford roots by wearing Whalers colors. The Carolhartford Whalercanes lost to Boston 4-3 in overtime, which figures because it was the first time I've wanted the Canes to win...ever. 

Adding injury to insult, Bruins forward - and Civil War General - Marcus Johannson was wounded in battle ..er, injured and hospitalized after a collision with Whalers ..er, Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland.  

Carolina and their awesome new owner Tom Dundon hosted a Whalers night against the B's right before Christmas..but I had Christmas things to worry about and missed it.  

Anyway, I wanted to write a special post to mark the occasion just in case it's the last time an NHL team reps my home state. Sports Card Tour was so much fun, and I wished I could have done a post for Hartford (and Quebec City - haven't forgotten the Nordiques)  but I just couldn't justify it until now. So...

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Welcome to Hartford, capital city of Connecticut and home to two minor league teams - the Wolf Pack and the Yard Goats.

 
The Yard Goats are the double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

This is my only Yard Goats card - a Ryan McMahon relic from 2017 Topps Heritage minor league. I scooped this up for $1 during COMC's Black Friday sale.

Since the Whalers left town, the Civic(now XL) Center has been occupied by the Rangers' top minor league affiliate. I'm not a Rangers fan at all so I haven't followed the Pack, but I did go to one game there - an all-Connecticut match-up against the Beast of New Haven (Carolina's affiliate at the time.) 

The Wolf Pack briefly changed their name and colors to honor the Whalers..but it wasn't the same. 

The Whalers originated as a WHA franchise in 1972 and won the league's first championship. They were the only American-based franchise allowed to merge into the NHL.

Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Dave Keon concluded their Hall of Fame careers in Hartford..

..but the greatest Whaler of all time is undoubtedly Ron Francis. I don't have a rookie card of "Ronnie Franchise" but I do have a second-year card, and a Hockey News issue from that season:

My latest order from 4 Sharp Corners only contains two cards. This is one of them:

That brings me down to just 82 cards needed for the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set. 

This poster was taped to the cement walls of my middle school's basement. I passed it every day on the way to gym/lunch. 

By the time Francis was traded to Pittsburgh I had become a fan. It was a devastating trade, turning the Whalers from average to irrelevant overnight. Hartford lost their first-round series to Montreal in 1992 and never made the playoffs again.

There was always promise that the rebuilding Whalers would turn it around and get back to the dance. Hartford drafted high most years, and ended up with some good young players including Geoff Sanderson, Jeff O'Neill, and Chris Pronger.

In a win-now move meant to make the playoffs and save the fledgling franchise, the Whalers shipped Pronger to St. Louis for Brendan Shanahan.

Shanny wasn't happy about it. He demanded a trade after just 76 games in Hartford. The Whalers shipped him to the Red Wings for Keith Primeau and Paul Coffey (who promptly demanded a trade out of town.) I never forgave BS for that. My wife was a Shana-fan, and as a result I have his Whalers jersey hanging in my closet.

I also never forgave Whalers owner Peter Karmanos who, like Shanahan, crippled my favorite hockey team and, like Shanahan, is in the hockey Hall of Fame. Karmanos fooled us all into thinking that if we just bought enough season tickets, the team would stay in CT. I begged my mom to buy two tickets and do our part to Save The Whale. I was 16.

I have this on a bumper sticker somewhere

My mom didn't have the money for season tickets, and we didn't live close enough to Hartford to drive up there 41 times a year. It wouldn't have mattered. Karmanos - and commissioner Gary Bettman - were hell-bent on leaving Hartford.

The Whalers won their final game 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fittingly, captain Kevin Dineen scored the game-winning goal.

A couple years later (I think it was 1999, but it may have been 2000), my friend and fellow Whalers fan Chris and I had a contest to see who could collect the most Whalers cards by the end of the year. The loser had to buy the winner $20 worth of cards. We ended up tied.

I haven't counted my Whalers cards since, but I have two full albums' worth, plus about fifty inserts and parallels. This Sean Burke mask card from 1995-96 Pinnacle is one of my favorites.

In the two decades since the Whalers left Hartford, there has been occasional talk of bringing an NHL team back, even on a temporary basis. As much as I miss the Whalers I just don't see it happening. Hartford was too small in the 1990s, and its population has declined since. Seattle is a much better fit for a franchise - and if another team ever relocates (something I wouldn't wish on any city or fanbase) it would likely fill a hole left by another dearly departed NHL franchise..

Still, it was nice to see those Whalers jerseys worn by players like Sebastian Aho, Justin Faulk, and Justin Williams. It makes me want to cue up the Brass Bonanza.

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