Hartford Whalers Part Two?

There's (light) talk of the NHL returning to Hartford. I don't know where these teams are coming from—KC seems to want one, and I don't think anybody wants to see the Islanders leave town...But it would be neat to have Hartford back in the NHL.

From a press release put out by the mayor's office in Hartford:

"(Jan. 14, 2009)--- Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez met this morning with National
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"Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman at NHL Headquarters in Manhattan to
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"update the Commissioner on the status of Hartford’s plans for a new arena in the city.
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"Mayor Perez along with Andy Bessette, Chief Administrative Officer of the Travelers
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"Insurance Company--- who is leading a task force on private sector support for a new
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"arena--- and Oz Griebel, CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, discussed with
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"Commissioner Bettman the potential for including an NHL franchise in future plans for
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"the development of a new Hartford arena."

"“Today’s meeting with Commissioner Bettman was an excellent opportunity to let him
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"know that Hartford remains interested in bringing the NHL back to Connecticut’s Capital
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"City. We had a very good discussion and the Commissioner was generous with his time
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"and thoughts about what was necessary for an NHL franchise to succeed. This was the
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"first discussion in what all parties agreed should be an ongoing dialogue about Hartford’s
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"interest in bringing back an NHL team,” Mayor Perez stated.
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"“With the state returning the XL Center, formerly the Hartford Civic Center, to the city
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"by 2013, there is clearly a day of reckoning about what we as a city and state want to do
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"with a facility that by all accounts is rapidly reaching the end of its useful life. To keep
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"the momentum going in Hartford’s renaissance, we must be prepared in the next three to
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"five years to implement a redevelopment plan for a new multi-use arena facility that
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"serves the entire state not only as a world class venue for concerts, family shows and
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"UCONN Basketball, but also as a potential home for a major league sports franchise. In
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"light of these difficult financial times, this effort will take a considerable amount of work
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"and partnership between the city, state and corporate community to bring the plans for the
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"development of a new facility to reality, but the benefits have the potential to be
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"exponential,” Perez stated.
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"The city retained HOK Sport to develop a feasibility plan for the development of a new
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"arena facility. The preliminary report identified the present site of the XL Center
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"(Hartford Civic Center) as the most viable location for a new facility.
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