Professional ice hockey in Connecticut

Professional ice hockey in Connecticut has a rich tradition dating from the mid-1920s. Most of these teams were NHL minor league affiliates located in New Haven, though with the closure of the New Haven Coliseum, minor league affiliates now exist only exist in Hartford and Bridgeport. Hartford had its own Major league team, the Whalers team that existed in Hartford from 1974-97. Independent hockey leagues teams have also been gaining a foothold in Danbury starting in 2004.

This article concludes with a summary of all past and present hockey teams from Connecticut, listed by city and league for reference, and to provide links to main articles about each team.

While New Haven has no currently active teams, New Haven has long been considered the birthplace of hockey in Connecticut. Teams have been hosted since the mid-1920s, first at the New Haven Arena until 1972 (demolished 1975), and followed by the New Haven Coliseum until 2001 (demolished in 2007). The New Haven Haven Blades (1954–72) and later the New Haven Nighthawks (1972–93) were the most popular franchises. Since the Coliseum's closure in 2002, professional hockey has not returned to New Haven. The American Hockey League Sound Tigers have played in nearby Bridgeport since 2001.

In 1992, the Nighthawks signed a last-minute player-development affiliation with the Ottawa Senators, which required the team to be re-branded as the New Haven Senators for the 1992–93 season. Fans were ambivalent to the name change and attendance plummeted, making this the franchise last season in New Haven.

Hockey had a brief reboot with the arrival of former Hartford Whalers' affiliate, the Beast of New Haven (formerly the Carolina Monarchs), which were displaced from North Carolina by their parent team's relocation in 1997. They were followed by a single season of the independent New Haven Knights in 2000–01. Following the Knights' departure, however, chronic maintenance issues in the New Haven Coliseum, as well as competition from other southern Connecticut arenas, prompted state and city officials to permanently close the arena in 2002. Demolition of the Coliseum was completed in throughout 2006, concluded by the implosion of the signature elevated parking garage on January 20, 2007.

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