Here’s a great comment that helps to explain the current status of the ownership of the Hartford Whalers’ trademarks:
The Hartford Whalers trademarks were assigned to the Canes. One of the legacy registrations for hockey games – is still live and managed by NHL Properties, the NHL entity that manages all the NHL teams’ trademark registrations. Puck Daddy also mentions that Reebok CCM is making the jerseys – that’s no coincidence, since Reebok CCM has the exclusive license to make NHL jerseys.
Compare this to the Browns, where the trademarks were held in trust during the hiatus. From the trademark records, it looks like the Hurricanes just own whatever rights are left in the Whalers name and mark and it’s just a routine jersey licensing deal.
Thanks to Pam for the comment and analysis !
Does this mean that some percentage of the revenue generated by the sales of Whalers merchandise goes to Peter Karmanos and the ‘Canes? I’m sure any die-hard Whaler fan would want to know the answer to that question, as it’s highly unlikely that anyone with a drop of green in their blood would want their money going to the man who moved our team.