Fansided

Hartford Whalers vanity plates? Yes, and they rock

By Brad Berreman

2 Feb 1996: Leftwinger Scott Daniels of the Hartford Whalers moves down the ice during a game against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The Whalers won the game, 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Cratty /Allsport
2 Feb 1996: Leftwinger Scott Daniels of the Hartford Whalers moves down the ice during a game against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The Whalers won the game, 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Cratty /Allsport /
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The Hartford Whalers have been gone for more than 20 years, but nostalgia has descended upon Connecticut in an official fashion.

From 1979-97, the Hartford Whalers were part of the NHL. They then became the Carolina Hurricanes, and the team’s fans were left with a local team to root for. The new edition of the franchise has won a Stanley Cup in 2006, but there’s still something odd about high-level pro hockey in North Carolina.

It’s often said there’s big money in nostalgia in various areas, with old school sports jerseys and other gear as a prime example. Hartford Whalers gear can be found for those that want it, but the Connecticut DMV is offering a way for people to put their Whalers’ fandom on the road.

On Tuesday, Lt. governor Nancy Wyman and state legislators unveiled a new commemorative license plate celebrating the Whalers. They will cost $60, with $15 going to the DMV and the rest going to a fund dedicated to a new dialysis and infusion center at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Wyman cited how the plates will tap into the Whalers’ lingering popularity.

"“It’s been two decades since we lost the Whalers, but in our hearts we have not,” Wyman said, flanked by DMV commissioner Michael Bzdyra, lawmakers who drafted the legislation for the plates and Pucky, the Whaler’s mascot."

Here’s a look at the plates.

https://twitter.com/NHLonNBCSports/status/955905135296827395

If you live in Connecticut and want to order a Whalers plate, you can do so here. The rest of us will just have to get a Whalers’ hat, t-shirt, hoodie or something to publicly display that awesome logo.

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According to the Hartford Courant, a petition for Whalers plates amassed more than 1,000 signatures before lawmakers proposed the bill. That helped the bill easily pass the state House and Senate on the way to the governor’s desk, and in this time of political constipation that’s a feat in and of itself.

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