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121-691: Just two seasons later, though, the Hartford Whalers of the NHL announced that they would play in the Greensboro Coliseum for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons as the newly named Carolina Hurricanes , awaiting their permanent home arena's construction in Raleigh. The NHL team purchased the dethroned Monarchs, moving the franchise to New Haven, Connecticut , where the team played as the Beast of New Haven . The market

242-422: A 5–0 loss to BC in the regional final. The 2006 squad was led by seniors such as John Laliberte and captains Brad Zancanaro and David Van der Gulik, and received many contributions from underclassmen such as junior goalie John Curry and sophomore forward Pete MacArthur. The season was also notable for the entrance of six freshmen who would make significant contributions in their inaugural season and ultimately win

363-578: A 5–3 victory. After the 1978 national championship victory over Boston College, BU co-captain Jack O'Callahan was quoted as saying "We shouldn't have to beat BC for the nationals. Hell, we can do that anytime." But every game between the teams is highly anticipated. "You could wake up both teams at three o'clock in the morning and tell 'em we're playing on Spy Pond in Arlington, and they'd be there," BU coach Jack Parker once said. BU and BC have played at least once

484-499: A DUI in Simsbury . The Whalers finished the season with 63 points, only a five-point improvement from the previous season. One bright spot for the Whalers was the emergence of Sean Burke as their franchise and star goaltender. Another highlight of the 1993–94 season was when Brian Propp scored his 1,000th career NHL point with the Whalers. Propp announced his retirement after the season. In

605-510: A banner-raising ceremony to commemorate the previous season's Beanpot, Hockey East and NCAA championship victories. But it was a disappointing year for the Terriers overall. BU lost six of its first eight games, and the team finished with an 18–17–3 record that was not good enough to secure a berth in the NCAA tournament. The season's second half was better than the first, with BU defeating Boston College in

726-529: A goal horn and the song " Hot, Hot, Hot " by Buster Poindexter , then a year later, " Rock and Roll Part 2 " by Gary Glitter . While the goal horn is still used by the Hurricanes today, "Brass Bonanza" was quickly reintroduced after Burke left the team the following year. The song is still very popular with Hartford crowds and continues to occasionally be played at XL Center events, including at Hartford Wolf Pack /Connecticut Whale games from 2011 to 2013 and at

847-586: A home game against the Los Angeles Kings, on January 11, 2020. Its fourth appearance came on January 29, 2022, against the New Jersey Devils. The most recent appearance came on March 26, 2023, in a 4–3 shootout loss to the Bruins. Adidas ' "Reverse Retro" program in 2021 saw the Hurricanes wear silver versions of the classic Whalers uniform, bridging both Whalers eras in the design. In the 2023–24 season,

968-509: A more stable roster than most WHA teams: Ley, Webster, Selwood, Pleau, and Tommy Earl played over 350 games each with the club. The team scored a major coup when it signed legend Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty from the Houston Aeros in 1977. The Whalers recorded losing records in their first two full seasons in Hartford, their final two WHA seasons saw more success. They went to

1089-518: A national title as seniors. Three of these first-year players – Jason Lawrence, Chris Higgins and Brandon Yip – collaborated to set up perhaps BU's biggest goal of 2006, an overtime strike to win the Hockey East championship over Boston College (Yip tipped in the goal off assists from Lawrence and Higgins). After a disappointing 2003–2004 season in which BU lost the Beanpot and finished with a losing record,

1210-672: A nine-game losing streak in January and a six-game losing streak in March. Despite the poor performance down the stretch, the Whalers still had an opportunity to make the playoffs in the final week of the season. However, the Whalers lost two games on the road to Ottawa and the New York Islanders, which eliminated them from the playoffs before their final regular season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning . Owner Peter Karmanos pledged to keep

1331-452: A playoff contender. By the end of January, they had a record of 26–20–1 for 53 points after 47 games. At this time, however, the Whalers began to struggle when they lost their franchise player Ron Francis and star goal scorer Kevin Dineen to injuries. As a result, the Whalers struggled through February, winning just two games in the month and in danger of missing the playoffs for the sixth year in

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1452-604: A regular with the Montreal Canadiens the previous season), Kevin Ahearn , John Cunniff and Paul Hurley . Two other ex-U.S. Olympians on the Whalers' roster ( Timothy Sheehy and Tom Williams ) had spent a significant part of their careers in Boston with Boston College and the Bruins, respectively. The Whalers had the WHA's best regular season record in the 1972–73 season . Webster led

1573-542: A row. In March, Francis and Dineen returned from their injuries and the Whalers put up a record of 12–4–2 in the months of March and April. The Whalers finished fourth in the Adams Division in the 1985–86 regular season, earning themselves a playoff berth for the first time since 1980. The Whalers went on to eliminate the first-place Quebec Nordiques in a three-game sweep in the first round, winning their first, and only, NHL playoff series in Hartford. The Whalers then pushed

1694-509: A score of 2–0 and Game 2 by a score of 5–2, creating the expectation that the Canadiens would sweep the Whalers out of the first round, as they did in the 1989 playoffs. However, the Whalers came back home to win Games 3 and 4 by scores of 5–2 and 3–1, respectively. The main turning point in the series came in the second period of Game 5 — the Whalers had a 3–1 lead midway through the second period, where

1815-402: A score of 2–1 just 24 seconds into overtime on a goal by Yvon Corriveau . The series went back to Montreal for game 7 and the Whalers lost a dramatic double overtime game by a score of 3–2, as Russ Courtnall scored on a turnaround shot against Pietrangelo. Corriveau had an excellent chance for a second consecutive overtime winner in the first overtime period on a breakaway, but his shot missed

