Fans in Hartford Whalers sweaters and caps showed up in droves for the New York Islanders – Carolina Hurricanes game on Saturday night at Nassau Veterans Memorial Memorial Coliseum on Long Island.

They were there because the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, and Long Island isn’t all that far a drive from Whaler country, so the still-surviving fans wanted to go to the game and let the Hurricanes know they miss their team.

There was a teams worth of whalers jerseys in my section. WHALERS. — Taylor (@NYI_tillidie) January 5, 2014

http://instagram.com/p/ixbVsHoiaL/

I'm seeing a lot of #Whalers fans here donned in their green & blue. — Harrison (@goisles29) January 4, 2014

Whalers fans mini invasion tonight? There were like 5 rows of them in the section next to me #isles pic.twitter.com/zDe5PgsBSZ — Scott Clinco (@ScottClinco) January 5, 2014

The Whalers fans came, held up signs, hollered at the Hurricanes fans, and basically made a nuisance of themselves as Islanders fans bemusedly watched on.

Was it a meaningless gesture by a group of fans stuck in the past? Probably. Was it weird to boo the current Hurricanes players, many of whom were in grade school when the team left Connecticut? Definitely.

Then again, so what? Hartford never should have lost their team, and if their fans want to don that gorgeous blue and green and sing “Brass Bonanza,” they have every right to do so.

Speaking of which, while we’re here:

(Thanks to @WhalerWatch for sharing.)

CORRECTION: One Whalers fan who was at the game has emailed us to tell us that the fans were not there to holler at the Hurricanes and their fans but were there to “honor the Whalers and even honor Carolina Hurricane player Ron Hainsey who grew up a fan of the Hartford Whalers while living in Bolton, CT.” We regret the error.