RALEIGH, N.C. -- They came together outside Section 104 of Carolina's home rink Saturday night, these jilted but true fans. They greeted each other with knowing glances, high fives and washed-out cheers to go with their washed-out jerseys.

"Bleed Green!" they screamed. They are Hartford Whalers fans, amazed to see their former team in the Stanley Cup finals but saddened to see them so successful so far away.

	'Canes captain Ron Francis led the Whalers before he was traded to Pittsburgh in 1991.

"I can't believe this happened," said Norm Riley of Pawcatuck, Conn. "If this had happened in Hartford, the team never would have left."

It has been five years since the woeful Whalers picked up and departed Hartford for greener pastures. The decision of owner Peter Karmanos to ignore the pleas of Connecticut's capitol and stake out Southern ground for his perennially mediocre team looks now like a brilliant move. The Whalers constantly had trouble filling the Hartford Civic Center -- stuck as they were between hockey meccas New York and Boston. Karmanos challenged the folks of Hartford to buy more season tickets to keep the team around, but he knew only a few thousand die-hards would keep lining up at the ticket windows in the arena/mall the Whalers called home. So he folded and left for a place where the team -- and the sport -- had room to grow.

But those few thousand die-hards still linger in the Nutmeg State -- people who cling dearly to fading memories of the New England Whalers of the defunct World Hockey Association and the last games of Gordie Howe, and those hideous long pants the team wore in less fashionable times. A good deal of 'Canes fans have never heard of such former players as Mike Liut and Ulf Samuelsson and Kevin Dineen.

But Whalers fans vow never to forget.

And like the ex-husband who can't come to grips with the fact that his love has moved on, these fans hold that torch despite all the pain. Some even bought plane tickets or rented cars to drive the dozen hours to North Carolina to see their team do what it couldn't in Hartford. They shelled out up to $250 to sit in their green jerseys with all the "Caniacs" who they have reluctantly embraced as distant cousins.

"Seventy-five percent of the fans are still upset," said Riley, a landlord with a thick New England accent. "But we all love hockey."

Dan Karlsberg interned for the Whalers and rarely missed a game at the Hartford Civic Center. Like most fans, he blamed the owner for turning down the city's offer to build a new arena.

"I had a lot of bitterness," Karlsberg said. "I thought Karmanos was a complete jerk. I will never forgive him."

Karlsberg cried at the Whalers' last home game and vowed to never cheer for the team again. When he moved to North Carolina to take a front-office position with a local amateur baseball team, he wore a Bruins jersey to the Entertainment and Sports Arena just to spite the turncoats.

But Karlsberg was surprised to find he couldn't let go completely.

"I was more upset that the team would go to fans who didn't know anything about hockey," he said. "But as time went on, I saw a lot more people start to care. That's what made me like the 'Canes a lot more."

Saturday night, Karlsberg showed up at Game 3 not in Bruins black and gold, but with a huge Whalers flag draped around his shoulders.

These fans have been cheering for the Whalers all their lives. They cannot just quit.

"The alternative is cheering for the Rangers," says Mike Desrochers, 20. "I can't do that."

	“	This is the way the NHL's gone. They weren't going to survive, playing in a mall.”
		— Clay Hollingsworth

Asked to name their favorite Whaler, members of the group leapt like children to answer: "Liut!" "Ulf!" "Ferraro!" And they were equally quick with their favorite Hartford moment: the '86 defeat of Quebec in the Adams Division playoffs. (Mike Slitt even brought a Whalers record book to the ESA Saturday night.) Hartford lost to eventual-champ Montreal that year in the Wales Conference semis, and so Carolina's victory over the Habs in this year's playoffs is appreciated even more in New England. Riley drove from Connecticut to Montreal for that series and flashed a sign that said, "Remember the '86 Playoffs! Revenge!"

But quietly, they admit the move was good for the franchise. They mumble that Raleigh has taken Cup Craziness farther than Hartford ever could.

"This is the way the NHL's gone," said Clay Hollingsworth, who wore Brendan Shanahan's old 94 to the rink Saturday. "They weren't going to survive, playing in a mall."

So Whalers fans have accepted the move, and 'Canes fans have begun to accept them. A couple locals threw a heckle or two at the interlopers -- "They're not yours anymore!" -- but more passed by Saturday night with words of encouragement like "Old school!" and "Whalers in the house!" Some 'Canes fans even bothered to ask their ancestors about the way things used to be. One neophyte Caniac approached Mike Mongillo of New Haven wanting to know what jersey he and his buddies were wearing. Mongillo was proud to answer: "This? This is you! Don't be ashamed of Whaler Green!"

The Hartford faithful have one request for the 'Canes organization: Bring the Cup to Connecticut.

"It would be nice," says Riley. "I'm still up there, and the team is still in my heart. I left my four kids at home to see this game."

And even if Carolina doesn't win this series, Hartford fans have a lesser hope -- that after a 'Canes goal, the ESA will play the tinny old Brass Bonanza jingle that used to blare after Whalers goals. "Just one time," says Riley. "Just once I want to hear it again."

Game 3 was about to start, and the Caniacs began rushing from the beer stands to their seats. Mike Moutinho, dressed in Whalers road aqua, looked around at the tiny group and offered up a suggestion. "Hey," he said, "we should start a chant of 'Let's Go Whalers!'"

The other die-hards smiled at him, but did not open their mouths.

"Yeah," Moutinho said softly. "I guess we don't have enough people."

Eric Adelson is a staff writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at eric.adelson@espn.com.