![]() Including the period in the late 1970s, when the Whalers played at the nearby Springfield Civic Center while their Hartford arena was being rebuilt after heavy snow followed by heavy rain compounded engineering and construction shortcomings, causing the roof to collapse, the franchise remained in Hartford.Īs one of the most stable WHA teams, the Whalers, along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets, were admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979. On January 11, 1975, the team played its first game in front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum. While waiting for the completion of a new arena in Hartford, the Whalers played the first part of the season at The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield. With increasing difficulty scheduling games at Boston Garden (owned by the rival NHL Bruins), the owners decided to move the team to Hartford, Connecticut beginning with the 1974-75 season. For the first two years of their existence, the club played their home games at the Boston Arena and Boston Garden. ![]() ![]() The New England Whalers were established in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to begin play in Boston, Massachusetts. Franchise history In New England Main article: Hartford Whalers
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