Hartford Whalers

Hartford Whalers
List of Hartford Whalers seasons

Founded	1972
History	New England Whalers 1972–1979 Hartford Whalers 1979–1997 Carolina Hurricanes 1997–present
Home arena	Boston Arena Boston Garden The Big E Coliseum Springfield Civic Center Hartford Civic Center
City	Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Colors	Green, black, white (1972–1975) Green, gold, white (1975–1979) Green, blue, white (1979–1992) Navy, green, silver (1992–1997)
Stanley Cups	0
Avco World Trophy	1 1972–73
Conference championships	2 1972–73, 1977–78
Presidents' Trophies	0
Division championships	4 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1986–87

The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979–97. In 1997, the Whalers franchise moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where it became the Carolina Hurricanes.

The team joined the WHA in its inaugural season in 1972. Originally based in Boston, Massachusetts, they were known as the New England Whalers throughout their time in the league. They moved to Hartford in 1974, and joined the NHL in the NHL–WHA merger of 1979.

WHA era

New England Whalers logo 1972-1979

Early seasons in Boston (1971)

The Whalers franchise was born in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to New England businessmen Howard Baldwin, John Coburn, W. Godfrey Wood and William Edwin 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 Selwood, and former Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Al Smith.

New England also signed an unusually large number of American players including Massachusetts natives and former US Olympic hockey team members Larry Pleau (who had been a regular with the Montreal Canadiens the previous season), Kevin Ahearn, John Cunniff and Paul Hurley. Two other ex-US Olympians on the Whalers roster (Minnesotans Timothy Sheehy and Tommy Williams) had spent a significant part of their careers in Boston with Boston College and the Bruins, respectively.

The Whalers would have the WHA's best regular-season record in the 1972–73 WHA season, with Webster leading the team in scoring and rampaging through the playoffs, and behind legendary ex-Boston University coach Jack Kelley, would win the inaugural Avco World Trophy, the WHA championship.

Relocation to Hartford (1974)

While in Boston, the club played their home games at the Boston Arena and Boston Garden. However game scheduling at Boston Garden (owned by the rival NHL Bruins) became increasingly difficult, and the owners decided to relocate the team to Hartford, Connecticut beginning with the 1974-75 season. The area, aside from various minor league teams in New Haven, had been largely bereft of pro hockey until the team's arrival. While waiting for their new arena in Hartford, the Whalers played the first part of the 1974-75 season at The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield, MA.

On January 11, 1975, the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum. 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 the late 1970s while their Hartford arena was being rebuilt after heavy snow followed by heavy rain caused the roof to collapse, which suffered from several engineering and construction shortcomings (See Hartford Civic Center Arena Roof Collapse).

Though they never again won the league championship, the New England Whalers were a successful team, never missing the playoffs in the WHA's history, and finishing first in its division three times. They had a more stable roster than most WHA teams—Ley, Webster, Selwood, Pleau, and Tommy Earl would all play over 350 games with the club—and scored a major coup when they signed legend Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty from the Houston Aeros in 1977.

While the first two full seasons in Hartford were not glittering (the Whalers recorded losing records both years), the final two WHA seasons saw more success. They went to 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 of the league's best defense. The next season was not so fine, but while age finally caught up with Gordie Howe, the slack was picked up by Andre Lacroix, the WHA's all time leading scorer, acquired from the Aeros.

Admission to the NHL

As the New England Whalers was one of the most stable WHA teams, it was one of the four franchises admitted to the National Hockey League when the rival leagues merged in 1979. Following lobbying from the Boston Bruins, one of the conditions of the merger stipulated that the Whalers were to drop "New England" from their name. The Howes, Rogers, Ley, Keon, Smith, Roberts and Lacroix would go on to wear the uniform of the Hartford Whalers. The team also changed its colors to blue and green, a combination which was unused in the NHL at the time. Most of the members of the 1978–79 Whalers were available as only Selwood, George Lyle and Warren Miller were reclaimed by their former NHL teams.

Career leaders (WHA, 1972–1979)

Games: Rick Ley, 478
Goals: Tom Webster, 220
Assists: Larry Pleau, 215
Points: Webster, 425
Penalty Minutes: Ley, 716
Goaltending Wins: Al Smith, 141

The NHL days

The original Hartford Whalers logo (1979–1992), designed by Peter Good, a Connecticut-based graphic designer. The logo combines a green "W" with a blue whale's tail to create the letter "H" in the negative (white) space. This logo was updated in 1992, the most noticeable change being the darkening of the colors and the addition of a silver background. Subtle changes to the shape of the whale's tail were also made, resulting in the logo seen at the top right of this page.

