WHALE PICKS 

By Bruce Berlet

The Green Bay Packers are 21/2-point favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, but the Connecticut Whale family likes the Steelers to extend their record for wins to seven by an even narrower margin.

But when asked for their picks, some players had some intriguing questions.

“Who’s playing?” right wing Dale Weise of Canada and defenseman Jyri Niemi of Finland asked.

“What are the points?” forward Evgeny Grachev of Russia inquired.

Remember, football isn’t exactly the national pastime in Canada, Europe … or Israel.

“Not many people know about football in Israel,” said center Oren Eizenman, who grew up in Toronto but matured in hockey in the Middle East. “It’s all soccer and basketball over there.”

Ditto for Russia.

“We don’t have that game,” defenseman Pavel Valentenko said with a smile. “I’ve never seen a (football) game (in person). It’s only on TV, cable, like once a month.”

Then there was an easy reason to pick a team.

“I’m from Minnesota, so I could never pick the Packers,” defenseman Stu Bickel said with a smile.

Rookie defenseman Tomas Kundratek might be from the Czech Republic, but he knew a special aspect of the game: there’s overtime after four quarters. He’s the only person who said OT, so he’s the automatic winner if the game goes past 60 minutes.

Then there was the unique response of co-owner and partner Karen Baldwin, wife of Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO:

“My prediction – THE WHALE WILL WIN ON SUNDAY. Not a football gal!”

When pressed for a Super Bowl pick, Karen said, “For the football, I will say Green Bay by 14 points – just make life interesting! I know Howard is for the Steelers. For us, Whale going to shut out the Pirates 4-0. And if any of that is correct, remind me to buy myself a lottery ticket, too.”

Purchasing a ticket seemed appropriate since the Connecticut Lottery is one of the team’s major backers.

But Howard had a different response than Karen expected: Super-bore! Sorry. But he also happily relented and went with his wife: Green Bay, 21-14.

But like most of the rest of the Whale family, the Russians are divided on their choices.

The final score? Pittsburgh 23, Green Bay 22.

Here’s the rundown:

HOCKEY STAFF:

Benoit Allaire (goaltenders coach): Pittsburgh, 24-17

Pat Boller (assistant coach): Green Bay, 29-24

J.J. Daigneault (assistant coach): Pittsburgh, 27-17

Ken Gernander (coach): Pittsburgh, 27-13

Jeremy Goodman (strength and conditioning coordinator): Pittsburgh, 17-10

Damien Hess (trainer): Green Bay, 28-24

Russ Holdredge (equipment manager): Pittsburgh, 24-21

Craig Lewis (assistant equipment manager): Green Bay, 24-17

Jim Schoenfeld (general manager): Pittsburgh, 17-7

PLAYERS:

Stu Bickel: Pittsburgh, 21-14

Devin DiDiomete: Green Bay, 20-16

Brodie Dupont: Pittsburgh, 28-23

Oren Eizenman: Green Bay, 24-20

Ryan Garlock: Pittsburgh, 21-10

Evgeny Grachev: Green Bay, 91-19 (no, that’s not a misprint; he wears No. 91)

Dov Grumet-Morris: Pittsburgh, 24-17

Chad Johnson: Green Bay, 34-24

Tim Kennedy: Pittsburgh, 24-17

Chad Kolarik: Pittsburgh, 24-14

Tomas Kundratek: Pittsburgh, 27-24, OT

Chris McKelvie: Green Bay, 24-17

Kris Newbury: Pittsburgh, 24-10

Jyri Niemi: Green Bay, 24-17

Jared Nightingale: Green Bay, 24-22

Wade Redden: Pittsburgh, 27-17

Justin Soryal: Green Bay, 37-31

Cameron Talbot: Pittsburgh, 20-17

Kelsey Tessier: Pittsburgh, 32-26

Pavel Valentenko: Pittsburgh, 27-17

Dale Weise: Pittsburgh, 21-14

Jason Williams: Pittsburgh, 27-21

Jeremy Williams: Green Bay, 27-24

Derek Yogan (junior player working out with Whale): Green Bay, 21-18

OFFICE STAFF:

Howard Baldwin (chairman and CEO): Green Bay, 21-14

Howard Baldwin Jr. (president and COO): Pittsburgh, 24-10

Karen Baldwin (co-owner and partner): Green Bay, 31-17

Bruce Berlet (Internet feature/notes writer): Pittsburgh, 31-27

Liz Bontempo (marketing and promotions manager): Green Bay, 34-28

Bob Crawford (radio/TV announcer): Pittsburgh, 24-20

Michael Glasson (Internet manager): Green Bay, 41-26

Lori Leniart (director of marketing and game operations): Green Bay, 27-24

Kathleen Lilley (director of merchandise): Green Bay, 35-31

Brian Ring (media coordinator): Green Bay, 24-20

Jay Sloves (founding partner of Elkinson & Sloves, Inc., official marking firm of the Whale and Whale Bowl): Green Bay, 28-24 (commercials, 38)

Ryan Wuerfel (assistant to the president): Green Bay, 24-17