1936-603: A senior, Drury has also worn the captain's "C" for both the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. Defenseman Matt Gilroy won BU's second Hobey Baker award after a senior season in which he scored eight goals and posted 29 assists. Gilroy came to BU as a walk-on and became a three-time All-American. After winning the Hobey and national championship, Gilroy signed a two-year contract with the New York Rangers. Forward Jack Eichel won

2057-477: A small market for a team with an uncertain future about its location. Whalers fans and local media condemned Shanahan for his comments and he was immediately stripped of his captaincy; Kevin Dineen took over the role. After the second game of the season, Shanahan was traded (along with Brian Glynn ) to the Detroit Red Wings for Keith Primeau , Paul Coffey and a first-round draft pick. Despite these problems,

2178-405: A unique game played outdoors at Fenway Park, one of nine wins in a span of 12 games. But the Terriers lost to BC in the title game of the Beanpot tournament and to Maine in the semifinals of the Hockey East tournament, putting an end to BU's defense of its national championship. The Terriers ended the season as national champions with a 35–6–4 record, setting a team high for games won. They finished

2299-523: A whole playoff series. The Nordiques won the next four games and thus the series, four games to two. While Hartford would make the playoffs for the next five seasons in a row, they never came close to duplicating their previous success, with one exception in the 1989–90 season . In 1989–90, the Whalers finished seventh overall in the NHL standings and fourth overall in the Wales Conference, with 85 points. This

2420-557: A year since 1946, and at least twice a year since 1949. They usually play two Hockey East regular season games each year, and typically face each other once more in February during the Beanpot, with BU holding a substantial edge in tournament and head-to-head victories. The teams have twice played each other for the Hockey East Championship, in 1986 and 2006, with BU winning both titles. In 2005–06, BU and BC played six games—three in

2541-471: Is named for hockey player and World War I hero Hobey Baker . Forward Chris Drury became BU's first Hobey Baker award winner after a senior campaign in which he scored 28 goals and assisted on 29 more. Drury's 113 career goals are the most in BU history. Drury has gone on to a successful NHL career, which included the 1999 rookie of the year award and a 2001 Stanley Cup championship with Colorado. After captaining BU as

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2662-577: Is played on the first two Mondays of February at the TD Garden. Of the 62 Beanpots played since the 1952–1953 season, Boston University has been victorious on 31 occasions. The Terriers' last win came in 2022 as they defeated Northeastern University 1-0 in the final round. List of Beanpot championships: 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2022 BU's season started off with

2783-429: Is sometimes jokingly referred to as “Beanpot University” because of its success in the annual mid-season hockey tournament called the Beanpot . This highly anticipated single-elimination tournament is contested by Boston University, Northeastern University , Harvard University , and Boston College , with the winner receiving the coveted Beanpot trophy and bragging rights over its Boston rivals. The four-team tournament

2904-648: Is the college ice hockey team that represents Boston University . They played their first game in 1918 and have won five national championships, while making 24 appearances in the Frozen Four . BU has won 12 major conference tournament championships as well as 31 titles in the historic Beanpot tournament featuring the four major Boston collegiate hockey teams. BU played in the Eastern College Athletic Conference ( ECAC ) from 1961 to 1984, winning five tournament championships; and has since competed in

3025-565: The 1993–94 season as members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference, and with high hopes from a core of young talented players. The Whalers were also able to draft defenseman Chris Pronger , who began his career with the Whalers, playing alongside veteran defenseman Brad McCrimmon , and later became an NHL star. However, problems began at the management level when general manager Brian Burke announced he would resign when

3146-536: The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals . Burke hired Paul Holmgren to be the Whalers' new head coach. Holmgren had been the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers . Holmgren immediately named Pat Verbeek the new captain and he ended up playing on a line with young stars Andrew Cassels and Geoff Sanderson . The Whalers also acquired goaltender Sean Burke in exchange for former first-round draft pick Bobby Holik . Cassels, Sanderson and Sean Burke remained star players for

3267-638: The Hampton Roads Rhinos , but the failure of a season-ticket drive in Norfolk, coupled with a lack of an adequate arena, led to those plans being canceled. Karmanos stated that Rowland had no intention of making a serious offer to keep the Whalers in Connecticut since Rowland harbored hopes to bring a National Football League (NFL) franchise to the State. Rowland went on to negotiate a tentative deal that would bring

3388-524: The Hartford Civic Center . The city had hoped to get an American Basketball Association (ABA) team as the main tenant, but when that fell through, city leaders got in touch with the Whalers. Aside from various minor league teams in New Haven , the area had been largely bereft of professional hockey until the Whalers' arrival. The Civic Center was still being finished when the 1974–75 season began, so

3509-636: The Hockey East Association, winning seven tournament titles. Ice hockey is the most popular sport at Boston University and has a large fan base on campus and among BU alumni nationwide. As of September 4, 2024. The Terriers have won five national championships , and are the only eastern team to win back-to-back NCAA titles. They won their first title in 1971 and repeated in 1972, with both titles won under head coach Jack Kelley. BU won their other three titles under head coach Jack Parker, in 1978, 1995, and 2009. In 1972, 1995, and 2009, BU won

3630-600: The New England Patriots to Connecticut, but those talks also fell apart after the state and Patriots ownership failed to reach an agreement on a new stadium, instead choosing to stay in Foxborough to build what would become Gillette Stadium . On April 13, 1997, the Whalers played their last game in Hartford, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2–1. Team captain Kevin Dineen , who had returned to Hartford midway through

