...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
|
April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / June-September 1999 / October-December, 1999 / January-April, 2000 / May-September 2000 / January 2001-present October, 2000 The American Hockey League's Wolf Pack, perhaps stung by criticism that they were blind to the feelings of Whaler fans when they set up shop at the Hartford Civic Center, announce that 2000-01 will be a year-long celebration of hockey in Hartford. Among the activities planned: an opening-night appearance by former Whalers GM Emile Francis, and a re-raising of the banners commemorating the Whalers' 1987 Adams Division championship and retired numbers (Gordie Howe, #9; Rick Ley, #2; and John McKenzie, #19). "For Hartford hockey fans, Wolf Pack and Whalers, amateur and professional, it will be a night to complete the circle, a night to begin a season of healing," notes Jeff Jacobs in the Hartford Courant. "Rather than continue to run from Hartford's hockey past, the Madison Square Garden folks have done a wise and decent thing. They have embraced it." October 7: The Canes open the 2000-01 season at home, hosting Washington and playing to a 3-3 tie. Attendance: 18,337, somewhat short of a sellout, but attendance around the league starts off soft and only four teams manage to sell out their openers. Two nights later, Carolina hosts Stanley Cup finalists Dallas, winning before 11,673. Attendance for October 24's meeting with the San Jose Sharks, a 3-2 loss, drops to 10,140. October 27: A surprise sellout of 18,730 to see the Cup champion New Jersey Devils seems to make everyone giddy, including Peter Karmanos and Denver Post writer Terry Frei, who for ESPN writes a glowing, if bizarre, apology for all the mean things the media has said about the Hurricanes. "Absolutely, Raleigh has a long way to go as an NHL market," Frei says. "A long way. But the NHL should have targeted the largest possible markets with limited professional sports competition, and Raleigh qualifies. And Karmanos has such a great deal in North Carolina he can afford -- quite literally -- to both give it time and to gloat." "The Greensboro purgatory was a fiasco for everyone," Frei writes, "but it's not as if, say, the Phoenix Coyotes would have drawn 15,000 a game in a two-season interim stay in Flagstaff." Your humble Webmaster points out, however, that the "Greensboro purgatory" was never expected to be a two-year exile; to the contrary, the size of the 21,300-seat Greensboro Coliseum was seen as a bonus by the team when they made it their temporary home -- and who set ticket prices that topped out at $100 a game and season-ticket expectations of 10-12,000 per year, expecting hordes they believed they could not have drawn as a lame-duck franchise in Hartford. Karmanos, sitting in a full arena for the first time since the building opened in 1999, makes expansive comments about the team's future. ""One of the problems around the league is that people won't fess up and put the raw numbers out," he says. "We will dutifully fess up. This has been a lot of fun, a lot of fun to build a franchise from ground zero, which we had to do after our move from Hartford....The season ticket base isn't here, no. So we're going to concentrate on that. Right now, there's no reason for anybody to buy season tickets. They can go anytime they want and get good tickets. We have a good marketing plan and will try to sell out seven to 10 games, sell out 20 or so games next year." Karmanos claims the only debts his Gale Force Holdings have date back to interest on the purchase of the team, plus a $40 million contribution to arena construction and the cost of the team's minor-league arena in Fort Meyers, Florida. He does not mention the team's operating losses for the two years in Greensboro, nor the operating loss for the team and the new arena in 1999-2000. "With a season-ticket base of only around 5,000, the attendance will fluctuate wildly, depending on the opponent and the night of the week," Frei writes. He is right. Two nights later the Presidents Trophy-winning St. Louis Blues draw 10,155. The Blues win 4-1. And speaking of new NHL markets: through their first six home games, the Columbus Blue Jackets had sold out three times; their lowest attendance was 15,211, for a Wednesday game against the San Jose Sharks. The Minnesota Wild, in seven home games, had sold out their 18,064-seat arena every night -- and had a standing-room crowd of 18,827 for their opener. October 30: The News and Observer recaps the first year of operations at the new Raleigh arena. The picture is rosy and there are smiles all around, with the tiny exception of the fact that the operation lost money -- and by the terms of their agreement with the arena authority, it is the Hurricanes who are on the hook for the red ink. The Canes, who operate the arena, decline to disclose the total revenue generated, but owner Peter Karmanos had estimated the arena and the team would lose a combined $15 million. The Hurricanes and NCSU paid $3.34 million in annual rent to the authority. And the upshot of the lawsuits that have flown over the building project: legal settlements with contractors have pushed construction costs to nearly $167 million. The sale of arena naming rights, meanwhile, is still unresolved, despite months of negotiations. October 31: Defensive lapses in the third period turn a three-goal lead over Tampa Bay to near disaster. A slashing penalty to Sandish Ozolinsh with 4:50 to play leads to a Tampa Bay goal, and with two more in quick succcession the Lightning grab an improbable 5-5 tie. Only an overtime goal by Ozolinsh salvages a win for the Canes, their first in five games. Attendance: 7,016, the lowest since the team moved to their new building. (The Columbus Blue Jackets, also playing at home on Halloween night, draw 15,250.) "Admittedly it's a small group (just a portion of the 7,016 in the house)," writes Jim Kelley on FOXSports.com, "but there's a very real Dump Paul Maurice chorus in Carolina. They were screaming 'Mo Must Go' when the 'Canes blew a three-goal lead to Tampa." The Canes finish October with a record of 3-5-3. Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, signed in July to a five-year, $25.5 million deal, has two goals and seven assists in 11 games -- tying him for second on the Canes' scoring chart -- and is a minus-six. The top scorer for the month is Martin Gelinas, with five goals and five assists. November, 2000 November 1: Larry Pleau, the first player signed by the Whalers, and Gordie Howe, who concluded his professional career with the Whalers (1977-80), are inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Howe's wife, Colleen, is the first woman inducted into a major hockey hall of fame. November 2: E.J. Hradek of ESPN decries the "ineptitude" of the Southeast Division, where the overall record is just 9-22-16-5. "Isn't it time for Gary Bettman to send the NHL's Southeast Division to the AHL? Couldn't he call up the Hartford Wolf Pack and a bunch of its minor league colleagues to take the place of the Canes, Thrashers, Panthers, Caps and Lightning? (Hey, commish, the people in central Connecticut would love you for it.)" The Hurricanes, Hradek writes, are "a natural disaster of a franchise which seems stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity. Believe it or not, things are so bad in Carolina that the club actually misses defenseman Kevin Hatcher, who has yet to return from an injury suffered in the club's fifth game." November 3: Sandis Ozolinsh, acquired from Colorado, has a goal and an assist as the Canes meet his former team, but the Avalanche continue their dominance of the Hurricanes with a 5-3 win in Colorado. The Avalanche's record over their last nine meetings is 7-0-2; they have not lost to the franchise since 1995, when the were defeated by the Whalers. November 4: Carolina wing Bates Battaglia hits San Jose rookie Mark Smith from behind, and behind the play; Smith, unconscious and bleeding, is removed from the ice on a stretcher. "He didn't see it at all," Sharks coach Darryl Sutter says. "He was probably out before he hit the ice." Battaglia is ejected and given a major penalty for charging. The resulting power play allows the Sharks to go up 2-1 on their way to a 4-1 final. The Canes fall to 3-7-3 and drop to second place in the Southeast Division. From the Montréal Gazette's Pat Hicky: "Peter Karmanos makes no excuses for his decision to move his NHL team from Hartford to Carolina...Karmanos points out that the population in the Raleigh-Durham area is well-educated and affluent, with an annual median income of $117,000. But the problem remains that Karmanos hasn't been able to tap into this affluent market. The crowds in Carolina are an embarrassment, and I'll stick with my long-held belief that the game will never go in Carolina." November 8: Former Carolina left wing Gary Roberts has two goals and an assist, helping Toronto to a 5-0 victory over the Hurricanes. Roberts' first goal is scored short-handed goal at 7:52 of the second period; Canes goalie Arturs Irbe is yanked after allowing three goals on eight shots.The Canes finish their road trip 0-3 and drop to 3-8-3, tied for third in the Southeast. November 10: "Brass Bonanza" rings out at the Hartford Civic Center as the AHL Wolf Pack honors 25 years of Hartford hockey. Former Whaler Gordie Howe receives a two-minute standing ovation during a 20-minute ceremony filled with video highlights of the Whalers and Wolf Pack, confetti and the repeated blaring of the Whalers' corny, irritating and (for all that) beloved song. Howe's retired number (9) was raised to the rafters a second time with those of Rick Ley (2) and Johnny McKenzie (19), as well as banners honoring the Whalers' 1974-75 WHA East Division and 1986-87 NHL Adams Division titles. The tune roars after each Hartford goal in a 4-1 victory over the Albany River Rats, never failing to rouse the crowd of 10,372, many in Whalers jerseys, to cheers. Videotaped tributes from former Whalers, played throughout the game, cause the crowd to erupt again and again in chants of "Let's go, Whalers."
© Copyright 2000 Stephen Dunn, The Hartford Courant Howe, 72, played 32 seasons in the NHL and WHA, the final three with the Whalers. "When I used to go into the Montreal Forum and see all the numbers they had up there, it made you think about all the people who went before and made it all possible for us," Howe says. "I think it's great they did it here and will be something I'll always remember, though having my number retired the first time was harder to take." Also on hand are former Whalers Mike Veisor, Garry Swain, Norm Barnes, Gerry McDonald and Doug Roberts and former players and coaches Don Blackburn and John Cunniff, who now coaches Albany. The Whalers' banners take a spot near the three banners commemorating the Wolf Pack's run to the AHL Calder Cup title in 2000. "I think it was special and important to recognize what was accomplished here in hockey for 25 years," says Wolf Pack general manager Al Coates, in his first season in Hartford after 29 years with the Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames. "The banners and retired jerseys going back in the rafters is a symbol of tradition. Before you can really go on and establish yourself from what you accomplished last spring for the next number of years, you need to acknowledge what the tradition is." That same night, the Canes host the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a Friday night game the organization has targeted as one of their 10 "sell-outs." Two days later, the Ottawa Senators draw 12,003; the following Wednesday, Southeast Division rival Florida draws 11,088. November 17: "It's no secret a lot of players want out of Carolina," writes Jim Kelley for FOXSports.com. "In addition to all those who left in the offseason, Rod Brind'Amour (who hasn't played well for the 'Canes) is hoping to go next. His play plus his $4.25 million annual salary makes him a tough sell on the trade floor. Heading into the weekend, Brind'Amour, who has been bothered with a foot problem, had just two goals on the season and has been demoted to the checking line. The Canes would love to move him for even a backup goalie." November 26: The Canes return home from a four-game road trip that produced three wins (at Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Boston) and one overtime loss (in New Jersey) for a total of seven points. They promptly give up four goals to Nashville in a span of 7:51 on their way to a 7-4 loss before 10,827. The Predators' seven goals are a franchise record. "You never expect to score seven goals, especially with our team," Nashville center Randy Robitaille says. "We don't have that firepower, we're not Colorado or Detroit." Carolina falls to 1-6 against Western Conference teams December, 2000 Carolina kicks off December hosting Ottawa. Despite outshooting the Senators 20-11, the Canes fall 2-0. Former Whaler Ron Francis plays in his 1,432nd game, tying him for ninth on the all-time NHL list. Attendance: 11,360. The Hurricanes then set off on a western swing, winning in Atlanta (5-2) and losing rather horrifically to Calgary (7-2); Arturs Irbe gives up three goals on seven shots and lasts just 12:42 before Tyler Moss takes over and gives up four more. The seven goals allowed and five-goal loss margin tie the Canes' worst this season, and they drop to 1-7 against the Western Conference. Former Whaler Sami Kapanen scores his 100th career goal. Forbes magazine publishes their ranking of the value of NHL teams. The Hurricanes are valued at $79 million -- 27th of 38 teams ranked. Player expenses are stated as $31.5 million; gate receipts, $20.2 million. The team was valued at $80 million in 1998 and $70 million in 1999. "Decent arena lease," Forbes notes. "Team horribly managed with weak fan support." "Carolina remains among the biggest attendance headaches in the league, with just a 1-percent increase over the paltry 12,740 they drew in a brand new building in Raleigh last season," writes Keith Gave for CBS SportsLine.com. "But [NHL commissioner Gary] Bettman, like team owner Peter Karmanos, remains convinced that the demographics around the Research Triangle are attractive to the NHL. 'They're doing dramatically better than when they spent the first two years in Greensboro,' Bettman said, referring to a 75-percent increase in attendance over the 1998-99 season. 'But when they moved to Raleigh there wasn't a lot excitement. They didn't have that new-car smell. Carolina is trying to build in a non-traditional market. They need to do better, but there is every indication that the growth will continue over the long term.'" The Hurricanes drop their affiliation with the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones, where they have sent prospects since dropping their affliation with the AHL's Beast of New Haven. One day later, they ink a deal as primary affiliate of the Lowell Lock Monsters. December 13: Carolina makes its first trip to Minnesota to take on the expansion Wild. The Canes are outshot 29-19 -- 9-1 over the final 25 minutes -- and give up a shorthanded goal on the way to a 1-1 tie. The game is the 16th consecutive sellout for Minnesota -- who, with several standing-room-only games, are actually playing to above-100 percent attendance. The Canes manage only three points out of a three-game road trip against sub-.500 teams. December 26: A four-game road swing comes to an end in Tampa Bay, where they fall to the Lightning 3-2; the trip, which saw losses to Boston (4-1), the Islanders (2-1) and Philadelphia (2-1 in overtime) produces one point in four games. The loss to Tampa Bay drops their record to 4-8-2 against teams with losing records. December 27: a home game against the Rangers draws 16,280, who witness a near-disaster when New York overcomes a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the second period. The game is notable for bizarre bounces; Jeff O'Neill's first goal caroms off Rangers' goalie Kirk McLean's chest straight into the air, coming down to trickle past the goal line; a slap shot by Glen Wesley bounces off New York defenseman Tomas Kloucek's face. Rob DiMaio's goal with less than five minutes left gives the Canes their first win in five games. Center Rod Brind'Amour leaves the game in the third period with a groin strain and is expected to miss several games. December 29: The Canes pay their first visit to Columbus, where they drop a 3-1 decision to the expansion Blue Jackets. The crowd of 18,136 marks the third straight sellout at Nationwide Arena and eighth this season. Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos once considered moving his wayward franchise to Columbus, where he intended to play in an abandoned airplane factory for two years until a new arena could be built; he opted for Raleigh and the NHL awarded Columbus an expansion franchise in June, 1997. Columbus has a number of former Whalers, including Kevin Dineen, Geoff Sanderson, Robert Kron and Frantisek Kucera, on their roster. "The Hurricanes spent their first two seasons playing in Greensboro, N.C., some 80 miles from Raleigh," writes Aaron Portzline in the Columbus Dispatch. "Now they're playing their second season in Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, but the crowds have been lukewarm at best." "At first, we were all kind of excited about going to the sunny blue skies of Carolina," Sanderson tells the Dispatch. "You know, year-around golf. But when you're driving 80 miles for a home game and playing in front of 3,500 or 4,000 people, it's tough. It was the most disappointing thing I've ever witnessed in hockey." "I'm not sure if they realize it now or not, but I know they will after the game,'' Dineen says. "Once they see this arena and our fans and realize what they have back home..." The Canes wrap up 2000 hosting Chicago. A 2-1 win improves their record against the West to 2-8-1. Former Whaler Jeff Daniels scores his first goal in 38 games and Ron Francis tallies his 1,586th point, moving him within five of passing Phil Esposito for fifth on the NHL's career scoring list. Attendance: 13,097. With a record of 14-16-4-2, the Canes have 34 points -- good for third in the Southeast. But with Washington streaking to 42 points and second-year Atlanta surprising everyone with a strong run, the Canes are eight points out of first in the division and just three points above Tampa Bay. They are in 11th place in the conference standings and three points behind Atlanta for the eighth and final playoff spot. April-October, 1997 / November, 1997-May, 1998 / June-September, 1998 / October-December, 1998 / January-May 1999 / June-September 1999 / October-December, 1999 / January-April, 2000 / May-September 2000 / January 2001-present |
..............................................................................................................................................................
Graphics
and content on this site are copyright © John Eue, except
those images which retain the copyright
of their original owners. No infringement of rights is meant
or implied. This site is run non-profit
for private purposes only. This site was created and is maintained
by John Eue. Last update: March 19, 2001.
Made
with Macintosh
