On Thursday night, the Sabres will visit the Carolina Whalers. And no, that’s not a typo, sort of, anyway. Just as we see some teams do across the pro sports landscape, the Hurricanes will be cosplaying as the Hartford Whalers on what they call “Whalers Night” on Thursday.
For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, the Hurricanes were once known as the New England Whalers, and later the Hartford Whalers. In 1996-97, the Whalers played their final season in Connecticut’s state capital, headed south for Raleigh, North Carolina, and became the Hurricanes.
While they’ve had more success as the Hurricanes, the name Carolina Whalers would’ve been a good fit. Plus, the shade of green that the Canes use when they turn back the clocks has such a nostalgic feel, part of me wishes they just kept the Whalers name.
Going to be a nostalgic event in Raleigh, North Carolina
And I know, I know, very rarely do we see NHL teams relocate and keep their same name and identity. The Calgary Flames (to an extent) is the only example I can think of off the top of my head as so many others, like the Arizona Coyotes (Utah Hockey Club), Quebec Nordiques (Colorado Avalanche), Minnesota North Stars (Dallas Stars), and Colorado Rockies (New Jersey Devils) have all dramatically changed their looks.
Yes, I’m including the Stars in there too, since the North Stars all but abandoned their traditional look before they moved to Dallas and added subtle changes to the name and uniform that they ended up using following the move. I also get that residents of specific cities like to keep their team name, if in the event they get their team back, like the Winnipeg Jets.
Still, couldn’t the Hurricanes have at least kept that awesome color scheme? I don’t mind red, white, and black, but I’d like to at least see that stairstep lettering on all three of their uniforms like they have on those road whites. Anyway, I’m getting carried away here in talking about arguably my greatest passion within sports - you guessed it, uniforms.
The Sabres-Canes matchup will look like an instant classic
I also like it when teams wear their classic uniforms against those they’ve played against in the past whose uniforms are also classics. For the Sabres, their white sweater and blue shorts with the familiar crossed swords (or sabres) are among the most recognized in hockey.
Yeah, the ideal matchup is always against the Boston Bruins for obvious reasons, but the Sabres are an excellent consolation. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Canes whip these uniforms out more often when they face teams coming into Raleigh from the same region, or even north of the border if those teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens.
It’s also something I wish the NFL’s Tennessee Titans would do more of when they face former AFC Central opponents when they break out their old Houston Oilers uniforms as opposed to wearing them against the Texans. I get it, but whether it’s the NFL, NHL, or anywhere else in sports, I need more classics against classics.