3751-536: The Premier Hockey Federation 's  Connecticut Whale , being played after goals scored by the teams. The Victoria Royals of the WHL - Western Hockey League - have used the theme for goals since 2017. The official mascot of the Whalers was named "Pucky The Whale" and most commonly referred to as "Pucky". Depicted as a green whale, it was the team's secondary logo appearing on the shoulders of their jerseys from

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3872-503: The Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of the 2002–03 season after a deadline deal before re-signing with Carolina in the 2003 off-season. Craig Adams was the last player drafted in Whalers' history. However, Adams did not become a member of the team until 2000, after the team had already moved to North Carolina, and he retired in 2015. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere was the final former Hartford Whalers player still playing in

3993-909: The University of Connecticut 's basketball and men's ice hockey games. The song plays whenever a player on the city's minor-league baseball team, the Hartford Yard Goats , hits a home run. It was also previously used by the Whalers' AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Whalers , the Danbury Whalers of the Federal Hockey League (FHL), and Quinnipiac University 's men 's and women 's ice hockey teams. It has also been played at Fenway Park in Boston during Boston Red Sox games in between innings for several years. Rock bands have been known to play

4114-647: The World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979 , and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1997 . Originally based in Boston , they were charter members of the WHA, known as the New England Whalers for all seven seasons. After their second season , the team moved one hundred miles (160 km) southwest to Hartford in April 1974; five years later, the Whalers joined

4235-519: The "triple crown," consisting of the Beanpot, conference tournament and NCAA championships. In 1995 and 2009, the Terriers also won the Hockey East regular season title, giving the team four major trophies in a single season. The Terriers have appeared in the Frozen Four 24 times and were the runners-up on five occasions. BU has made it to the NCAA Tournament an additional ten times without advancing to

4356-601: The 1970s WHA days until the mid 1980s. In the 2010s a new mascot costume version of Pucky was making appearances around Connecticut. The Whalers had a 281–236–38 regular season record, and a 41–33 playoff record in the WHA, along with three division titles and one Avco World Trophy . In the NHL, the team had a 534–709–177 regular season record, and a 18–31 playoff record, along with one division title. Players Builders Note: includes both WHA Whalers and NHL Whalers Boston University Terriers men%27s ice hockey The Boston University Terriers men’s ice hockey team

4477-505: The 1991 Hockey East championship game, in overtime, and Maine returned the favor by soundly beating BU in the HE title game in 1993. In the '93 season, Maine won the national title and lost only one game all year, and it came at the hands of their rivals at BU. Maine had to forfeit most of its wins in the 1994 season because of recruiting violations. BU coach Jack Parker criticized the Maine program, calling

4598-611: The 1995–96 season after being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers , scored the final goal in Whalers history. On May 6, 1997, Karmanos announced the team would move to Raleigh, North Carolina , to become the Carolina Hurricanes , playing its first two seasons in North Carolina at the Greensboro Coliseum while awaiting arena construction in Raleigh, a year earlier than planned. Talks with Nashville , Columbus , and even Suburban Detroit were discussed before bringing

4719-534: The All-America Second Team. Junior Pete MacArthur finished first on the team in all scoring categories with 36 total points off 16 goals and 20 assists. The first full season in Agganis Arena was in many ways a return to glory for the BU hockey program. The Terriers finished 26–10–4, winning the Beanpot, Hockey East regular season title, the Hockey East tournament championship, and a first-round game in

4840-442: The Bruins scored four unanswered goals in the third period, winning the game 6–5. Sidorkiewicz struggled for the rest of the series and Moog was spectacular for the Bruins. Without Liut, the Whalers had to either stick with Sidorkiewicz, which they did, or use the unproven rookie, Kay Whitmore, in goal. Goaltending turned out to be one of the big differences in this series and the Bruins won it in seven games. On March 4, 1991, Francis

4961-497: The Canadiens began rushing the crease and getting in the face of Whalers goaltender Frank Pietrangelo to distract him. The strategy worked, as the Canadiens scored four unanswered goals in the final five minutes of the second period. These goals were not called back, since this was before the time when the NHL began strictly enforcing crease infractions on goals. The Whalers lost Game 5 by a score of 7–4. The Whalers came back to win Game 6 by

Carolina Monarchs - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-743: The Civic Center. They averaged only 13,867 from 1980 to 1997. Most of their sellouts came when either the Bruins, the New York Islanders , or the New York Rangers played in Hartford, bringing thousands of their own fans with them. Upon joining the NHL, the Whalers were placed in the Norris Division of the Wales Conference. Their first NHL season in 1979–80 looked somewhat promising. They were led by Mike Rogers , Blaine Stoughton , Dave Keon , Mark Howe , Rick Ley , NHL legend Gordie Howe and

5203-652: The Connecticut Whale in the middle of the 2010–11 season, adopting the Whalers' old green-blue-white palette. The team changed back to the Hartford Wolf Pack after the Rangers terminated the relationship following the 2012–13 season. Glen Wesley was the last Whaler still active with the Hartford/Carolina franchise, upon his retirement on June 5, 2008, though his stint was not continuous, playing seven games for

5324-688: The ECAC-based Harvard in a nonconference game early in the season. BU, BC, Northeastern and Harvard formerly played their home games in the Boston Arena , the site of the first Beanpot in 1952 and the current home of Northeastern. BU stopped playing home games in Boston Arena when it opened the Walter Brown Arena in 1971. The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It

5445-468: The Frozen Four, in 1984, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, and 2015. Runners-up in 1950, 1967, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2015 BU competed in the ECAC from 1961 to 1984, winning six regular-season titles and five tournament championships. BU has competed in the Hockey East conference since the 1984–85 season, winning nine ten-season titles and eight tournament championships. Boston University