The Whalers were never as successful in the NHL as they had been in the WHA, yet they attracted a passionate fan base over the years. They recorded three winning seasons in their eighteen years in the NHL, made the playoffs eight times, and won one playoff series, earning the nickname "Forever .500s". Whenever they did make 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 heated rivalries with the Bruins and New York Rangers, both based two hours northeast and southwest of Hartford respectively. These games usually attracted the Whalers' biggest crowds, as some Bruins and Rangers fans followed their teams to Hartford. They achieved all-time records of 37–69–12 and 23–26–6 respectively against those clubs.

The Whalers were hampered by off-the-ice factors. Hartford was the second smallest American market in the league, and was located on the traditional dividing line between the home territories for Boston and New York 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 arena in the league, seating just over 15,000 fans for hockey.

Inaugural NHL season

The Whalers 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 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 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. Along with the Edmonton Oilers, the Whalers are the most recent first year expansion franchise to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the NHL. 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 announced their retirements.

The early 1980s

Following the 79-80 season, 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 hardrock defenseman Gordie Roberts (who would play 15 remaining pro seasons) for the remaining half-season of Mike Fidler's NHL career. The Whalers bottomed out in the 1982-83 season with a record of 19-54-7 and only 45 points and 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 the team. About two months later, on July 7, 1983, 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 82-83 Whalers roster with the exceptions of Ron Francis and Paul MacDermid.

Success in the mid-1980s

The team had a brief moment in the sun in the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons. The Whalers began the 85-86 season looking like a playoff contender. By the end of January, they had a record of 26-20-1 with 53 points after 47 games. At this time, 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 only two games that month and they were soon in danger of missing the playoffs for the sixth year in 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 and earned a playoff berth for the first time since 1980. The Whalers went on to eliminate the first-place Quebec Nordiques in three straight games in the first round, winning their sole playoff series in Hartford. The Whalers then pushed the division finals to seven games, losing the final game 2–1 in overtime to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens disposed of both the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames in five games in the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals respectively.

The following season, the Whalers won their lone division championship, led by centers Ron Francis and Ray Ferraro, emerging winger Kevin Dineen, defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, superstar goalie Mike Liut, and troubled scorer Sylvain Turgeon. The 93 points earned that season were 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 got off to a good start in this playoff series by winning the first two games at home but, beginning in Game 3, the Nordiques were able to successfully get the Whalers off of their game by playing a very tough, dirty, and chippy style of hockey. As a results, both teams broke NHL records in penalty minutes for an individual playoff game and a whole playoff series. The Nordiques won the next four straight games and the series four games to two. While the team 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.

The 1989–90 season

In the 1989-90 season, the Whalers finished seventh overall in the NHL standings and fourth overall in the Wales Conference with 85 points. This was the franchises second highest point total in the NHL while in Hartford. The regular season was highlighted by captain and franchise player Ron Francis putting up career highs in goals with 32, assisits with 69, and points with 101. Later in his career, Francis was only able to exceed 101 points once (in 1995-96) and he never again exceeded 32 goals in a single season. At the trade deadline, the Whalers first year General Manager Eddie Johnston made the first in a series of destructive trades by sending franchise goaltender Mike Liut to the Washington Capitals for center Yvon Corriveau. Liut was having a career year during the 89-90 season and this trade left the Whalers with second year goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz as their starter and rookie Kay Whitmore as the backup.

The Whalers went on to face the Boston Bruins in 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 going into the third period. The 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 Sidorkiewicz, began struggling in goal for the Whalers and the Bruins scored four unanswered goals in the third period and won 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. The Bruins went on to dispose the Canadiens in five games, then sweep the Capitals in the Wales Conference finals before losing in the Stanley Cup finals to the Oilers.

The Ron Francis trade

The most psychologically damaging moment for the club was the March 4, 1991 trade of Francis to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings 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 WHA and NHL). The trade was savagely condemned by Whalers fans, most of whom weren't willing to believe The Hockey News assessment that the Whalers had actually gotten the better end of the bargain. Less than two weeks after the trade, Parker suffered a career ending knee injury. The Francis trade was made all the more painful when Francis and Samuelsson promptly helped lead the Penguins to two consecutive Stanley Cups. Coincidentally, Eddie Johnston, 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, especially the Ron Francis trade, proved to be disastrous for the Whalers since the players acquired did not pan out to expectations, leaving the Whalers depleted of talent and costing them substantial goodwill in Hartford. The links below show all of the trades and transactions Ed Johnston made as the General Manager of the Whalers.

