Amidst reports that the New York Islanders and their current arena, The Barclays Center, may be parting ways at the end of the 2017–18 season, the good people of Connecticut have stepped in with a solution.
Daniel Malloy, the Governor of Connecticut, and Luke Bronin, the Mayor of Hartford, sent a letter to the Islanders on Friday. The letter serves as an open invitation for the NHL franchise to relocate to Hartford, once the mighty home of the Hartford Whalers, who relocated after the 1997 season, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes.
The letter begins:
It has come to our attention that the Islanders may be in the need for a new home after the 2017–18 season. Recognizing that many issues will complicate your decision making, we would nonetheless like to offer Hartford’s XL Centre as an option for your interim use. Of course, as we pursue the transformation of the building into today’s NHL standards, we would suggest the building as a long-term solution to your needs as well. We are certainly willing to work with private partners to develop the building you would be proud to call home and to adjust our development plans to the needs of your club and fans.
The letter points out that a refurbishment of the XL Center, in downtown Hartford, is already under way, with “a new ice floor and dasher boards” being installed. Other upgrades have recently been made, and there are plans in place for more improvements still.
While Connecticut has been deprived of NHL hockey for nearly two decades—the Whalers played their last game on home ice on April 13, 1997—Malloy and Bronin note that the city of Hartford is a strong NHL market whose fan base, despite their team having long since departed, “is still ranked as one of the NHL’s most energetic with the continued sale of items trademarked with the classic green and blue logo.”
The letter adds that Hartford presents a market “anxious for an NHL team, eager to fill seats, buy merchandise, and support your team.” (The letter does leave out the other reason Hartford has made headlines of late: its dire financial situation.)
As it happens, the Hurricanes, too, are in the midst of relocation chatter—though NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently shot down speculation that the team could depart Raleigh, N.C., saying emphatically: “The club is not moving.” Team owner Peter Karmanos Jr., who was responsible for moving the Whalers from Connecticut to North Carolina, has been searching for a part-owner over the past few years and is now reportedly open to the idea of selling his team.
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