5566-592: The Hartford general manager who had orchestrated the Francis trade, would follow him to Pittsburgh as the Penguins' head coach two years later. The trades that Johnston made, particularly the Ron Francis trade, proved to be disastrous for the Whalers, since the players acquired did not meet the team's expectations, leaving the Whalers depleted of talent and costing them substantial goodwill in Hartford. The links below show all of

5687-613: The Hobey Baker in 2015, after putting a 71-point year in only 40 games, becoming the third BU player to win the award. He edged the two others nominees that year, Zane McIntyre from North Dakota, and Jimmy Vesey from Harvard University. Vesey went on and won it the year after. Following his stellar first year in BU, Eichel went on to be drafted second overall by the Buffalo Sabres, and would sign his entry-level contract after, putting an end to his short NCAA career. Forward Macklin Celebrini won

5808-544: The Hockey East regular season, and once each in the Beanpot, Hockey East tournament, and NCAA tournament. At every game, regular season and playoffs, the spirited student sections – BU's nicknamed the Dog Pound and BC's the Superfans – are seated in proximity to each other and hurl insults and chants back and forth. BU and BC ratcheted up their rivalry on Jan. 8, 2010, when they played each other at Fenway Park in front of 38,000 fans,

5929-526: The Hurricanes announced they would wear green Hartford Whalers throwback uniforms during two games against the Boston Bruins , first on December 23, 2018, at home and again on March 5, 2019, in Boston. The announcement was generally viewed as positive recognition of the roots of the Hurricane franchise, although not all former Whalers' fans approved of the use. The Hurricanes again wore the Whalers uniforms for

6050-454: The Hurricanes wore a white version of the Whalers uniform against the Devils, and donned Cooperalls in pregame warmups. Unlike most sports teams at any level the Whalers' had an official theme song. The song was entitled "Brass Bonanza", and was a tune composed and arranged by Jacques Ysaye (under the pseudonym of Jack Say), originally called "Evening Beat". The song was a big hit with the team, Whalers fans, and even fans of other NHL teams and

6171-533: The NCAA tournament as the 2nd seed in the Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, MI) and 9th seed overall. BU met 10th overall seed Michigan State University in the first round and lost 5–1. Michigan State eventually went on to win the national championship. Highlights from the season include multiple awards by senior goaltender John Curry , including Hockey East Player of the Year, All-America First Team, national leader in shutouts, and Hobey Baker Award finalist. Senior Sean Sullivan and sophomore Matt Gilroy were named to

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6292-410: The NCAA tournament. BU won hard-fought games against rival Boston College in the Beanpot and Hockey East title game, ultimately winning 18 of their final 21 games heading into the NCAA tournament (with one loss and two ties). The regular season title was BU's first since 2000 and the HE tournament title was its first since 1997. BU defeated Nebraska-Omaha 9–2 in the first round of the NCAAs, but suffered

6413-932: The NHL in the 1979 NHL–WHA merger and were renamed the "Hartford Whalers". After 25 years in New England , the franchise relocated to North Carolina in 1997 and became the Carolina Hurricanes . The Whalers franchise was created in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association (WHA) awarded a franchise to New England businessmen Howard Baldwin , W. Godfrey Wood , John Coburn and William Edward Barnes to begin play in Boston. The team began auspiciously, signing former Detroit Red Wings 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 Selwood , and former Pittsburgh Penguins ' goaltender Al Smith . New England signed an unusually large number of American players, including Massachusetts natives and former U.S. Olympic hockey team members Larry Pleau (who had been

6534-421: The NHL. The New England Whalers renamed themselves the Hartford Whalers in May 1979, at the insistence of the Boston Bruins who objected to the team naming themselves for New England. Connecticut-based graphic designer Peter Good (1942–2023) was hired by the Jack Lardis Associates advertising agency to design a new logo for the team. Good put a whale's tail over a "W", allowing the negative space between

6655-410: The NHL; he retired after the end of the 2013–14 season . Robert Petrovicky was the last former Whaler active in professional hockey, playing in European leagues through the end of the 2015–16 season. As the New England Whalers, the team generally wore dark green and white uniforms with a similar style to the iconic Detroit Red Wings uniforms. The uniforms feature the team roundel in front and

6776-438: The New England Whalers players who stayed on the team as it made the transition to the NHL and became the Hartford Whalers. (In the case of the Howes, Detroit intentionally turned down their option to re-sign longtime Red Wing Gordie, out of respect for his legacy already in place there.) Only Selwood, George Lyle and Warren Miller were reclaimed by their former NHL teams. The Whalers were the only American-based WHA team to join

6897-416: The Pucky logo on either shoulder. In 1974, the white uniform added yellow trim and replaced the roundel logo with the "harpoon W" logo, and the following year, the green uniform adopted the same elements. In 1977, the striping on the waist and socks was modified. After becoming the Hartford Whalers, the team adopted its most iconic uniform design: green and white uniforms with blue, white and green stripes and

7018-467: The Terriers taking the '72 title with a 4–0 win. Between the years 1967 and 1977, Boston University and Cornell won the ECAC crown five times each. The schools renewed the rivalry over Thanksgiving weekend of 2007, with a sold out game dubbed "Red Hot Hockey" at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. After scoring three goals in the first several minutes of play, BU went on to win 6–3. Red Hot Hockey returned to Madison Square Garden on November 28, 2009, with

7139-407: The Terriers were able to turn it around with a 23–14–4 record and an appearance in the 2005 NCAA tournament. BU won the Beanpot over Northeastern with an overtime goal by freshman Chris Bourque, son of Boston Bruins defensemen and Hockey Hall of Famer Ray Bourque. BU opened the new Harry Agganis Arena midway through the season, with a Jan. 3, 2005 victory over Minnesota, which was ranked number one in

