Professional ice hockey in Connecticut

Fans were ambivalent to the name change and attendance plummeted, making this the franchise last season in New Haven.

[1] The Bridgeport Sound Tigers begin play in the AHL in 2001, in the newly constructed Arena at Harbor Yard.

The team had mixed success in the NHL before relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997 due to attendance and revenue issues.

[citation needed] Years after the departure of the Whalers, the team remains a focus of civic pride among Connecticut residents.

[5] Loyalty remains focused on the team's Hartford years, with new Whalers merchandise sales alone among the highest selling brands in the NHL as of August 2010.

[6] This continued popularity throughout the intervening years has led to many efforts to bring NHL Hockey back to Hartford by individuals such as Hartford real estate magnate and former XL Center operator Larry Gottesdiener and former Whalers franchise owner Howard Baldwin.

Larry Gottesdiener, head of Northland Investment Group, has scouted for years for an NHL franchise to bring to Hartford.

Northland, a firm heavily invested in Hartford real estate, jointly operated XL Center from 2007–10.

Gottesdiener hoped to bring a new team temporarily to the XL Center until a modern arena could be built in a possible deal with the state.

[10] Northland has since divested of its share in the XL Center, and appears to have abandoned its attempts to attract an NHL team.

In 2010, the team announced it was changing its name to the Connecticut Whale, to honor hockey tradition in Hartford started by the Whalers.