BRAD PARK TO JOIN THE GAME 

HOCKEY HALL OF FAMER BRAD PARK TO APPEAR

AT CONNECTICUT WHALE HOME GAME SATURDAY, JANUARY 29

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Will Sign Autographs Pre-game in XL Center Atrium

HARTFORD, CT: Whalers Sports & Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr. announced today that Hall of Fame ex-NHL defenseman Brad Park will be making a special appearance at the Connecticut Whale’s home game next Saturday, January 29 at the XL Center against the Portland Pirates.

Park will be signing autographs, and meeting and greeting fans, in the XL Center atrium from 6:00-7:00 PM on January 29, and will also drop a ceremonial first puck before the 7:00 faceoff between the Whale and Pirates.

Park is also slated to be among the Boston Bruins legends who take the ice against Whalers legends February 19 at Rentschler Field in the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl”.  The Whale bowl is the featured event of the two-week outdoor Whalers Hockey Fest spectacular at Rentschler Field that will include numerous collegiate, high school, prep school and youth hockey games.  The legends game will face off at 4:00 PM on February 19 and will be followed by the outdoor AHL game between the Connecticut Whale and the Providence Bruins at 7:00 PM.

Park, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, was a seven-time NHL All-Star and scored 213 goals and added 683 assists (an NHL record for defensemen at the time of his retirement in 1985) for 896 points in 1,113 career NHL games over 17 seasons.  Eight of those years were spent with the Bruins, and Park is fourth all-time in franchise history in points among defensemen.  His 417 Bruin points included 100 goals 317 assists, in 501 total games.  In addition to his time with Boston, Park also played six-plus seasons with the New York Rangers, who selected him second overall in the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft, and finished his career with the Detroit Red Wings.

Tickets for the January 29 Whale/Pirates contest at the XL Center, and all 2010-11 Whale home games, are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

The AHL’s CT Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin.  The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

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