7260-448: The Whalers announced that they would stay in Connecticut through at least 1997, one year shy of his original promise. The "Save the Whale" campaign netted season ticket sales totaling 8,563 in less than a 45-day span, despite the Whalers raising ticket prices by an average of 20 percent, eliminating partial ticket plans and increasing the deposit amount for season tickets by 750 percent. This represented an expansion of over 3,500 tickets from

7381-403: The Whalers found themselves fourth in priority for dates behind the Bruins, Boston Celtics , and even the American Hockey League 's Boston Braves . Fed up with the situation, Baldwin decided to move elsewhere. In late February 1974, he announced the Whalers' upcoming relocation to Hartford, targeted for early April. Hartford was about to open a new, modern downtown arena and convention center,

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7502-443: The Whalers got off to a very good start, with a 14–7–6 record after the first 27 games, sitting in first in their division. They were led by a strong first line of Sanderson, Cassels and Dineen along with a solid second line of Primeau, O'Neill and Sami Kapanen . During the calendar year of 1996, the Whalers achieved a record of 41–30–10 in 81 games. In 1997, following the good start, the Whalers' season began to slip away. This included

7623-407: The Whalers had actually come out on the better end of the trade. Parker would only play four games in Hartford before suffering a concussion and a knee injury within two weeks of each other, effectively ending his NHL career. The Francis trade was made all the more painful when Francis and Samuelsson promptly helped lead the Penguins to two consecutive Stanley Cup titles. Coincidentally, Eddie Johnston,

7744-535: The Whalers had many aging veterans left over from their WHA days. To make matters worse, the Whalers reputation of making disastrous trades began to unfold, as the team began to trade away stars for mediocre players in an attempt to gain depth. For instance, they traded star defenseman Mark Howe and their first NHL scoring leader, Mike Rogers, in separate deals for players and draft picks which never panned out, and also swapped defensive-defenseman Gordie Roberts , who would go on to play 15 remaining professional seasons, for

7865-428: The Whalers in the city of Hartford for four years when he purchased the team in 1994. However, two years later, frustrated with lackluster attendance and little corporate support, he announced that if the Whalers were unable to sell at least 11,000 season tickets for the 1996–97 season , he would likely move the team. Furthermore, ownership only made season tickets available in full-season (41 games) packages, eliminating

7986-436: The Whalers played the first part of the season at The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield , Massachusetts, about thirty miles (50 km) north. On January 11, 1975 , the team played its first game at the Hartford Civic Center in front of a sellout crowd. The franchise remained in Hartford until it relocated to North Carolina for the 1997–98 season , save for a temporary relocation to the nearby Springfield Civic Center in

8107-404: The Whalers through their final season in Hartford. In addition, future NHL star Michael Nylander began his NHL career with the Whalers during the 1992–93 season . Since the 1992–93 season was a rebuilding year for the Whalers, they finished the season with only 58 points, the second-worst point total in franchise history, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1985. The Whalers entered

8228-417: The Whalers to North Carolina. The following summer in 1997, the Binghamton Rangers , the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the New York Rangers , relocated to the Hartford market to take the place of the Whalers, renaming themselves the Hartford Wolf Pack . Former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin acquired the right to manage the team in 2010 and announced that the Wolf Pack were changing their name to

8349-534: The Whalers, however, since McGuire was not popular with the players; the Whalers continued to struggle. The Whalers reached a low point in the season when six players and two assistant coaches were arrested in Buffalo, New York , after being involved in a bar room brawl. Pronger was one of the players arrested; he was 19 years of age at the time, two years below than the legal drinking age in the State of New York. Around this same time, Paul Holmgren checked himself into rehab for alcohol addiction after being arrested with

8470-441: The all-time WHA leading scorer, Andre Lacroix , along with the franchise's first starting goaltender, Al Smith . The Whalers also acquired another NHL legend, Bobby Hull , near the NHL trade deadline in 1980. They finished the season with 73 points and a playoff berth and had the best record of the four former WHA franchises that entered the NHL in 1979–80. The Whalers remained the most recent first-year expansion franchise to make

8591-417: The biggest crowd to ever watch the teams play. BU won the game, 3–2. Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin went so far as to call BU-BC the biggest rivalry in all of sports. Despite substantial bitterness between the fan bases of the two schools, the hockey teams and coaches generally agree that the magnitude of the rivalry has benefited both hockey programs. "The best thing that ever happened to BU hockey

8712-598: The country at the time. Agganis Arena replaced Walter Brown Arena, which had been BU's home ice since 1971. The' Miracle on Ice ' team that defeated the Soviet Union and won the gold medal during the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, featured four Boston University players including Olympic team captain Mike Eruzione. Along with Dave Silk, Jack O'Callahan, and goalie Jim Craig, these Terriers played key roles and were

8833-479: The division finals to seven games, losing the final game 2–1 in overtime to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens . The following season, 1986–87, the Whalers won their lone division championship, led by centers Ron Francis and Ray Ferraro , emerging winger Kevin Dineen, defenseman Ulf Samuelsson , superstar goaltender Mike Liut and scorer Sylvain Turgeon . The 93 points earned that season were

8954-569: The end of the season, BU continued their surge for the NCAA tournament by earning home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals and knocking off the University of Vermont two games to one. BU advanced to the Hockey East semifinals at the TD Banknorth Garden but suffered a devastating 6–2 loss to Boston College, the eventual tournament champions and national runners-up. Boston University was then placed in

