What are the Whalers doing now? What needs to happen for the NHL to return to Hartford? Who were the top Whalers of all-time? You can find those answers and every else Whalers right here at Whaler Nation -- the most comprehensive Whalers site on the web. This site is owned and produced by Mark Willand,a media relations pro for the NHL Whalers and one of the founders of the AHL's CT Whale. The site is not affiliated with the NHL, the AHl or the CT Whale Hockey Club.
Howard Baldwin unveiled his vision for a $105 million renovation of the aging XL Center at the Metro Hartford Alliance breakfast Tuesday morning at the Bushnell. The comprehensive plan is based on the possibility of the NHL returning to Hartford in 2017.
According to Kathryn Parr of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at UConn, which has endorsed the concept, one option explored was a 100 percent publicly financed project.
"But the feeling also was that the community needs to show that it has some investment in this, and Howard also has resources," Parr said. "The idea is it would be some combination of the city, state and private resources. That's what we're shooting for, but we're not there yet."
The XL Center, the home of the Hartford Whalers when the city had an NHL team, now has the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League as its primary tenant. The UConn men's and women's basketball teams also play there.
Classic Video: In 1979 the Whalers record their 1st NHL road win with a 4-2 victory in Toronto. Dave Keon makes his return to Maple Leaf Gardens scoring a goal and receiving a standing ovation. Video courtesy of the Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame.
On this date in Whalers history: Glen Wesley was traded to the Hartford Whalers for their first-round draft picks in 1995, 1996, and 1997. With the picks, the Bruins drafted Kyle McLaren (1995), Johnathan Aitken(1996) and Sergei Samsonov (1997).
Glen Wesley was drafted third overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. That year, he made his NHL debut on October 8 and registered an assist in a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals. In 1983-84, Wesley began his ascent to the NHL in 1983-84 with Red Deer Rustlers of the AJHL. That year, he also played his first three major junior games with the WHL's Portland Winter Hawks.
The following season, he joined the Winter Hawks full time and scored 16 goals and 68 points. In 1985-86, he improved to 75 assists and 91 points and was named a WHL West First Team All-Star. In 1986-87, he tallied 46 assists and 62 points and was again named a WHL West First Team All-Star.
A member of Canada's 1987 World Junior team, Wesley played 79 games NHL that rookie season and scored 39 points. He was named an All-Rookie Team defenceman. In the playoffs, he helped the Bruins win the Prince of Wales Trophy before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. In 1988-89, Wesley scored 19 goals and 54 points from the blueline. He also played in his first mid-season All-Star Game. In 1989-90, he scored 36 points as the Bruins won the Adams Division season title. In the playoffs, Wesley and the Bruins won the Prince of Wales Trophy before losing once again to the Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals.
In 1990-91, the Red Deer native scored eleven goals and 43 points as the Bruins won the Adams Division season title. In the playoffs, the team reached the Wales Conference finals before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who would go on to win their first Stanley Cup. In what appeared to be a case of déjà vu in next year's playoffs, they again reached the Wales Conference finals before losing to the Penguins, who would go on to win their second successive Stanley Cup.
On August 26, 1994, Wesley was traded to the Hartford Whalers for three first-round draft picks (1995, 1996, and 1997). In 1997-98, he moved with the franchise to Carolina (now the Hurricanes) and scored 25 points while playing all 82 games. In 2001-02, Wesley was a key component on the Hurricane blue line as the team reached the Stanley Cup final for the first time in team history. After knocking off the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina fell in five games to the Detroit Red Wings.
After parts of seven seasons in Hartford/Carolina, Wesley was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2003 March trading deadline before opting to return to Carolina as an unrestricted free-agent in the summer of 2003. Wesley's steady play on the Carolina blue line continued in 2003-04 as he was a +18 after 74 games with the club.
Following the lockout, the experienced veteran entered his 12th NHL playoff season. Wesley played in all of the Hurricane's post season games, earning his first Stanley Cup with the franchise. Two seasons later he retired as the Hurricanes' leader in games played (729). Wesley retired in June, 2008 after 20 NHL seasons and 1,457 career games played. Wesley won a silver medal for Canada at the 1996 World Championships. His older brother is former Whalers defenceman Blake Wesley.
In 1982 Risto Siltanen and Brent Loney are aquired from Edmonton for Ken Linseman and Don Nachbaur. In 1982 Greg Adams, Ken Linseman, 1st (David Jensen), and 3rd round (Leif Karlsson) '83 draft picks are aquired from Philadelphia for Mark Howe and a '83 3rd round draft pick.
Some consider this to be one of the worst trades in NHL history. Howe played 10 seasons in Philadelphia en route to a Hall of Fame career. After 3 1/2 so-so seasons in Hartford, Siltanen was peddled to Quebec in 1986.
The commemorative video of the 2011 Whale Bowl -- "Take it Outside" is available on Ebay. DVD was produced by Mark Willand. ORDER HERE
“It was so much fun, and I kept looking up and saying, ‘I can’t believe that’s all the time that’s left,’ It was great coming to Connecticut at an outdoor rink with guys you looked up to and played with and against as you were growing up.”
-Brian Leetch
On February 19, 2011, a record 21,673 fans braved the bone-chilling cold to witness the most significant hockey event in Connecticut history – an outdoor pro hockey spectacular at Rentschler Field, the home of the UConn Huskies.
The main event featured an exciting AHL match-up between the newly-rebranded Connecticut Whale and their arch-rivals, the Providence Bruins. A wild regulation culminated in a shootout, a fitting end to the most monumental outdoor hockey event in Connecticut history.
