No matter which teams I've adopted in my 28 years on this planet, none will ever come close to matching the allegiance I have for the Whale. If anyone can find another NHL team with a better entrance theme than Brass Bonanza, speak up now or forever hold your peace!!

Given that the franchise was born about eight years before I was (November 1971 to be exact), this is my way of paying homage to the best major league franchise Connecticut has- and will ever- had.

In its infancy, the Whalers, then known as the New England Whalers, sported these cool threads as they skated around the Boston Garden, the Hartford Civic Center and the Springfield Civic Center (after the HCC's roof collapsed after the Blizzard of '78). Guys like Larry Pleau, Rick Ley and the entire Howe clan- Gordie, Mark, and Marty- graced us with their presence while competing in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1979. During this period they even won the inaugural league championship, defeating the Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes) for the AVCO Cup in 1973.

This tribute to the Whale will be under construction as more is added. To read more about the Whalers, click on the links in the blue column...

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