9075-399: The existing base. In early 1997, Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland stated that he did not want to spend Connecticut taxpayer dollars to fund a new arena in Hartford. Despite this, negotiations between the Whalers and Rowland to build a new $ 147.5 million arena seemed to be going well. Talks fell apart when Karmanos wanted an additional $ 45 million to cover losses during the three years

9196-466: The finals again in 1978 , with a veteran team spearheaded by the Howes—50-year-old Gordie led the team in scoring—future NHL stars Gordie Roberts and Mike Rogers , All-Star defenseman Ron Plumb , and forwards John McKenzie , Dave Keon and Mike Antonovich , and possessed the league's best defense. The next season was not so fine, however, but while age finally caught up with Gordie Howe,

9317-518: The first in a series of destructive trades by sending franchise goaltender Mike Liut to the Washington Capitals in exchange for center Yvon Corriveau . Liut was having a career year during the 1989–90 season and this trade left the Whalers with sophomore goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz as their starter, with rookie Kay Whitmore as the backup. The Whalers went on to face the Boston Bruins in

9438-403: The first round of the playoffs. In Game 4, the Whalers were in front of their home crowd with a two games to one series lead and a 5–2 lead in the game entering the third period. Bruins starting goaltender Reggie Lemelin was struggling throughout the series and was replaced by backup Andy Moog in the third period. At the same time, Peter Sidorkiewicz began struggling in goal for the Whalers, and

9559-402: The free agent market and signed Jimmy Carson and Steven Rice . On draft day, the Whalers selected the highly rated Jeff O'Neill in the first round. Rutherford also acquired defenseman Glen Wesley from the Boston Bruins in exchange for three first-round draft picks ( Kyle McLaren , Johnathan Aitken and Sergei Samsonov ). Despite these acquisitions, the Whalers struggled at the beginning of

9680-472: The game at 1–1. After defeating the Soviet Union squad, the U.S. players went on to defeat Finland to secure the gold medal. This is a list of Boston University alumni who have played on an Olympic team . † cut from team before Olympics. Boston University's biggest rival is Boston College . Referred to as the Green Line Rivalry or The Battle of Commonwealth Avenue because of the proximity of

9801-422: The game, but scored 2 goals in 42 seconds to tie the score and force sudden death overtime. Sophomore defenseman Colby Cohen scored the game-winning goal on a shot that deflected off a Miami player. The championship game brought the senior class to 100 wins in four seasons. Longtime head coach Jack Parker , a former Terrier, achieved his 800th win in the January 30th game against Merrimack College . He became only

9922-560: The game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" O'Callahan, who had injured his left knee in an exhibition match, returned for the famous "Miracle on Ice" game and in his first seconds on the ice, delivered a massive hit on a Soviet player that turned the puck over to the Americans near the Soviet defensive zone. The hit caught the Soviets off guard and set up a goal scored by William "Buzz" Schneider to tie

10043-462: The last seven and missed the playoffs by four points. Before the beginning of the 1995–96 season , the Whalers management became frustrated with the slow development of highly rated prospect Chris Pronger. As a result, Pronger was sent to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Brendan Shanahan . Shanahan was not happy with the trade even before playing a single game in Hartford. However, he was immediately made

10164-469: The late 1970s while their Hartford arena was being rebuilt after heavy snow followed by heavy rain caused the roof, which suffered from several engineering and construction shortcomings, to collapse. Though they never again won the WHA championship, the New England Whalers were a successful team, never missing the playoffs in league history, and finishing first in their division three times. They had

10285-495: The most they would earn as an NHL team in Hartford; however, they were quickly eliminated in the first round by the Nordiques. The Whalers started the series strongly, winning the first two games at home, but, beginning in Game 3, the Nordiques were able to successfully take the Whalers off their game by playing a tough, chippy style of hockey. As a result, both teams broke NHL records in penalty minutes for an individual playoff game and

10406-519: The net. It was the last time the Whalers would qualify for the playoffs for the rest of their time in Hartford. Roberts was fired thereafter, along with general manager Eddie Johnston. At the end of the three-year Johnston era, only seven players remained from the Whalers' active roster prior to Johnston taking over as general manager. Those players were forwards Ed Kastelic and Terry Yake ; defensemen Randy Ladouceur , Brad Shaw and Adam Burt ; and goaltenders Peter Sidorkiewicz and Kay Whitmore. During

10527-510: The new Peter Good-designed logo in front. The design underwent a few cosmetic changes, such as wearing Cooperalls in the 1982–83 season, switching from angular to straight sleeve stripes and back during the early 1990s, and removing the Pucky logo in 1985. For the Whalers' final years in Hartford, the team switched their primary colors to dark blue and added silver accents to the logo and striping. The numbers received extra contrasting trim. In 2018,

10648-413: The new arena was to be built. The Whalers ultimately announced that they would be leaving Hartford after the 1996–97 season. This marks one of the few times that a team announced it would leave its current city without having already announced an agreement with a new one. Karmanos had discussed relocating the Whalers to Norfolk, Virginia (which would have been the first major sports team for that market) as

10769-524: The only players from eastern schools on a U.S. squad composed predominantly of Minnesotans. Eruzione scored the famous winning goal against the Soviets with 10 minutes remaining, and Craig made 36 saves to preserve the 4–3 victory. Silk, who assisted on the United States' second and third goals, was mentioned in sportscast Al Michaels' final call: "Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in

10890-407: The playoffs in their inaugural season, along with the 1979–80 Edmonton Oilers until the 2017–18 Vegas Golden Knights accomplished the feat. In the first round of the playoffs, the Whalers were swept by the Montreal Canadiens three games to none. Following this season, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Andre Lacroix all announced their retirements from professional hockey. Following the 1979–80 season,

