A “WHALE” OF A DAY! 

The Hartford Wolf Pack are officially no more.

A deal was announced to fans and media at the XL Center Monday evening that Howard Baldwin’s Hartford Hockey, LLC had signed a three year agreement to manage the New York Rangers’ American Hockey League team. The one-time owner of the Hartford Whalers stated that by sometime in November or December of 2010, the Wolf Pack will fade into hockey history and be replaced by, The Connecticut Whale.

Under the terms of the agreement, Baldwin’s group will be responsible for the day-to-day business operations of the Wolf Pack, including marketing, community relations, sponsorship and ticket sales, while Madison Square Garden and the Rangers will retain ownership of the Wolf Pack and continue to be responsible for all hockey related decisions, including coaching and player movement.

“The Hartford Wolf Pack produced the AHL’s top cumulative record over the past 13 years and with Glen Sather, Jim Schoenfeld and Ken Gernander at the helm we look forward to another strong season in 2010-2011 and a great relationship for years to come.” Baldwin said in his opening remarks.

“Hartford hockey fans have been treated to a winning brand of entertaining hockey in a first class facility over the past 13 seasons, by a Wolf Pack team that produced numerous future NHL players.”

Baldwin then went on to thank some of the other “players” in this move. “It is also a great privilege to be partnered with Chuck Steedman, Bob Newman and the entire AEG team,” Baldwin said. “I know they are as committed to the city of Hartford as much as we are and we look forward to working closely with them to make this partnership a success.”

Howard Baldwin had pursued getting a team back in Hartford for thirteen years. On Monday, his dream became reality.

It was a bumpy road for the 67-year old.  Baldwin missed out on getting the team three years ago and despite having, “a little hurt feelings that (eventually) went away, we decided to just stick with it and come back here (to Hartford) and that’s what we did.” He went on to add, “I’m a sentimentalist.”

Even with three companies, two giants in AEG and MSG involved, and with all committed to making it happen, it still took a lot of work to get there. Baldwin’s persistence paid off and the visionary for Hartford hockey got his prize.

President and General Manager Glen Sather, while speaking from the podium, congratulated Howard Baldwin. Sather jokingly referred to the signing of the agreement as “The longest negotiation I’ve ever been involved with.” He stated that the process started “Over nine years ago (with) four million phone calls at all hours of the day and night. I got so frustrated at one point that I turned it over to (Assistant General Manager) Jim Schoenfeld.”

“Hartford has always been a great hockey market,” Sather said. “We’re very happy to be back here and extraordinarily excited to be involved with Howard.”

The big question though, “Why not call the team, The Hartford Whalers?”

“I think a lot of people will think that someone is else is telling us that we can’t use the name. That’s just not true.” Baldwin said. “We really did think long and hard about it and honest to God, everyone refers to the team as ‘The WHALE, The Whale, The Whale.’ We thought, it’s a new era, let’s start with a new brand that’s really close to the old brand but gives everyone a chance to rally around something new, and that’s it…”

So why Connecticut in the name and not Hartford?

“While we are proud to call Hartford our home,” Baldwin replied, “we have chosen ‘Connecticut’ for our team name as it symbolizes our commitment to broaden our fan base beyond Hartford County.”

While he didn’t say it directly, Baldwin still would like to bring the Hartford Whalers back to the NHL. While he’s optimistic, he feels there are a lot of things that would have to happen first before that eve nremotely could be considered.  But that does not mean that the Whalers tradition won’t be present in the XL Center. “We will have retro nights and a variety of other promotional events to keep the past not too far behind in the rear view mirror.” Baldwin said.

“There will be a process during the year where we’ll be doing the rebranding and then you’ll start to hear (Brass Bonanza).”

Baldwin says that the full conversion will come before the first of the year.

Baldwin stated that he had a lofty goal of getting 7-10,000 fans in the arena per game by the end of the second year. He said he was hoping for, “an immediate spike” in attendance. “We better,” he added.

One of the keys to that resurgence is going to be giving the 35 year old building a face lift. Steedman told Howlings that, “The answer is, ‘Yes.’ There are a couple of really cool things that are going to happen but I’m not at liberty to talk about right now.” Steedman indicated that in a week to two weeks, more announcements would be coming. Hockey is going to be the main beneficiary of it, but all events in the building will benefit.”

Schoenfeld said that “(The Rangers organization) is looking forward to a long lasting relationship with Howard and the City of Hartford.”

Head Coach Ken Gernander talked about having been a part of Hartford Wolf Pack hockey from day one. He said he was, “More than thrilled to be moving forward with hockey in Connecticut.” Adding, “In order to be successful on the ice, you have to be mindful of your tradition, your heritage and your past.” Gernander later added that he felt, “we’re evolving….moving forward. That’s what we’re doing here today.” Gernander concluded calling this move, “The next chapter in Connecticut hockey.”

Hartford’s Mayor, Pedro E. Segarra was on hand and when addressing the crowd called this agreement, “A great day for Hartford.”

Hartford Alliance CEO and former gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel said, “If Hartford is the core of this forty city region, then (The XL Center) is the core of the city.”

But the star of the show Monday night was clearly Baldwin.

Baldwin is a brilliant business-mind and he is not ignoring the fact that there are now many disgruntled and upset Wolf Pack fans who feel they have lost something special to them and plans to reach out to those who are disappointed.

“I’d like to sincerely thank the Hartford Wolf Pack and their loyal fans for supporting hockey these past thirteen years,” he said. “We will always commemorate the significant accomplishments of the Wolf Pack franchise. I also want to express my enormous gratitude to the Whaler fans and their booster club for keeping the Whaler name and the passion for them alive during these thirteen years.“

“Now is the time for both groups to come together and do what is best for hockey in Hartford. A Wolf Pack fan is a hockey fan – and a Whaler fan is a hockey fan. It is my fervent hope that everyone becomes a fan of THE WHALE.”

Baldwin concluded with a look toward Hartford’s future:

“This is not just about selling tickets to hockey games”, he stated. “This is about bringing downtown Hartford ‘back’ to the vibrant and exciting place that it was in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s when the XL Center (then Civic Center) was the entertainment hub of Hartford.

“I know that TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT– and have a lot of fun in the process.”

“I’ll be happy to meet with any of them, anywhere. It’s really time to get over all of that stuff. It’s all about hockey.

The Wolf Pack season opens on October 9 with a game vs. their former ECHL farm team who have jumped up to the AHL; the Charlotte Checkers at the XL Center, followed by an October 10 match vs. the visiting Worcester Sharks.

Ticket Information can be found at www.hartfordwolfpack.com or www.whalerssports.com.