New England Whalers

E128823

World Hockey Association team professional ice hockey team

The New England Whalers were a World Hockey Association team based in New England that later joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Hartford Whalers	53
New England Whalers canonical	18
World Hockey Association (WHA) – New England Whalers	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T936833 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: New England Whalers
Context triple: [Gordie Howe, team, New England Whalers]

A. Providence Bruins
The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that serves as the primary minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Boston Bruins.
B. Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) and one of the league’s Original Six franchises.
C. Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City that competed in the World Hockey Association and later the NHL before relocating to become the Colorado Avalanche.
D. New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, competing in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division and known for their defensive legacy and multiple Stanley Cup championships.
E. New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) based in the New York metropolitan area.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: New England Whalers
Target entity description: The New England Whalers were a World Hockey Association team based in New England that later joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers.

A. Providence Bruins
The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that serves as the primary minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Boston Bruins.
B. Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) and one of the league’s Original Six franchises.
C. Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City that competed in the World Hockey Association and later the NHL before relocating to become the Colorado Avalanche.
D. New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, competing in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division and known for their defensive legacy and multiple Stanley Cup championships.
E. New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) based in the New York metropolitan area.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (39)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	World Hockey Association team ⓘ professional ice hockey team ⓘ
basedIn	New England ⓘ
championshipSeason	1972–73 WHA season ⓘ
coach	Jack Kelley ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
dissolved	1979 ⓘ
division	WHA Eastern Division ⓘ
finalSeason	1978–79 WHA season ⓘ
founded	1972 ⓘ
homeArena	Boston Garden ⓘ Hartford Civic Center ⓘ Springfield Civic Center ⓘ
homeCity	Boston ⓘ linked to: Boston, Massachusetts Hartford, Connecticut ⓘ linked to: Hartford, Connecticut, United States Springfield, Massachusetts NERFINISHED ⓘ
homeRegion	New England ⓘ
inauguralSeason	1972–73 WHA season ⓘ
joinedLeague	National Hockey League ⓘ
joinedLeagueSeason	1979–80 NHL season ⓘ
league	World Hockey Association ⓘ
notablePlayer	Gordie Howe ⓘ John McKenzie ⓘ Mark Howe ⓘ Tom Webster ⓘ
numberOfAvcoTrophies	1 ⓘ
owner	Howard Baldwin ⓘ
participatedIn	WHA–NHL merger ⓘ
region	New England, United States ⓘ linked to: New England
relocatedAs	Hartford Whalers ⓘ linked to: New England Whalers
relocationDestination	Hartford, Connecticut ⓘ linked to: Hartford, Connecticut, United States
relocationYear	1974 ⓘ
shortName	Whalers ⓘ
sport	ice hockey ⓘ
successor	Hartford Whalers ⓘ linked to: New England Whalers
teamColors	gold ⓘ green ⓘ white ⓘ
wonChampionship	Avco World Trophy ⓘ

How these facts were elicited