The opening event featured a nostalgic tilt between Boston Bruins and Hartford Whalers alumni teams, as well as celebrities and the famous Hanson Brothers from “Slap Shot”.
More than hockey…this is history!
This limited edition commemorative DVD contains edited versions of both games plus special interviews with Whalers players and more!
Some, maybe as many as 57 percent on Long Island, would argue Charles Wang's idea was so bad it should be rejected at any time. As fate would have it, however, most everyone would agree there have been only a few worse times to hold a referendum on taxpayers financing $400 million for a new arena.
Like, oh, October 1929 or October 2008.
On one hand, Congress and the White House were playing chicken with the national debt, with our children's future. On the other hand, the stock exchange was fixing for its worse fall in three years. Against this backdrop Nassau County, a county in such a financial mess that a state oversight board was called in to seize control, sent its citizens to the polls to decide the fate of a new facility for the Islanders.
New coach Kevin Dineen was expecting the Florida Panthers to add some players in the offseason. Admittedly, he didn't expect the combination of trades and free-agent signings that brought about a dozen new faces to the Panthers' roster, many of them high-profile names.
He said the guy who hired him, GM Dale Tallon, began clearing salary cap space last season; and that, in the end, it comes down to how each player can help the team.
"You can't just do it to do it," said Dineen.
It's Dineen's first NHL job, after a 19-year playing career with stops in Hartford and Philadelphia as well as his six years as head coach of the AHL Portland Pirates. And with the money the team spent in the offseason, the expectations are on Dineen to turn this franchise's fortunes around.
We spoke with him on Thursday about the Panthers' offseason; the chemistry challenges new players present; his coaching style; his goaltending; what he learned from being rejected from other gigs; and three questions that speak to our obsession with the Hartford Whalers, and probably yours as well.
Hartford may be the insurance capital of the world, the third largest city in New England and home to the oldest publicly funded park in America, but there’s one thing it definitely is not.
A professional sports town.
Home to the professional hockey’s Hartford Whalers from 1972 to 1997, Connecticut’s capital city has had little else.
The region briefly flirted with bringing the New England Patriots to Hartford, but that effort left only a 40,000-seat Rentschler Field in East Hartford that’s nearly empty year-round, save for a few events and University of Connecticut football games.
Mark Howe was making the one-hour drive from his beach house in Beach Haven, N.J., to his home in Jackson, N.J., on Tuesday afternoon when his cell phone rang.
Howe said reception in the area isn’t always good, but the connection lasted long enough for him to hear the news that he wasn’t sure would ever come.
In his lucky 13th year of eligibility, Howe was one of four new members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, joining father Gordie and former teammate Ron Francis as the only Hartford Whalers to earn the honor.
“Oh, wow, that’s great,” Howe told Jim Gregory, co-chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, in an interview shown on the NHL Network. “I’m just back from a fishing trip so this is great.”
Howe later twittered, “I know what this means to my dad, so there’s a tear in my eye.”
On this date in Whalers History, 1994: The Whalers purchased by Peter Karmanos Jr., Thomas Thewes, and Jim Rutherford from Richard Gordon for $47.5 million. Jim Rutherford named president and GM, replacing Paul Holmgren. Paul Holmgren named head coach, replacing Pierre McGuire.
The search has begun for a new coach for the OHL Owen Sound Attack.
The National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators confirmed Thursday that Attack coach Mark Reeds and Mississauga St. Michael's Majors coach Dave Cameron have been hired as assistants for the 2011-2012 season.
"It's fantastic for Mark," Attack general manager Dale DeGray said Thursday.
"He came here hoping to kind of shine a spotlight on himself and I'm really happy for him. That's what the kids want, it's what he wants and it's what I want. It's all about maturing and moving on," DeGray said.
The GM said he has a list of head and assistant coach candidates, including current Attack assistant Terry Virtue.
"I think we have a tremendous candidate in Terry Virtue, there's no question," said DeGray.
"We'll go through the process because quite honestly, you don't know what you're going to get as far as applicants who might be interested. I would be doing a disservice to the organization if I didn't look at applications."
"On April 13, 1997, I attended a funeral along with 15,000 other mourners.
We angry loved-ones screamed in the agony of our loss. This was our last chance to demonstrate our deep and passionate appreciation for what had already been declared dead. We cheered until the funeral concluded, and then we cried. We cried for the loss of a sports team.
That day, the Hartford Whalers played their final hockey game in the Hartford Civic Center after 17 years of competition. One day later, the franchise would pack up their belongings, load their equipment into moving vans, and leave the state of Connecticut without a professional sports team.
After the players slid off the ice—and the fans were bludgeoned with the distinct realization that no professional hockey would be played in Connecticut again—no one could leave. It was as if the doors to the arena had been locked from the outside; we were all trapped. Mentally, we were chained to the sticky cement floors that allowed us a vantage point of an empty ice. As long as we stayed, our team couldn’t possibly leave.
After about 20 minutes, the crowd thinned significantly. I don’t remember actually seeing anyone leave, but it was clear less people were in the arena. The crowd and team’s departure were both sudden and gradual, predictable and unforeseeable, impossible yet present. There would be no more Whalers.
Seven-year-olds cry for irrational reasons quite often, and I was no exception. The departure of my beloved Whalers was a sensible reason for a seven-year-old to cry, like a favorite toy being smashed. However, the thousands of adults who also wiped tears from their faces on April 13 were slightly more puzzling."
