April 13, 1997: The Hartford Whalers Play Their Last Game

April 13, 1997: The Hartford Whalers defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Hartford Civic Center. Since the Whalers did not make the Playoffs, this was their last game, as they were being moved to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

They were founded in 1972 as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association -- the name reflecting not only New England's maritime tradition, but the league: WHAlers. They won the league's 1st title in 1972, and reached the Final again in 1978.

They entered the NHL in 1979, changing their name to the Hartford Whalers (and adopting the logo where the W for Whalers was easy to see, but the H for Hartford wasn't), but only won 1 Playoff series, in 1986 over fellow WHA graduates the Quebec Nordiques, and only won 1 regular-season Division title, the next season.

They played at the Boston Arena (later the Matthews Arena) in the 1972-73 season, the Boston Garden in 1973-74, and the Big E Coliseum in West Springfield, Massachusetts in 1974-75, before the Hartford Civic Center opened. A 1978 roof collapse forced them to the nearby Springfield Civic Center (now the MassMutual Center) for 2 years.

Ultimately, they left because the Hartford Civic Center -- since renamed the XL Center and now the PeoplesBank Arena -- was too small and didn't have the precious luxury boxes. It also didn't help that Hartford is about halfway between New York, with 3 NHL teams in its metropolitan area (one of which, the Rangers, replaced the Whalers with a farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack), and Boston, with the established Bruins.

But their attendance in Raleigh has barely been enough to fill their old arena. Maybe they should have stayed put.

From 1874 to 1877, Hartford was home to the Hartford Dark Blues, of the National Association and then the National league, but the couldn't compete in the NL, and folded. The Hartford Blues played in the NFL in the 1926 season, but only in that season. The Connecticut Bicentennials played in New Haven in the North American Soccer League in the 1975, 1976 and 1977 seasons.

But with the demise of the Whalers, the only sports team in Connecticut that could even remotely be called "major league" are the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, who have played at Mohegan Sun Arena, at the Mohegan Sun casino resort in Montville, Connecticut since 2003.

UPDATE: In 2025, the XL Center was renamed the PeoplesBank Arena.

The Whalers retired 3 uniform numbers: 2, for defenseman Rick Ley; 9, for right wing Gordie Howe; and 19, for right wing John McKenzie. In 2006, arena management also hung banners for 5, defenseman Ulf Samuelsson; 10, center Ron Francis; and 11, right wing Kevin Dineen. The Whalers did not retire that number.

The Hurricanes have retired 4 numbers: Francis' 10; 2, for defenseman Glen Wesley; 12, for center Eric Staal; and 17, for center Rod Brind'Amour. They have also removed from circulation, without officially retiring them, Howe's 9; 3, for defenseman Steve Chiasson; and 63, for center Josef Vašíček. Francis and Brind'Amour have also been elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

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April 13, 1997 was a Sunday. There were 6 other games in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 8-3 at the Marine Midland Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars, 5-2 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

Football was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 132-123 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Despite the defeat, Kerry Kittles scored 40 points for the Nets.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-91 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 113-73 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz, 100-98 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Shaquille O'Neal scored 39 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors, 105-97 at the San Jose Arena. The Warriors played that season there, now known as the SAP Center, while the Oakland Coliseum complex's arena was under renovation.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium, after a rainout the day before. The Yanks won the opener, 3-2. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams hit home runs. The A's won the nightcap, 7-4. Ariel Prieto outpitched Ramiro Mendoza. Mark Whiten hit a home run for the Yankees. Gerónimo Berroa went 4-for-5 for the A's.

* The New York Mets were swept by the San Francisco Giants in a doubleheader at Shea Stadium, 5-1 and 7-6. As with the Yankees, the Mets had been rained out the day before. Mark Gardner outpitched Mark Clark in the 1st game. Jeff Kent hit a home run for the Giants, and John Olerud hit one for the Mets.

Shawn Estes outpitched Bobby Jones in the 2nd game. Mark Lewis hit 2 home runs, and José Vizcaíno hit 1. Bernard Gilkey hit 1 for the Mets. Over the 2 games, Barry Bonds went 2-for-7 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 9-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Jimmy Key pitched a 6-hit shutout. Jeffrey Hammonds hit 2 home runs, and Cal Ripken and Chris Hoiles also homered.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 14-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Eddie Murray hit a home run, but Rickey Henderson, in his only season with the Angels, did not play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 6-4 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 11-8. The Detroit Tigers led 7-0 after 5 innings, but the South Siders came back, and scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to send the game to extra innings. Each team scored a run in the 11th. The White Sox scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the 12th, and added 2 more runs. The Tigers won the 2nd game, 4-2.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

This was also the day that Tiger Woods won his 1st major golf tournament, running away with the Masters. I have a separate entry for that event.

February 22, 2020: The Toronto Maple Leafs Lose… to a Zamboni Driver

February 22, 2020: The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans have suffered many indignities since the team's last Stanley Cup win in 1967. This may have been the worst.

The Leafs were hosting the Carolina Hurricanes at the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. James Reimer, the 'Canes' starting goaltender, had to leave the game due to injury, just 6 minutes and 10 seconds in. He was replaced by Petr Mrázek, but with 8:41 left in the 2nd period, and the Canes leading, 3-1, he also had to leave due to injury.

There was one man who could come to the 'Canes' rescue. His name was David Ayres. He was 42 years old, and had tended goal in the minor leagues. But now, he was the building operator for the Coca-Cola Coliseum (formerly the CNE Coliseum and the Ricoh Coliseum), built in 1921 and, since 2005, the home of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, the Leafs' top farm team. Among his duties was keeping the ice surface ready to play, meaning he had to drive a Zamboni.

He was officially an employee of the Leafs' organization. But the Leafs agreed to let him play the rest of the game for the 'Canes. Since the NHL office was in Toronto, it took a few minutes for a one-game contract to be sent over to the arena. Ayres signed it, put on a Hurricanes uniform, and stood in front of the Carolina net.

He was 42, and hadn't played at any level in 5 years. The 1st shot he faced, from John Tavares, went in. The 2nd shot he faced, from Pierre Engvall, also went in. But he stopped the last 8 shots he faced, and the Hurricanes won, 6-3.

Ayres thus became the oldest goalie ever to win his NHL debut. In spite of the embarrassment, the Toronto fans gave him a standing ovation. His stick was walked a few blocks over to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and put on display. He has since gone into coaching.

For the next 3 weeks, the Leafs and their fans had to endure jokes about how they lost a game to a "Zamboni driver." Then the COVID-19 epidemic shut everything down, and the rest of the regular season was canceled. When play resumed, it was with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Leafs were defeated in the 1st round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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February 22, 2020 was a Saturday. There were 10 other games played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-0 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers, 5-3 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 in a shootout at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins, 9-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-86 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-107 at the State Farm Arena in Charlotte. John Collins scored 35 points for the Hawks.

* The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 124-105 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-104 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 119-98 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 for the Bucks.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 120-110 at the Vivint Arena (now again named the Delta Center) in Salt Lake City. James Harden scored 38 for the Rockets.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 112-103 at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. Kahwi Leonard scored 31 for the Clippers.