Tonight, the Carolina Hurricanes organization honors its past as the team embraces its history in Hartford as the fans get a chance to reminisce in the nostalgia of the Hartford Whalers. Brass Bonanza glaring through PNC Arena, Plucky the Whale in attendance at games, and the Whalers jerseys and logos return to NHL ice once more. Every team’s favorite throwback jersey gets to come out of the wardrobe today.
Their opponent? The troublesome New Jersey Devils. They beat the Hurricanes a few days ago as they ruined the first career start for one of the Canes’ young netminders. Carolina is looking for revenge against a team they should have beaten comfortably as a bottom dweller in the NHL. You can recycle a lot of the lines I used in this regard from the preview against Ottawa, so I won’t bore you with that.
Tonight isn’t about the Devils or the Hurricanes for that matter. Tonight is about the city of Hartford, Connecticut, and the hockey history of one city in New England. A former WHA champion, and a team that no longer exists. Tonight, the NHL gets to turn back the clock to see the Hartford Whalers take to the ice once more in their iconic manor. Everything is the same, except PNC Arena is a little bit bigger than the Civic center.
This game is always one of the hottest on the calendar and has sold out from most mainstream ticket providers. Fans who have had stuff come up are reselling their tickets, but almost every seat in the house is going to be occupied for the game where we get to look back in time. Carolina is 3-0-1 all-time when they turn to the ionic Whaler uniforms. They will be trying to capture win number 30 on the year in them tonight in a game everyone loves.