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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:24 pm 
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Rebel Sell + Moneyball = Life
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http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=323375

AP wrote:
Howard Baldwin said Wednesday he is trying to increase fan interest and convince NHL officials that Hartford is a viable market.

League officials might be the toughest sell. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday that he couldn't foresee another Whalers team in Hartford.

Baldwin says his new campaign includes a "Whalers Hockey Fest" that will feature as many as 20 outdoor games at the University of Connecticut's football stadium in East Hartford next February.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:30 pm 
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Come to think of it with Selanne and Tkachuk both retiring does that make Chris Pronger and Jean-Sebastien Giguere (who both barely count IMO) the last active former Whalers?


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:32 pm 
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Av-merican wrote:
Come to think of it with Selanne and Tkachuk both retiring does that make Chris Pronger and Jean-Sebastien Giguere (who both barely count IMO) the last active former Whalers?


Selanne and Tkachuk were Jets not Whalers.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:41 pm 
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Baldwin peers his head out every so often to reiterate his interest. He's a fan, but he seemingly doesn't have the cash to pull it off.

Barn needs to be built. Downtown Hartford has seen better days.

Hartford has the chance to be a fun, unique NHL market, but the city has had a miserable time getting someone in the private sector to help pay for a new arena, so despite the city being a business capital, those insurance-types clearly don't see any money in it. The mayor has been fighting to get a new arena built in a futile effort to save their dilapidated downtown core, with the idea of dangling a new arena in front of the NHL, but no dice thus far.

Hartford, like most of these other meh markets, needs a deep pocketed owner willing to take a haircut in the deal. Baldwin ain't the guy, Lawrence Gottesdiener was interested in the past but who knows now.

Here's the Hartford Courant's story on Baldy: http://www.courant.com/sports/hockey/hc ... 4649.story

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:47 pm 
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hammer wrote:
Av-merican wrote:
Come to think of it with Selanne and Tkachuk both retiring does that make Chris Pronger and Jean-Sebastien Giguere (who both barely count IMO) the last active former Whalers?


Selanne and Tkachuk were Jets not Whalers.


:oops: :doh:

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:44 pm 
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Baldwin is starting to take some more concrete steps to drum up interest. There was a players' reunion on Saturday (including Gordie Howe, Ron Francis and Kevin Dineen among others) that apparently was quite well-attended:

Jonathan Baum wrote:
Thing is, Whalers fans (including this one), for better or worse, seemingly refuse to give up hope that someday, somehow, the NHL will return to the Nutmeg State.

And that’s what team founder/former team owner Howard Baldwin is counting on.

Baldwin has moved back to Hartford and brought the Whalers name and brand back to the forefront. He hired a staff and opened offices for his Whalers Sports & Entertainment venture. There have been booster club events, various website and online shop launches and other proclamations around reinvigorating this hockey market.

But bigger steps are being taken.

The weekend began with the Whalers Golf Classic and was followed by an Arthritis Foundation Dinner, both of which gave fans the opportunity to hang with former players and coaches. The price tags were high for these events, but Saturday’s Fan Fest was just $5 admission (donated to charity), plus various fees for some autographs (there also were free autographs available from all but Howe).

Publicly, Baldwin said he’d be satisfied with 1,000 attendees, but that he was hoping for 2,000 or 3,000.

He got upwards of 4,500. Baldwin and wife/business partner Karen were beyond pleased as they observed the events around the concourse.

But the buzz began even before the gates opened at 11 a.m. ET.

“All these people lined up at 10 a.m. on an August morning,” one fan said of the lengthy queue of fans waiting to get in. “Someone should email a pic of this to Bettman.”


For now I'm just glad to see Whaler merchandise among the Vintage™ NHL collections... for a long time it was conspicuously absent while the trade-mark wasn't licensed to the NHL. They're even finally one of the vintage options in EA 2011. Though lately I've been rocking a California Golden Seals T-shirt which has increased my awesome factor by three.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:56 am 
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I'm surprised there aren't more "Islanders to Hartford" rumors. It'd be fine with me. Unless some dumbass logo designer decides to marry the two logos & have the Fisherman go whaling. That'd be wrong.

I'll bet $5 that if the team gets reinstated (or another team moved there & renamed the Whalers) that PETA protests.

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