11011-577: The playoffs, they faced the near-certainty of having to get past the Boston Bruins or Montreal Canadiens to make it to the conference finals. The team developed a heated rivalry with the Bruins because they were based only 100 miles northeast of Hartford and the fact they used to play in the same arena. Home games against the Bruins usually attracted the Whalers' largest crowds, as many Bruins fans followed their team to Hartford. The Whalers had an all-time head-to-head record of 37–69–12 against Boston. The Whalers were hampered by numerous off-ice factors. Hartford

11132-415: The popular six-, 9-, 10- and 20-game mini-plans in a strategy largely designed to spur purchases from corporations and wealthier individuals. Sales were underwhelming at the beginning of the campaign, and at the end of the 1995–96 season , it was still unknown whether the Whalers would stay in Connecticut past 1998 or move elsewhere. However, thanks to an aggressive civic campaign and the efforts of many fans,

11253-484: The remaining half of the season of Mike Fidler 's NHL career. For the 1981–82 season , the NHL realigned its divisions and the Whalers were resituated in the Adams Division of the Wales Conference. The Whalers bottomed out in the 1982–83 season with a record of 19–54–7 (45 points), ranked 20th out of 21 teams in the NHL standings. On May 2, 1983, the Whalers hired Emile Francis as their new general manager to rebuild

11374-426: The schools and the means of transportation to get from one campus to another, the Terriers and Eagles have played each other well over 200 times since their first meeting in 1918. The rivalry is considered one of the best in NCAA hockey, both in terms of intensity and quality. The schools have combined for ten national championships and even played each other in the NCAA championship game in 1978, with BU skating off to

11495-423: The season began to take an executive position with the NHL. In addition, Burke had some disagreements with Whalers owner Richard Gordon. After Burke left, Holmgren took over as both the head coach and general manager. The Whalers started off the season poorly. Holmgren felt he was unable to handle the job of general manager and head coach, so he made Pierre McGuire the new head coach. The coaching change did not help

11616-801: The season ranked #1 in both the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, earning the #1 overall seed in the 2009 NCAA championship . BU won a school record 7 championships: the Ice Breaker Invitational, the Denver Cup, the Beanpot, the Hockey East regular season title, the Hockey East tournament, the NCAA Northeast Regional, and finally, the National Championship. The team's success

11737-434: The season, starting off with a record of 2–7–2. In mid-February, the Whalers began improving, led by their top line of Sanderson, Cassels and Verbeek, along with franchise goaltender Sean Burke. For the next 30 games, the Whalers put up a record of 16–11–3 and it appeared as if the Whalers were on their way to their first playoff berth since 1992. Unfortunately, the Whalers played poorly down the stretch, winning only one game in

11858-467: The second half of the season to finish in 2nd place in Hockey East. BU's season ended with a loss to Vermont in the Hockey East tournament semifinals. With a 19–17–4 record, BU was not ranked high enough to make the NCAA Tournament. BU went 20–10–9 in 06-07, finishing in third place in Hockey East and advancing to the NCAA tournament. The team won its 28th total and third consecutive Beanpot tournament title, defeating rival Boston College in overtime. At

11979-462: The slack was picked up by Andre Lacroix , the WHA's all-time leading scorer, acquired from the Aeros. As the Whalers were one of the most stable WHA teams, the club was one of the four franchises admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979. Unlike the other former WHA teams, the Whalers were not stripped of most of their players. The Howes, Rogers, Ley, Keon, Smith, Roberts and Lacroix are

12100-536: The song during shows in Connecticut, most notably The Zambonis . The song was played when the Carolina Hurricanes scored a goal on an event called heritage night where the Hurricanes dressed in Whalers attire. The Florida Everblades , a former affiliate of the Hurricanes in the ECHL , play the song after every home game at Hertz Arena . The song has now been adopted by the city's soccer team, Hartford Athletic , and by

12221-543: The summer of 1992, following Johnston's departure, Shaw and Whitmore were traded away, Kastelic left via free agency and Sidorkiewicz was lost to the Ottawa Senators in the 1992 NHL expansion draft . In the summer of 1992, the Whalers hired Brian Burke to replace Eddie Johnston as general manager to rebuild the Whalers. Burke had worked for the Vancouver Canucks , helping them build the team that eventually went to

12342-495: The summer of 1994, the Whalers were purchased, in a deal brokered by the Connecticut Development Authority, by Compuware CEO Peter Karmanos , along with partners Thomas Thewes and Jim Rutherford . Rutherford became the team's new general manager and Holmgren returned as the head coach. The new ownership wanted to turn the team into a winner for the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season , so Rutherford went out to

12463-557: The team in scoring and through the playoffs. Behind legendary ex- Boston University head coach Jack Kelley , the team defeated the Winnipeg Jets to win the inaugural WHA championship . The club played first season 's home games at Boston Garden and Boston Arena . However, the Arena was too small and antiquated to sustain a WHA team while the Garden was owned by the rival NHL Bruins in which

12584-459: The team's new captain. The Whalers won their first four games of the season, but then struggled for the rest of the calendar year of 1995. As a result, Paul Maurice replaced Holmgren as head coach in November. On December 28, 1995, the Whalers received a morale boost when they reacquired one of their most popular players from the 1980s, Kevin Dineen. His skills and leadership had an immediate impact on

12705-461: The team, as the Whalers began playing significantly better in January. Despite the strong finish in the second half of the season, the Whalers were unable to recover from their poor start and they missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Before the beginning of the 1996–97 season , Brendan Shanahan ended his silence about his displeasure about playing in Hartford. He demanded a trade out of Hartford because he claimed he did not want to play in

