The Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League celebrated 50 years of professional hockey in their home city over the weekend with jerseys that harkened back to one of their predecessors.
After three seasons in Boston, the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers moved to Connecticut and played their first game in the at the Hartford Civic Center on January 11, 1975. Fifty years to the day later, the Wolf Pack honored the Whalers and other pro hockey teams that have called Hartford home since when they took on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the same building (now known as the XL Center).
To mark the occasion, the Wolf Pack donned navy blue jerseys with the same grey, green and white stripes as the Hartford Whalers — the team officially changed its name when it joined the National Hockey League in 1979 — wore on the road from 1992 to 1997, right before they relocated to North Carolina and were renamed the Hurricanes.
The Wolf Pack’s logo on the front of the jersey was recolored in navy blue and green, with a gold outline and accents as part of the celebrations. A 50th anniversary logo appeared on both shoulders, with a large white “50” and a gold player silhouette above green ribbon reading “HARTFORD HOCKEY 1975-2025” and a gold city skyline.
Numbers on the back and sleeves were white with gold outlines. Letters on the captain’s and alternate captains’ jerseys had the same treatment.
The Wolf Pack paired the jerseys with their usual navy blue helmets, red pants and blue-and-red gloves on Saturday, along with solid navy blue socks.
The Wolf Pack also hosted alumni from the various iterations of pro hockey in Hartford during Saturday’s game. Those former players were given gold jerseys with the 50th anniversary logo on the front. These jerseys also had blue shoulders, white collars and a blue stripe outlined in white around the chest, back and sleeves. Each jersey had a green number 50 outlined in blue and white on the sleeves and back, and a nameplate on the back with “HARTFORD” written out in navy blue.
Limited quantities of the on-ice jerseys were available for purchase through the Wolf Pack’s team store in the XL Center on Saturday. Autographed gold alumni jerseys are being auctioned off online.