1989-90 Hartford Whalers Transactions 1989–90 Hartford Whalers season#Transactions
1990-91 Hartford Whalers Transactions 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season#Transactions
1991-92 Hartford Whalers Transactions 1991–92 Hartford Whalers season#Transactions

The 1992 playoffs

The Whalers went to the playoffs for the final time in 1992 behind Jimmy Roberts' coaching, but faced the very heavily favored Montreal Canadiens in the Adams Division Semifinals. The Whalers lost Game 1 by a score of 2-0 and Game 2 by a score of 5-2 so it looked like 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 Five. The Whalers had a 3-1 lead midway through the second period. At this time, the Canadiens began rushing the crease and getting in the face of Whalers goaltender Frank Pietrangelo to distract him. This 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 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 turn-around 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 the net.

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 the summer of 1992 following Johnston's departure, Shaw and Whitmore got traded away; Kastelic was let go via free agency; and Sidorkiewicz was lost to Ottawa in the expansion draft.

The Brian Burke and Paul Holmgren years

In the summer of 1992, the Whalers hired Brian Burke to replace Eddie Johnston as General Manager to rebuild the Whalers. Burke previously worked for the Vancouver Canucks and he helped them build the team that eventually went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. Burke hired Paul Holmgren to be the Whalers new head coach. Holmgren previously was the head coach of the 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 a goaltender Sean Burke in exchange for former first round draft pick Bobby Holik. Cassels, Sanderson, and Burke remained star players for 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 92-93 season was a rebuilding year for the Whalers, they finished the season with only 58 points, the second worst point total in franchise history.

The Whalers entered the 1993-94 season 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 and later became an NHL star. However, problems began at the management level when General Manager Brian Burke announced he would resign when the season began to take an executive position with the NHL. In addition, Burke had some disagreements with team owner Richard Gordon. After Burke left, Holmgren took over as Head Coach and General Manager. The Whalers started off the season poorly. Holmgren felt he was unable to handle the job of GM and Head Coach so he made Pierre McGuire the new Head Coach so Holmgren could focus on his duties as GM. The coaching change did not help the Whalers since McGuire was not popular with the players and 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 after being involved in a bar room brawl. Pronger was one of the players arrested even though he was 19 years old at the time, two years below than the legal drinking age in New York state. Around this same time Paul Holmgren checked himself into rehab for alcohol addiction. The Whalers finished the season with 63 points, only a 5 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 93-94 season was when Brian Propp scored his 1000th career NHL point with the Whalers. Propp announced his retirement after the season.

New ownership

In 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 came back as the Head Coach. The new ownership wanted to turn the team into a winner for the 1994-95 season so Rutherford went out to the free agent market and signed Jimmy Carson and Steven Rice. On draft day, the Whalers selected highly rated Jeff O’Neill in the first round and he debuted with the Whalers at the beginning of the 94-95 season. Rutherford also acquired defenseman Glen Wesley from the 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 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 goalie 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 the last seven and missed the playoffs by four points.

Before the beginning of the 1995-96 season, the Whalers management was frustrated with the slow development of highly rated prospect Chris Pronger. As a result, Pronger was sent to St. Louis for Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan was not happy with the trade even before playing a single game in Hartford. However, he was immediately made the team's new captain so he kept his frustrations about playing in Hartford silent for the 95-96 season. The Whalers won their first four games but then they 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 got a huge morale boost when they reacquired one of their most popular players from the 1980s, Kevin Dineen. His skills and leadership had an immediate impact as the Whalers began playing much 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. Shanahan demanded a trade out of Hartford because he claimed he did not want to play in 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 this role. Shanahan was traded away after the second game of the season. Despite these problems, the Whalers got off to a very good start with a 14-7-6 record after the first 27 games and they were in first place of their division. They were led by a strong first line of Sanderson, Cassels, and Dineen along with a solid second line of Keith Primeau, Jeff 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 a 9-game losing streak in January and a 6-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 NY Islanders, which eliminated them from the playoffs before their final regular season game against Tampa Bay.

Departure from Hartford

Whaler banners hanging from the Hartford Civic Center rafters in 2007. This set includes several numbers not retired by the Whalers organization, but added by the Civic Center in 2006.