12826-401: The team. About two months later, on July 7, Francis hired Jack Evans to be the Whalers' new head coach. By the end of the 1986–87 season , Francis had cut or traded away every player from the 1982–83 Whalers' roster save for Ron Francis , Paul MacDermid , and Paul Lawless . The team had a brief period of success in the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons. The Whalers began 1985–86 looking like

12947-414: The third college hockey coach to do so, and the first to have all 800 wins be with the same team. In the Beanpot, the Terriers beat Harvard University 4–3 in the first round and then Northeastern University 5–2 in the championship round. In the Hockey East tournament, they defeated Maine in the quarterfinals, Boston College in the semifinals, and UMass Lowell in the championship game. Down by one goal in

13068-400: The third period against BC, the Terriers scored three goals in 44 seconds – a tournament record. BU defeated Lowell 1–0, with goaltender Kieran Millan earning tournament MVP honors with the shutout. BU was ranked #1 in the country for most of the season, thanks in part to non-conference victories over powerhouses such as Michigan, North Dakota, Michigan State and Denver. But Northeastern held

13189-461: The three finalists. Kieran Millan was named the national Rookie of the Year. During the celebratory parade in Boston a few days after the national championship game, it was announced that Parker had been voted NCAA coach of the year. BU struggled through the first half of the 2007–2008 season. Inconsistency was a major problem, BU lost to Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot, but played well in

13310-534: The top spot in Hockey East play for most of 2008–09, thanks to a better conference record. BU finally overtook Northeastern on the final day of the season, clinching the Hockey East regular season title by one point with a 3–0 victory at home over Providence. At the end of the season, Gilroy was awarded the Hobey Baker Award , given to the top NCAA men's ice hockey player each year. Colin Wilson had also been among

13431-421: The trades and transactions Ed Johnston made as the general manager of the Whalers. The Whalers went to the playoffs for the final time in 1991–92 behind Jimmy Roberts ' coaching, despite winning only 26 games. In those days, however, the top four teams in each division made the playoffs, regardless of record. They faced the heavily-favored Montreal Canadiens in the division semifinals. The Whalers lost Game 1 by

13552-536: The two shapes to create an "H". Good also helped design the team's new uniforms for the 1979–80 season in the team's new colors of green and blue. The Whalers were never as successful in the NHL as they had been in the WHA. They recorded only three winning seasons in their 18 years in the NHL, made the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times and won only one playoff series, earning the nickname "The Forever .500s" in mocking jest of their winning percentage. Whenever they did make

13673-467: The two teams skating to a 3–3 tie after one overtime period. The event again sold out the arena. The third meet up on November 26, 2011, resulted in a 2–1 win for BU in overtime. In the first half of the 1990s, the BU- Maine rivalry was one of the most talked about in college hockey, with the teams battling each other both for eastern and national college hockey supremacy. Boston University defeated Maine in

13794-512: The use of ineligible players a "black mark on the league." In 1995, both teams were at the top of their games and faced off in the NCAA championship game in Providence, R.I., which BU won 6–2. BU's rivalries with Harvard and Northeastern stem mainly from regular meetings in the Beanpot, the tournament in which Boston bragging rights are on the line. BU also plays Northeastern three times each year in conference regular season play, and sometimes plays

13915-442: Was BC," Parker told Rushin. The first varsity ice hockey game BU ever played was a 3–1 loss to Boston College on February 6, 1918. As of the 2010–11 season, BU led the all-time rivalry 125–112, with 17 ties. The rivalry between Boston University and Cornell dates to 1925 when Boston University beat Cornell 7–2. The teams played each other in the NCAA championship game in both 1967 and 1972, with Cornell defeating BU 4–1 in '67 and

14036-753: Was aided by a strong freshman class (especially goaltender Kieran Millan ) and the decisions of senior defenseman Matt Gilroy and sophomore forward Colin Wilson to stick with the team instead of taking offers to go pro. Following victories against the Ohio State Buckeyes , the UNH Wildcats , and the University of Vermont Catamounts , they defeated the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks 4–3 in OT to capture their first National Championship since 1995 (their fifth ever, and Parker's third as coach). BU trailed 3–1 with one minute left in

14157-453: Was played at home games when the Whalers entered the rink for warmups and also after they scored a goal. It was introduced in the mid-1970s on the B side of a souvenir record of team radio-broadcast highlights while they were still named the New England Whalers and playing in the WHA. However, in 1992, then-general manager Brian Burke cancelled the use of the song because he said "there were players who were embarrassed by it", and replaced it with

14278-515: Was previously served by: The market was subsequently home to: This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports team in North Carolina is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year existence in Hartford, Connecticut . The club played in

14399-432: Was the franchise's second-highest point total in the NHL while located in Hartford. The regular season was highlighted by captain Ron Francis putting up career highs in goals (32), assists (69) and points (101). Later in his career, Francis was only able to exceed 101 points once (in 1995–96) and never again exceeded 32 goals in a single season. At the trade deadline, the Whalers first year general manager Eddie Johnston made

14520-509: Was the smallest American market in the NHL and was located on the traditional dividing line between the home territories for Boston and New York area teams. This limited the team's marketability. Additionally, for most of the Whalers' tenure as an NHL team, the Hartford Civic Center was one of the smallest arenas in the league. At its maximum, it seated just 15,635 for hockey. The team averaged over 14,000 fans only twice in its 15 years at

14641-485: Was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins , along with Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings , in exchange for John Cullen , Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker . Francis was one of the most popular players on the team, and held nearly every significant offensive record in the franchise's history, both in the WHA and NHL. The trade was savagely condemned by Whalers fans, few of whom believed The Hockey News assessment that

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