You have to give credit where credit is due, and the Carolina Hurricanes deserve some credit.
Sure, not a whole lot of people in the area are that into the Hurricanes--but they did break out the throwback jerseys on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. That's right: the Hurricanes wore Hartford Whalers jerseys in the contest--and they did the Bruins a favor by handing them a 4-3 overtime victory.
In case you missed the game or just want another look at the jerseys, here's some game footage.
Now, as you can see, they're wearing green and white. It's certainly an interesting look and to be honest, the Hurricanes could have even fooled some people who don't follow hockey too closely who might think the Whalers are still a thing.
It's a good PR move for the Hurricanes, honestly. Why not embrace the Connecticut roots as much as possible and try to expand the fanbase into the northeast?
It's good marketing because surely, there must be some people who miss having the Whalers in Hartford. After all, it seems like the state's former governor Dannel Mallory (yes, his name is Dannel, not Daniel) proposed the team play a game at UConn's football stadium. Needless to say, that never ended up happening. But it does show that some people still care, and that kind of matters.
Right now, the Bruins are New England's hockey team (although the New York teams have fans in Connecticut), so that's that.
Also, here's a fun fact about the current Hurricanes roster. they have Dougie Hamilton on defense, so there is one Bruins connection there. They don't have Norwood's own Noah Hanifin anymore though, which is a shame.
But yeah, always cool to see Whalers gear. It's quite rare these days, but that's what makes it so interesting and novel.