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Time In A Bottle: A Quick Look At The Franchise 20 Years Ago

SBN sponsor, EA Sports has come out with NHL94 - Anniversary Mode. Will they include the Whalers in the package?

By Bob Wage
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 17: Jason Bay #44 , wearing a Hartford Whalers NHL jersey, and Mike Nickeas #4 of the New York Mets , wearing a Los Angeles Kings NHL jersey, board the team bus after their game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on May 17,
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 17: Jason Bay #44 , wearing a Hartford Whalers NHL jersey, and Mike Nickeas #4 of the New York Mets , wearing a Los Angeles Kings NHL jersey, board the team bus after their game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on May 17,
Jim McIsaac

I must admit, I am not an expert on hockey video games, so I am unfamiliar with EA Sports' NHL14, but I am told it has an "NHL94 Anniversary Mode" which allows folk to step back in time and play in the 1993-94 season.

For old-timers like me, that sounds pretty cool.

Of course, the Carolina Hurricanes were known as the Hartford Whalers back then.  While the Whalers were mostly a disappointment as far as wins and losses go, they have a lot of interesting history which I wish the franchise would embrace a bit more.

The team finished with a 27-48-9 record that season, good for 63 points and a 6th place finish in the Northeast Division.

There were a few familiar faces with the franchise back then.  Chuck Kaiton was the radio play-by-play announcer, John Forslund was the director of media relations, and Skip Cunningham was the equipment guy.

Chris Pronger played on defense, Sean Burke was the number one goalie, and Geoff Sanderson scored a team high 41 goals that season.  Pat Verbeek had 75 points in 84 games played and also racked up 177 penalty minutes.

Paul Holmgren started out as head coach, but they then brought in Pierre McGuire, (yes THAT Pierre McGuire), and moved Holmgren to the general manager job.

While McGuire worked again as an assistant coach, this would be his only stint as a head coach in the NHL.  Holmgren went back to being the head coach after the season was finished.

With the new season about to start tomorrow, it is interesting to think back about how things used to be.  If you have the game, check out the "NHL94 Anniversary Mode" and see if you like it.