The Hartford Whalers were a North American professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.. Known as the New England Whalers when they were members of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972–79, the club played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979–97. In 1997, the Whalers franchise was originally moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and subsequently to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1999, where it became the Carolina Hu...
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The Hartford Whalers were a North American professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.. Known as the New England Whalers when they were members of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972–79, the club played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979–97. In 1997, the Whalers franchise was originally moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and subsequently to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1999, where it became the Carolina Hurricanes starting with the 1997–98 NHL season. As of 2009, the Whalers are the most recent NHL team to relocate.
The Whalers franchise was born in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to New England businessmen Howard Baldwin, John Coburn, Godfrey Wood and William E. Barnes, to begin play in Boston. The team began auspiciously, signing former Detroit Red Wing star Tom Webster, hard rock Boston Bruins' defenseman Ted Green (the team's inaugural captain), Toronto Maple Leafs' defensemen Rick Ley, Jim Dorey and Brad...
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