SHORELINE, WA _ Seattle may be feeling the excitement of getting an NHL expansion team, but a rising number of potential fans are hoping to give the new team an old name.
No, not the Metropolitans or Totems - hockey franchises that played out of the Pacific Northwest early in the 20th century - but the Whalers, the name of a more recent team that made its home across the country in Hartford, Connecticut.
A petition being circulated by one local group to name the team the Seattle Whalers and adopt the former team’s green-blue-and-white color scheme and iconic logo already has thousands of signatures.