The Brass Bonanza may live again.

In a glimpse of marketing genius, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack decided to hold Whalers Appreciation Night when the Pack hosted the Portland Pirates on January 6. The numbers of Ron Francis (10), Kevin Dineen (11), and Ulf Samuelsson (5) were raised to the rafters of the Civic Center and the people of Hartford were able to remember the team moved out on them in the late 1990s.

But more importantly, instead of the usual attendance of a little more than 5,000, the announce crowd of 12,206 filled the arena that evening and helped send a message that Hartford cares about its hockey and the team that played there for over 20 years.

It’s just one sign that Hartford can handle a NHL team and maybe the league made a mistake when it allowed Peter Karmanos to move the Whalers to North Carolina.

With the new CBA in place, Commissioner Gary Bettman can now learn what current markets are viable for hockey and what teams should find a new home over the next few seasons.

The aggressive move to the larger markets in the south has proven to be somewhat of a failure. Cities like Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and even North Carolina aren’t traditional hockey markets. Fans only seem to come out when a winning product is on the ice and when times are thin; these teams have trouble maintaining a loyal base.

Pittsburgh is also having financial problems and not being able to replace the decrepit Igloo with a new facility, may also be forced to relocate.

The NHL may continue to make the mistake by putting teams in large non-hockey markets, but it would make more sense to place them in areas where the sport is loved.

Both Minnesota and Columbus are great examples of how the sport can thrive in a hockey market. After losing the North Stars in 1993, Minneapolis embraced the Wild and has one of the hottest tickets in town. And Columbus, which only has to compete with football at Ohio State, sells out every game.

Just look at the attendance in the American League this season. A market like Houston would be a target under the old NHL system, since it has a large growing population that should be able to support a hockey team. But the Areos are drawing only 4,986 a game at the gate. Hartford is a shade higher, while dealing with a disenchanted fan base that is still smarting from the move and is drawing from a smaller population.

Winnipeg is another market the NHL should look at, since they have a new arena and the Manitoba Moose is third in the league at the gate at 7,525 per game.

For the Whalers to comeback a few things need to happen. Northland Properties, which owns the Civic Center, needs to go through with its plans for a new arena in downtown Hartford. Only a new facility with strong corporate sponsorship can convince an owner to relocate to Connecticut.

There also needs to be better support for the current tenants of the Civic Center. Since the Wolf Pack is a Ranger farm club, many Whaler fans won’t go to the games. This is a mistake. In order to prove to the NHL Hartford is a viable area, attendance needs to improve. Yes these are future Rangers, but with the way New York does business, they tend to become future Penguins, Ducks and Panthers. And with they way players move around the NHL these days, some of these young kids on the Pack may be Whalers one day.

Even if everything goes well the Brass Bonanza won’t be playing before a Whalers game until 2008 at the earliest. But that’s a small price to pay, since Whaler fans have one thing now that they didn’t have before – hope.

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