In 1994, Compuware founder Peter Karmanos purchased the Whalers and pledged to keep them in Hartford for four years. 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.^[1] Furthermore, ownership only made season tickets available in full-season (41-game) packages, eliminating the popular six-, ten-, and twenty-game mini plans in a strategy largely designed to spur purchases from wealthier corporations and 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. However, thanks to an aggressive civic campaign, and the efforts of many fans (who pooled together resources to purchase some of the full-season packages collectively^{[citation needed]}) the Whalers announced that they would stay in Connecticut through at least 1997. 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%. This represented an expansion of over 3,500 tickets from the existing base.^[2]

In early 1997 Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland stated that he did not want to spend Connecticut tax payer 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. Despite a nearly completed agreement, talks fell apart at the last minute when Karmanos wanted an additional $45 million dollars to cover losses during the three years the new arena was to be built. The Whalers ultimately announced that they would be leaving Hartford after the 96-97 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 stated that Rowland had no intention making a serious offer to keep the Whalers in Connecticut since Rowland harbored hopes to bring an NFL franchise to Connecticut. Rowland went on to negotiate a tentative deal to move the NFL New England Patriots to Connecticut, but those talks also fell apart after the state and the Patriots ownership failed to reach an agreement on a new stadium.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Post-departure

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 the 1995-1996 season after a brief stint in Philadelphia, scored the final goal in Whalers history. In July, Karmanos announced the team would move to Raleigh, North Carolina as 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. The following summer in 1997, the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers) relocated to the Hartford market to take the place of the Whalers.^[6] In honor of the defunct NHL Whalers, the Wolf Pack announced that they were changing their name to the Connecticut Whale in the middle of the 2010-11 season.^[7]

As of the 2010-11 season, only two former Whalers were still active NHL players: Chris Pronger of the Philadelphia Flyers and Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Colorado Avalanche. Glen Wesley was the last Whaler still active with the Hartford/Carolina franchise until he retired on June 5, 2008, though his stint was not continuous, playing seven games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2003 after a deadline deal before re-signing in Carolina in the 2003 offseason.^[8] Ron Francis returned to the renamed Hurricanes in 1998 and stayed through 2004, captaining the team's run to the 2002 Finals. Francis now serves as the associate head coach and director of player personnel for the Hurricanes, and Wesley as the club's director of defenseman development. Craig Adams has the distinction of being the last player drafted in Whalers' history and remains active in the National Hockey League as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Adams did not become a member of the team until 2000, when the team had already moved to Carolina.^[9]

Theme song

The Hartford Whalers' official theme song was "Brass Bonanza," a tune composed by an aspiring composer/musician Jack Say, correctly spelled Jacques Ysaÿe.^[10] The song became a big hit after it was introduced in the mid-1970s. However, Brian Burke cancelled the use of the song in 1992 because he said "there were players who were embarrassed by it." After he left it was quickly reintroduced.^[11] The song is still very popular with Hartford crowds, and continues to occasionally be played at XL Center events, including games of the Connecticut Whale, the current AHL hockey team in Hartford that is named in honor of the NHL team.

Brass Bonanza was also the teams goal song whenever they had scored a goal. After 1992 Brian Burke replaced the song with a Goal Horn and the song Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter.

Career leaders (NHL, 1979–1997)

Games: Ron Francis, 714
Goals: Francis, 264
Assists: Francis, 557
Points: Francis, 821
Penalty minutes: Torrie Robertson, 1368
Goaltender games: Sean Burke, 256
Goaltender wins: Mike Liut, 115
Shutouts: Liut, 13

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals scored for, GA = Goals scored against, PIM = Penalty minutes

WHA - New England Whalers

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1972–73	78	46	30	2	94	318	263	858	first, Eastern	Won Quarter-final (Ottawa) Won Semi-final (Cleveland) Won Final (Winnipeg)
1973–74	78	43	31	4	90	291	260	875	first, Eastern	Lost Quarter-final (Chicago)
1974–75	78	43	30	5	91	274	279	867	first, Eastern	Lost Quarter-final (Minnesota)
1975–76	80	33	40	7	73	255	290	1012	third, Eastern	Won Preliminary (Cleveland) Won Quarter-final (Indianapolis) Lost Semi-final (Houston)
1976–77	81	35	40	6	76	275	290	1254	fourth, Eastern	Lost Quarter-final (Quebec)
1977–78	80	44	31	5	93	335	269	1255	second, WHA	Won Quarter-final (Edmonton) Won Semi-final (Quebec) Lost Final (Winnipeg)
1978–79	80	37	34	9	83	298	287	1090	fourth, WHA	Won Quarter-final (Cincinnati) Lost Semi-final (Edmonton)
WHA Totals	555	281	236	38	600	2,046	1,938	7,211

