Hockey Hall of Famers such as Gordie Howe, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Bobby Hull, Mark Howe, Dave Keon, Chris Pronger and Brendan Shanahan played in Hartford and are part of Whalers history. But after the move to North Carolina, the Hurricanes wanted a fresh start and left behind the logo, the jerseys and almost everything that had to do with the Whalers.
When Dundon completed the purchase of a majority interest in the Hurricanes from Peter Karmanos on Jan. 11, he began looking for ways to increase fan interest and thought there was no longer a reason to ignore the Hartford history.
"It just felt like something that time has passed and it's probably not something to avoid, but maybe enjoy," Dundon said. "It happens to be an iconic jersey and logo and to me it's more about that."
The Whalers logo, a "W" with a whale's tail on top that connect to create an "H" in the negative space in the center, hasn't been worn in an NHL game for more than 21 years, but it's developed a kind of a cult following since then. Rogers, who retired in 1986 after playing seven NHL seasons with the Whalers, New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, often sees people wearing it during his travels and in his hometown of Calgary.
"Last week, I was doing some Christmas shopping and saw a guy wearing a Whalers jersey," Rogers said. "I think that logo was so unique that people kind of rallied around that more than the Hartford Whalers team. They just thought it was a cool logo, and when people remember the Hartford Whalers a lot of it has to do with that jersey."