The Hurricanes were founded in 1971 as a franchise of the World Hockey Association under the name New England Whalers. After the WHA was dissolved in 1979, the Whalers were admitted to the NHL along with three other teams. At the same time, they changed their name to Hartford Whalers. They moved and changed their name to their current name before the 1997/98 season. The team won the Stanley Cup in 2006.