By Bill Halldin

The little jingle still sticks in my head 14 years later:

The Whalers are our hockey team
and we want them to stay
so buy your season tickets now
so they won’t go away.

The singers on the jingle were a group of grade-school students who wanted to do something – anything – to help keep the National Hockey League’s Hartford Whalers from leaving Hartford, Connecticut’s Capital City.

Unfortunately, their efforts weren’t successful and, on April 13, 1997, the Hartford Whalers played their last game before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina. (A longtime Connecticut resident, I’ve kept my ticket stub all these years even through my 1999 cross-country move).

Nearly 14 years later, and again on that April 13 date, the Sacramento Kings appear to be ready to play their last game in Sacramento, California’s Capital City.

Like Hartford, if the Kings leave, the city will be left with no major league professional sports team.

Both franchises had successes and interesting histories.

For the Whalers, they put on the ice not only legendary Hall of Fame hockey player Gordie Howe, but Howe’s sons, Marty and Mark – all three playing together.

Before moving to North Carolina, the franchise literally survived some near-death experiences. In 1978, the roof of their home – the Hartford Civic Center – collapsed during a blizzard.

Thankfully, the roof collapsed in the early morning hours when no one was there. The destroyed arena forced the Whalers to play 30 miles away in Springfield, Massachusetts in a smaller arena while the repairs were made. The fans made the trip up Interstate 91 and stayed faithful.

But the Connecticut real estate and financial collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s, combined with huge disruptions in the defense and insurance industries, spelled the ultimate end of the Whalers in Hartford (now known as the Carolina Hurricanes).

Now Sacramento looks to a future without the Kings. Unlike Hartford, which has been in a population decline for decades, Sacramento is a growth community and the state capital of the largest state in the country. We are in a top media market.

What we don’t have is major corporate headquarters and the community commitment that goes with those major corporate headquarters.

Creating those major corporate headquarters doesn’t happen overnight, but takes years and decades of commitment by local leaders and businesspeople with the desire to build and grow businesses.

Sacramento has had its knocks and many people will see the Kings departure as another one.

But our community’s future is in our hands – not the hands of the Maloofs.