The_Book t1_j6fm1av wrote on January 30, 2023 at 12:04 AM

Reply to comment by solomons-marbles in Bring back the whalers!!! by iwanttobehappy2022

Hartford isn't really a small market tbh. The league has smaller markets. Ultimately it's finding a billionaire who likes hockey and is willing to pay. Probably need a new arena tho.

hasek3139 t1_j6gsdhu wrote on January 30, 2023 at 5:15 AM

Hartford is also a shit city compared to other pro sport cities

The_Book t1_j6gss9s wrote on January 30, 2023 at 5:19 AM

Yeah but I don't think it's fair to view it as just Hartford and not CT as a whole. New Haven is like 40ish minutes drive. Why separate the two metro areas? It's really gonna be the CT whalers and that makes sense when you consider other areas that have teams.

Also Cleveland/Cincinnati/Baltimore/Jacksonville/Green Bay/rando Canadian towns/New Jersey! have sports teams lol

hasek3139 t1_j6hkye6 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 11:24 AM

Yeah but all those places also have more space for sporting facilities, and have bigger metros in the area. Hartford is still low on that list of desirables areas to be. Also have you been to hartford? There’s really nothing going on, it always seems empty to me.

All the Canadian cities with NHL teams have much more to offer than hartford.

I started liking/watching hockey in 1996 as a kid, I didn’t even know hartford was a team, flipping channels I always got rangers games. Maybe it’s cause I grew up in southern CT? And my buddy who got me started on hockey kicked the Colorado avalanche as his team, and I think it was their first year being a team, vs hartford who has been in the NHL since 79?

My goal is to travel to every NHL rink to see my favorite team (the red wings) play. I’m at 19/32

I can tell you that each of those 19 cities I’ve been to are way more fun that Hartford, they have a great subway/public transport system/and care more about hockey

CT is more of a basketball state. Outside of the people I play adult league hockey with, no one I know is a hockey fan. College? Barley anyone I knew in 5 years there didn’t really watch. I work at a company with 100+ employees, don’t know everyone personally, but I know I’m the only hockey fan.

johnsonutah t1_j6imk4b wrote on January 30, 2023 at 4:33 PM

New Haven or somewhere in Fairfield County would be a far better and logical choice for a professional sports team than Hartford.

Hartford can barely exist as a city - it’s like 12 sq miles and relies entirely on the state of CT to fund tax revenue to it in order for it to continue existing.

New Haven on the other hand allows for access from central CT and Fairfield County, and it has Union station which could allow for a variety of mass transit to/from events. Alternatively, somewhere along the metro north line in Fairfield County would work.

Tying mass transit to a sports team / stadium is critical in a place like CT, as is locating the team in a city that is solvent / growing