LATROBE -- It’s been over a decade since the Whalers played an NHL hockey game in Hartford, Connecticut. But a recent archeological discovery in Latrobe, PA, a rural area several hundred miles from Hartford, has unearthed a peculiar and controversial relic from the extinct hockey club.

The object, shown here, is a metal plate depicting the logo of the Hartford Whalers. What intrigues scientists the most is the complex composition of the metal artifact. Chemical analysis shows that each portion of the emblem is a different elemental metal. The whale’s tail that sits atop the “W” is composed of a layer of tin. The “W” at the bottom is made of zinc. Surrounding the tail and the “W” is a layer of copper. In the corners, it appears that some sort of caustic solution has dissolved away the copper, exposing the aluminum base that all of the other metals have covered.

The fine detail and intricate pattern suggests that whoever created the logo had an advanced knowledge of the chemical properties of the various metals involved as well as access to solutions of each of the metals involved.

No one knows exactly what the metal plate was originally used for or how it found its way to Latrobe; however, new information has cast doubt on the theory that this artifact is from Whalers’ era.

Most damning is the fact that students taking Chemistry II Laboratory at Saint Vincent College have recently completed a lab in which they created designs on aluminum sheets by plating zinc, tin and copper onto them. The sheets are roughly the same size of the chip. Even more suspect, flecks of “Totally Toffee” nail polish were found on the top of the Whaler artifact. Nail polishes, including “Totally Toffee,” were used in the chemistry lab as a way to prevent plating over a certain area of the aluminum sheet. It is still unknown if “Totally Toffee” existed during the same as the Hartford Whalers.

Though this may seem like proof of a fraud, key questions remain unanswered. Did any student who participated in this lab experiment have the skill to create a piece that is so finely crafted as the Whaler artifact? A study of the student-made sheets would suggest that such skill was not available and that the artifact was made by an experienced professional.

Even more puzzling is why any student would even think to create a Hartford Whalers logo in the first place. The team has been extinct since 1997 when it moved to Raleigh, North Carolina and became the Hurricanes. A survey of the chemistry students showed that most had never even heard of the Hartford Whalers. Those that knew of the Hartford Whalers were not able to recognize the logo depicted on the Whaler artifact.