One reason for low prices is far lower salaries. The average salary in the I.H.L., Mr. Ufer said, is about $68,000, while in the A.H.L. it is around $35,000, according to Peter Hanlon, a spokesman for the league.

Though the quality of play in both leagues is, in general, just a notch below that of the N.H.L., there are distinct differences in their makeups. All of the A.H.L. teams are affiliated with the N.H.L. and eight of the minor league's teams are owned by the parent league. Players often shuffle between the N.H.L. and the A.H.L. This season, for example, at last count, 234 players had played in both leagues. The average age in the A.H.L. is about 23 compared with 26 in the I.H.L.

Where practically all the players in the A.H.L. are owned by N.H.L. clubs, most of the players in the I.H.L. are in effect independent, although 5 of the I.H.L.'s 19 teams have partial affiliations with the N.H.L.

''We're a free-agent league, with no reserve system,'' Mr. Ufer said; ''They're committed to being a developmental league with young players while our teams have a mix of young and older players.''

Not surprisingly, each league says it plays a better caliber of hockey than the other. ''Our quality of play is not far below the level of the N.H.L.,'' said Mr. Andrews, the A.H.L. president.''We have the best young players who are on the way up,'' he said, ''and we think our hockey is more entertaining and more skillful. And over half of our players have already played in the N.H.L.''

So, too, have the players in the I.H.L., which has grown from 12 to 19 teams since 1993. The difference, though, is that most of the former N.H.L. players in the I.H.L. most likely will finish their careers in the minor league. ''Our players tend to be older and more experienced and we think we have a higher-skilled level of play,'' Mr. Ufer said from the league's offices in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Should Hartford get an A.H.L. team, the new team would have a natural rival close by in Springfield. In a twist, Springfield has been a Whaler farm team, but that relationship is being disolved at the end of the current season. Other New England cities in the league are Worcester, Mass.; Providence, R.I., and Portland, Me. By contrast, Hartford would be the only city from the Northeast in the I.H.L. whose clubs are mainly based in the West.

As for the Whalers: Mr. Karamanos, the club's owner, said voters in Columbus, Ohio, will cast ballots in a referendum on May 5 to decide whether to approve an increase in a sales tax in order to build a new arena where the Whalers could play.