Hartford Whalers

First NHL season: 1979-80
Entered NHL following seven seasons in the World Hockey Association
Last season: 1996-97
Moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, via Greensboro; became Carolina Hurricanes

Stanley Cups won: 0
Stanley Cup Final appearances: 0

The Whalers' nickname is significant in two ways: 1. When the team began in the WHA in 1972, it was based in Boston and named the New England Whalers. Whaling is a major industry in Massachusetts seaport towns. 2. The name is a backhanded nod to the league the team started in (WHAlers). When the team was absorbed into the NHL in 1979, it was renamed the Hartford Whalers, having moved to the Hartford Civic Center years earlier.

Retired numbers*
2 Rick Ley
9 Gordie Howe
19 John McKenzie

*On January 6, 2006, Hartford's new pro hockey team, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, honored three other members of the Whalers -- Ulf Samuelsson (5), Ron Francis (10) and Kevin Dineen (11). Francis' #10 is also retired by the franchise's current incarnation, the Carolina Hurricanes.