The former voice of the Hartford Whalers says he鈥檚 still amazed by how much support the team receives more than two decades after its move to North Carolina.
鈥淭he love that Whaler fans have for their team 鈥� it's astounding,鈥� said Chuck Kaiton, who was the play-by-play announcer for the Whalers since its first NHL season in 1979-80 and followed the team to Raleigh when they became the Carolina Hurricanes.
鈥淵ou see a lot of Whaler jerseys being sold even here in North Carolina," Kaiton said. "It's still a very high-selling piece of merchandise for the National Hockey League.鈥�
Kaiton was recently at Hartford鈥檚 Dunkin' Park for the Yard Goats' 鈥淲halers Alumni Weekend.鈥� The event featured players from the former team including Kevin Dineen and Scott Daniels.
On why the Whalers are still so popular
Kaiton said he thinks he knows why the team remains so popular in 黑料吃瓜网.
鈥淲ell, I think it's pretty easy,鈥� Kaiton said. Hartford "was a big, small town that had a major league team. And I think they really embraced the players. And the players embraced the fans.鈥�
黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 love for the Whalers exists despite the team鈥檚 spotty history. In 18 NHL seasons, the Whalers only finished higher than fourth place in their division one time: The 1986-87 season, when the team finished first place in the Adams Division. But even at the height of the team鈥檚 performance, average fan attendance remained in .
Had the team remained in Hartford, Kaiton said, he thinks fan support would have picked up.
鈥淭here was 鈥� this battle of trying to belong, so to speak, on the same level as the (New York) Rangers and the (Boston) Bruins,鈥� Kaiton said. 鈥淎s time went on and as the team became more successful, I think that inferiority complex evaporated to a certain extent."
"I think we needed another generation of fans, the youngsters who were Whaler fans," Kaiton said. "They just didn't give it enough time, unfortunately, for that group to become season ticket holders.鈥�
Could the Whalers ever return?
In June of this year, hope sprang anew that the NHL could return to Hartford. Arizona voters in May rejected taxpayer funding of a new stadium for the Arizona Coyotes in the city of Tempe. The following month, 黑料吃瓜网 Gov. Ned Lamont said he had an ownership group in place to bring the Coyotes to Hartford. But Kaiton said he has a difficult time believing that the Coyotes would actually move to Hartford.
鈥淐ommissioner Gary Bettman of the NHL is not really keen on moving teams,鈥� Kaiton said. 鈥淕ary would need the convincing of a new building. I think you'd have to see a season ticket base of at least 10-to-15,000. The building would be the big thing.鈥�
So, for now, the Whalers and the WNBA鈥檚 Sun are the only modern-era major professional sports franchises that have ever called 黑料吃瓜网 home. In a state where sports loyalties seem divided between the New York and the Boston-based teams, love for this franchise of yesteryear seems unanimous.
鈥淲hen I talked to all the (former Whalers) players,鈥� Kaiton said. 鈥淎ll of them will tell you they were very close to the fans because the fans were passionate, the fans were accessible. And they were accessible to them.鈥�
