The National Hockey League is one of the most exciting and spectacular tournaments on the planet. The best teams compete for the right to win the Stanley Cup. Over its 100+ year history, various teams have played in the league, some of which have ceased to exist. One such team is the Hartford Wailers, which at the time of its founding was called the New England Whalers.
The team was formed in 1972 in the American city of Hartford, Connecticut. From 1972 to 1997, it played in the regular championships of the United States and Canada. The Hartford Civic Center is considered the home stadium of the club.
The New England Whalers team is remembered for its play in the World Hockey Association. The best playing season for the Whalers was 1972/1973, where they finished second in the regular season, losing only to the Winnipeg Jets in the final game.
In 1979, the Wailers moved to the NHL due to the termination of the WHA. In the same year, they change their name to the familiar Hartford Whalers. The team is not doing as well in the NHL as they are in the WHA. They rarely make it to the playoff stage and are eliminated in the first elimination game. In the 1986/1987 season, the team managed to win the Charles Adams Division and reach the quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup.
Unfortunately, due to economic instability and low attendance, the team was moved to the Carolinas where it became the Carolina Hurricanes. However, Hartford Wailers fans remember and appreciate their team and its legacy. The Whalers won their last game against the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 2-1.
What is New England Whalers?
New England Whalers is the first name of a former professional hockey club, known as Hartford Whalers. This team was very popular among fans and was famous for its unique whale tail symbolism on its uniforms. The team played in the NHL from 1972 to 1997 and was based in Hartford, Connecticut.
In terms of visual identity, the New England (and later Hartford) Whalers fully lives up to its name. The cool and modern style of the team’s logo is one of the factors the club is still remembered by the fans.
The original logo was created for the New England Whalers Club in 1972 and stayed unchanged up to 1979 when the club was renamed. It was a green and white roundel with the full name of the team written around its perimeter in elegant serif capitals, and a bold stylized “W” in the center. The medallion was decorated with an image of a fishing harpoon, drawn on it horizontally.
The lettering on the original logo of the New England Whalers team was set in a narrowed traditional serif terrace with tall capital characters and the classy shape of the bars and serifs.
As for the color palette of the New England Whalers’ visual identity, initially, it was based on white and green, a fresh combination of shades that looks vivid and bright.