It’s not the Carolina Hurricanes — originally the Hartford Whalers — but Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont wants a hockey team back in the state.
Lamont told reporters on Friday that he reached out to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and hopes to schedule a meeting for next week, according to the Associated Press.
“This is a great hockey state and a great hockey town,” Lamont said, according to the AP. “It’s evidenced by the passion we have for the Whalers going back years — still one of the best-selling jerseys.
“I think we can guarantee them a very strong market right here, and a government that’s ready to come and be their partner.”
Lamont also appeared to confirm the development on Twitter when he quote-tweeted Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who took a screenshot of the Coyotes’ Twitter bio and made some edits.
“Arizona” was crossed out and replaced with “Connecticut,” and the “Arizona” part of the Twitter handle was crossed out as well — just leaving “Coyotes,” among other changes in their bio and location section.
“Let’s do this,” Lamont tweeted.
Regardless of how Lamont’s conversation with Bettman unfolds, it marks — at the very least — an attempt to add to Connecticut’s professional sports landscape, which currently includes just the WNBA’s Sun, by reuniting the state with a hockey team for the first time since 1997, when the Whalers left and became the Hurricanes.
The Whalers made eight playoffs during their time in Hartford, though they only finished with three winning seasons and never advanced as far as the Hurricanes have — making two Stanley Cups, winning one and sitting on the cusp of another appearance in their current Eastern Conference finals matchup against the Panthers.
According to the AP, the XL Center, where the Whalers used to play, would require renovations in order to host an NHL team, since the Sun’s Mohegan Sun Arena can’t house hockey games.
Lamont’s request to Bettman comes in the aftermath of the Coyotes’ attempt to have a new arena built in Tempe, Ariz., getting shut down by voters earlier this week.
The proposed arena would’ve been part of a reported $2.3 million entertainment district constructed in the same city where the Coyotes — which finished 13th in the Western Conference with 70 points — played their home games at Mullet Arena in 2022-23.
“The National Hockey League is terribly disappointed by the results of the public referendum regarding the Coyotes’ arena project in Tempe,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said following the vote, according to the AP. “We are going to review with the Coyotes what the options might be going forward.”