NHL - Hartford Whalers

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1979–80	80	27	34	19	73	303	312	875	fourth, Norris	Lost Preliminary (Montreal)
1980–81	80	21	41	18	60	292	372	1584	fifth, Norris	Did not qualify
1981–82	80	21	41	18	60	264	351	1493	fifth, Adams	Did not qualify
1982–83	80	19	54	7	45	261	403	1392	fifth, Adams	Did not qualify
1983–84	80	28	42	10	66	288	320	1184	fifth, Adams	Did not qualify
1984–85	80	30	41	9	69	268	318	1606	fifth, Adams	Did not qualify
1985–86	80	40	36	4	84	332	302	1759	fourth, Adams	Won Adams Semifinal (Quebec) Lost Adams Final (Montreal)
1986–87	80	43	30	7	93	287	270	1496	first, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Quebec)
1987–88	80	35	38	7	77	249	267	2046	fourth, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Montreal)
1988–89	80	37	38	5	79	299	290	1672	fourth, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Montreal)
1989–90	80	38	33	9	85	275	268	2102	fourth, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Boston)
1990–91	80	31	38	11	73	238	276	2209	fourth, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Boston)
1991–92	80	26	41	13	65	247	283	1793	fourth, Adams	Lost Adams Semifinal (Montreal)
1992–93	84	26	52	6	58	284	369	2354	fifth, Adams	Did not qualify
1993–94	84	27	48	9	63	227	288	1809	sixth, Northeast	Did not qualify
1994–95¹	48	19	24	5	43	127	141	915	fifth, Northeast	Did not qualify
1995–96	82	34	39	9	77	237	259	1834	fourth, Northeast	Did not qualify
1996–97	82	32	39	11	75	226	256	1513	fifth, Northeast	Did not qualify
NHL Totals	1,420	534	709	177	1,245	4,704	5,345	29,636
Grand Total	1,975	815	945	215	1,845	6,750	7,283	36,847

¹Season was shortened due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout.

Notable players

Hall of Famers

Paul Coffey, D, 1996, inducted 2004
Dave Keon, C, 1976–1982, inducted 1986
Gordie Howe, RW, 1977–1980, inducted 1972
Mark Howe, D, 1979–1982, inducted 2011
Bobby Hull, LW, 1980, inducted 1983
Ron Francis, C, 1981–1991, inducted 2007
Emile Francis, General Manager, 1983–1989, inducted 1982 (Builder)

Team captains

Note: includes both WHA Whalers and NHL Whalers

Ted Green, 1972–75
Rick Ley, 1975–80
Mike Rogers, 1980–81
Dave Keon, 1981–82
Russ Anderson, 1982–83
Mark Johnson, 1983–85

Ron Francis, 1985–90
No captain, 1990–91
Randy Ladouceur, 1991–92
Pat Verbeek, 1992–95
Brendan Shanahan, 1995–96
Kevin Dineen, 1996–97

Retired numbers

2 Rick Ley, D, 1972–81
9 Gordie Howe, RW, 1977–80
19 John McKenzie, RW, 1977–79

After the move to North Carolina, the successor Carolina Hurricanes returned #2 and #19 to circulation; however, only one player would wear #2 in Carolina before that number was re-retired in the late 2000s. Howe's #9 remained officially retired by Carolina, and has never been issued since the relocation to North Carolina, but there is no banner to acknowledge it.^[12]

First round draft picks

Note: This list does not include selections from the WHA.

1979: Ray Allison (18th overall)
1980: Fred Arthur (eighth overall)
1981: Ron Francis (fourth overall)
1982: Paul Lawless (14th overall)
1983: Sylvain Turgeon (second overall)
1984: Sylvain Cote (11th overall)
1985: Dana Murzyn (fifth overall)
1986: Scott Young (11th overall)
1987: Jody Hull (18th overall)
1988: Chris Govedaris (11th overall)
1989: Bobby Holik (10th overall)
1990: Mark Greig (15th overall)
1991: Patrick Poulin (ninth overall)
1992: Robert Petrovicky (ninth overall)
1993: Chris Pronger (second overall)
1994: Jeff O'Neill (fifth overall)
1995: Jean-Sebastien Giguere (13th overall)
1996: none