The Hartford Whalers were an American professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1997. Originally based in Boston, the team joined the WHA in the league's inaugural season, and was known as the New England Whalers throughout its time in the WHA. The Whalers moved to Hartford in 1974 and joined the NHL in the NHL–WHA merger of 1979.
Ronald Michael Francis Jr. is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He is the general manager of the upcoming Seattle Kraken franchise that plans to play its first season in 2021. Drafted fourth overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, Francis played 23 seasons in the NHL for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. Upon retiring from professional ice hockey in 2004, Francis stood second all-time in career assists (1,249), behind only Wayne Gretzky; fifth in career points (1,798); third in games played (1,731); and 27th in career goals (549).
Paul Douglas Coffey is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for nine teams in the National Hockey League. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among NHL defencemen in goals, assists, and points, behind only Ray Bourque. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman three times and was voted to eight end-of-season All-Star Teams. He holds the record for the most goals by a defenceman in one season, 48 in 1985–86, and is the only defenceman to have scored 40 goals more than once, also doing it in 1983–84. He is also one of only two defencemen to score 100 points in a season more than one time, as he did it five times; Bobby Orr did it six times. Paul Coffey holds or shares 33 NHL records in the regular season and playoffs.
Douglas McArthur Jarvis is a former Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers in the National Hockey League, who holds the current record for most consecutive games played in the NHL (964). Jarvis never missed a regular season game in his NHL career, which began on October 8, 1975 and ran until 1987. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is currently a Senior Advisor for the Vancouver Canucks.
The 1987–88 NHL season was the 71st season of the National Hockey League. It was an 80-game season with the top four teams in each division advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This season would see the Edmonton Oilers win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years by sweeping the Boston Bruins 4–0 in the Stanley Cup Final. In the process of their Cup win, Edmonton lost only two games, a record for the "16 wins" playoff format.
Raymond Vincent Ferraro is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current broadcaster for TSN Radio, TSN, and NBCSN. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers (1984–1990), New York Islanders (1990–1995), New York Rangers (1995–1996), Los Angeles Kings (1996–1999), Atlanta Thrashers (1999–2002) and St. Louis Blues (2002).
The 1984–85 NHL season was the 68th season of the National Hockey League. The Edmonton Oilers won their second straight Stanley Cup by beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the final series.
The 1982–83 NHL season was the 66th season of the National Hockey League. The New York Islanders won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row with their second consecutive finals sweep by beating the Edmonton Oilers four games to none. No team in any major professional North American sport has won four consecutive playoff championships since.
Richard George MacLeish was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings. He played 12 seasons in Philadelphia, winning two Stanley Cups with the Flyers in 1974 and 1975.
The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on each NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception was in 1983, when the Soviet National Team represented the Soviet Union. The Soviet teams won 14 of the series and the NHL won 2.
The NHL's Norris Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. When the NHL realigned into geographic divisions in 1981, the division moved to the Clarence Campbell Conference, where it comprised the league's Great Lakes and Midwest teams, with the Detroit Red Wings being the only member to remain from the previous season. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. The division was named in honour of James E. Norris, longtime owner of the Red Wings. It is the fore-runner of the NHL's Central Division. Intense rivalries developed between its constituent teams, which through the 1980s were noted for enforcer-heavy squads that had poor performances - qualifying for the playoffs with .500 points percentages, and achieving no Stanley Cup titles or appearances in the finals - but great local popularity. Despite the division's reputation, the 1985–86 St. Louis Blues made an impressive cinderella run by reaching the Conference Finals where it took the Calgary Flames 7 games to dispatch them following The Monday Night Miracle, and the 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars reached the Stanley Cup finals.
James E. Rutherford is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current front office executive for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is the general manager (GM) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, having been named to that position on June 6, 2014. He played in the NHL himself from 1969 to 1983; the majority of his career was spent with the Detroit Red Wings, but he also spent time with the Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Los Angeles Kings. As a goalie Rutherford won 151 games and lost 227 games. Rutherford retired as a player in 1983 at the age of 33.
Alan William Hangsleben is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman from Warroad, Minnesota.
Mario Gosselin is a Canadian former hockey goaltender who played nine years in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques, the Los Angeles Kings and the Hartford Whalers.
Dorothy Kathleen Benham is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Edina, Minnesota who was Miss America 1977 and Miss Minnesota 1976.
Howard Lapsley Baldwin is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the CEO of Baldwin Entertainment, which has produced films such as the Academy Award-nominated Ray. Baldwin founded the New England Whalers ice hockey franchise in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and retained ownership when the team became the Hartford Whalers and joined the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also owned part of the Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchises. He won the Stanley Cup in 1992 with Pittsburgh. The WHA's coach of the year award was originally named the Howard Baldwin Trophy in his honor.
Randy Gilhen is a German-born Canadian former ice hockey forward. Gilhen played 457 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). As a member of the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins, Gilhen was the first German-born player to win the Stanley Cup.
Bryan Clifford Maxwell is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 331 games in the National Hockey League and 124 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Cleveland Crusaders, Cincinnati Stingers, New England Whalers, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 1994–95 Hartford Whalers season was the 23rd season of the franchise, 16th season in the NHL. Despite trading away star forward Pat Verbeek to the New York Rangers on March 23, 1995, the Whalers played solid over the next 16 games from March 25 to April 24, with a record of 8-7-1. However, the Whalers could not keep pace with the New York Rangers who went on to take 8th place in the Eastern Conference. It was the third consecutive season that the Whalers missed the playoffs. On a positive note, the Whalers had the most overtime wins and the best overtime record in the NHL, going 4-0-5. Darren Turcotte led all NHL skaters in overtime goals scored with 2.
The 1991–92 Hartford Whalers season saw the Whalers finish in fourth place in the Adams Division with a record of 26 wins, 41 losses, and 13 ties for 65 points. They lost the Adams Division semi-finals in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens, with Russ Courtnall scoring in overtime of Game 7 at the Montreal Forum to end Hartford's season. This was the last time that the Whalers made the playoffs before moving to North Carolina.
