the 4th star

With the Carolina Hurricanes into the second round and into the hockey spotlight once again, it’s time for people to start bugging the few remaining people in Hartford about the Whalers and why they still love them.

Earlier this week, the New York Times had a fantastic piece on the Hartford Whalers Booster Club, complete with great links to the last Whalers goal scored at the Civic Center and the awesome Brass Bonanza. Today, the Boston Globe, already searching for story lines before the Bruins even take the ice with the former Hartford franchise, the Carolina Hurricanes, follows it up with a similar yarn.

Both entertaining. Four things:

1. How is it that Hartford had something cool like the Brass Bonanza and Winnipeg did not? The best we could do is play Van Halen’s Jump before each game. That was great and everything, and hearing that song forever makes me think of the Jets, but God, did we suck. And don’t write in and tell me about how awesome the White Out was. Sure, it was loud, and I had a lot of fun when Dave Ellett scored, but we stole that gimmick from the Nordiques.

2. Aren’t you Jets fans glad that the Coyotes are a terrible team? With no chance of winning the Stanley Cup in the near future, that means there’s no chance of reporters showing up at our doors asking us to walk down memory lane.

3. The Globe story alludes to people in Hartford cheering for the Hurricanes. I remember when the Jets left. Some people loaded their hockey loyalties into the moving van, too, continuing to cheer for the franchise. I wonder if there are any Coyotes fans left in Winnipeg these days?

4. An interesting point made in the Globe about attendance figures across the NHL. You mean wins and losses have an impact on crowd numbers? Outrageous.

The Whalers’ owner, Peter Karmanos, easily could have kept the franchise in Hartford, but bolted for the perceived bountiful riches of Raleigh, where the fan following has been passionate in good times (like now), torrid in winning times (including a Stanley Cup in 2006), but oftentimes, shall we way, fickle. Which makes Raleigh like many towns throughout the Original 30. Let us not forget, before the Bruins began pumping some oxygen into the Garden these last couple of years, the club’s season-ticket base plummeted to a range of some 6,000.

What! Hockey fans fickle? Gentlemen, throw on your Jimmy Mann jerseys and set your memories to selective…

No way, man! I remember the Winnipeg Arena was packed to the rafters each night, 15,000 strong. The best part about those nights were that even though the place was packed, as I remember it, we could move right down to the glass without any problem or worry. And there were broads everywhere. Hot ones, like waitress-hot. Plus, you’d think we’d have to walk past the north end of Winnipeg Stadium to get our car at the end of that cold, January night. No way, man! Turns out we could always get a spot at Chi-Chi’s. That was awesome, too! I don’t remember the score most of those nights (too much booze and broads and burritos), but I’m sure the Jets won. They always won.

The Slowest. Hockey. Draft. Ever. (SHDE) is through to the second round, and things are shaping up well for the 4th Star. Not only did I receive bonus points for breakfast appearances, yours truly also successfully made the argument that an additional point should be awarded (to me) for being the only one out of the seven participants to not drop a player after the first round.

Currently, we sit in second place, just two points back of this guy named Chapko. While some might be worried about the prospects of catching him, given he has the likes of Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Getlaf, and Perry in his stable, we should draw your attention to: All of his guys have played six or seven games each, while four of my guys have been on the happy side of sweeps. So to be just two back without having really played any games yet, I’m comfortable with that. It all balances out, you know? Plus, I only expect to lose one guy (Staal) after the second round, so I should be cool.

A breakdown of my guys:

• Evgeni Malkin, Penguins — Leads the NHL in post season scoring.
• Eric Staal, Hurricanes — A point a game player, if he can get up to 12 before he gets bounced by Boston I’ll be thrilled.
• Michael Ryder, Bruins — My last pick has been a pleasant surprise. Ah, the freedom of never seeing the checking line.
• Marian Hossa, Red Wings — Only four points in the first round, but he should at least maintain that pace against the Ducks.
• Brian Rafalski, Red Wings — Same deal. Not enough chances to put up those quiet, three-point nights so far.
• Henrik Sedin, Canucks — Four points in four straight, too. The puck follows him around so I’m not worried. Not too worried, anyway.

An SHDE obit to close things out here:

Poor Dr. Hudson. Down to just Washington defenceman Mike Green after Staal ripped his heart out with a late one against the Devils last night. Three New Jersey players and two Sharks proved to be the wrong stimulus package for the economic doctor this spring. Here’s hoping Green didn’t concuse himself when he slammed into the boards in Game 7. Here’s hoping he gets an adult haircut before the second round starts, too. Dude, you do not play in Saskatoon anymore. Grow up.