Former Whalers owner launches campaign to bring the NHL back to Hartford

Effort launched to bring NHL back to Hartford

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — The former owner of the Hartford Whalers has launched a campaign that he hopes will eventually bring an NHL team back to Connecticut.

Howard Baldwin said Wednesday he is trying to increase fan interest and convince NHL officials that Hartford is a viable market.

League officials might be the toughest sell. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday that he couldn’t foresee another Whalers team in Hartford.

Baldwin says his new campaign includes a “Whalers Hockey Fest” that will feature as many as 20 outdoor games at the University of Connecticut’s football stadium in East Hartford next February.

The Whalers left Connecticut in 1997 and moved to North Carolina, where they became the Carolina Hurricanes.

Hartford is one of several cities hoping to lure an NHL team.