WOLF PACK TO HOLD EQUIPMENT AND MERCHANDISE SALE SATURDAY, JUNE 15
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Large Selection of Team Game-used Gear, Jerseys, Over 1,000 CT Whale Souvenir Items to be Available
BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, June 4, 2013: Hockey players and collectors alike can acquire actual, game-used, pro-quality hockey equipment Saturday, June 15, as the Hartford Wolf Pack hold a team game-used equipment and Connecticut Whale merchandise sale from 10 AM to 2 PM. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged AHL, American Hockey League, ConnecticutWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, MasterCard, Visa, XL Center
BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, May 29, 2013: Hartford Wolf Pack head coach, and Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation president, Ken Gernander, along with leading scorer Kris Newbury, today visited Winding Trails in Farmington, CT to encourage Hartford seventh-graders in The Discovery Center’s Diversity Academy Engineering Raft-building Competition.
The event, which was funded in part by a grant from the Wolf Pack Community Foundation, featured nearly 100 Hartford area seventh grade students, hailing from Hartford’s Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School and the Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker, coming together at Winding Trails to work in teams using math and science skills to design and construct rafts, and then float the rafts in a competition. The activity was designed to bring students from different backgrounds together for hands-on learning while increasing their cultural appreciation of each other, as well as to promote team-building and collaboration. Continue reading
By: Mitch Beck, Publisher of Howlings
With the summer coming up there are lots of all kinds of camps for kids to go to…especially hockey camps.
If you have a son or daughter who’s a goaltender and you want them to go to one of the best goaltending schools there is, Howlings HIGHLY recommends former NY Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Steve Valiquette‘s goaltender’s school/camp that’s coming up this August. Continue reading
The Jeff Jacobs column that recently appeared in the Hartford Courant was an accurate representation of the significant financial and business challenges that Whalers Sports & Entertainment faces in operating the Connecticut Whale under the current XL Center lease terms. Some clarification needs to be added on our part, however, in terms of characterizing the working relationship between WSE and the AEG management of the XL Center.
One thing that we did not do sufficiently in the course of our conversation with Jeff Jacobs was to emphasize that, while the financial terms of the XL Center lease agreement have been a significant burden to our business, the AEG staff have been excellent operational partners to work with. Everyone responsible for assisting us in putting on the Whale games has been consistently responsive to our day-to-day needs and has given a top-notch effort in helping us to ensure that our games remain the best in local sports entertainment, and that the fan experience at Whale home games is unmatched.
BY: Bruce Berlet
When it comes to feel-good stories in the NHL this season, you’d be hard-pressed to find one better than New York Rangers defenseman Stu Bickel, who began the season playing on Asylum Street in Hartford.
Though Bickel will never be confused with elusive Hall of Famers Bobby Orr or Cheshire-bred Brian Leetch, he has proven to be one of the NHL’s all-time steals since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 23, 2010 for disgruntled Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Nigel Williams.
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged Carl Hagelin, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Dan Girardi, Hartford Wolf Pack, John Tortorella, Ken Gernander, Marc Staal, Michael Sauer, New York Ranger, Nigel Williams, Ranger, Ryan McDonagh, Stu Bickel, Whale
To Our Valued CT Whale Fans,
Thank you so much for your interest in our team and in our efforts to bring back the great Whaler brand to the city of Hartford and the state of Connecticut. It’s hard to believe we are about to conclude our second year of operation with the team. The next couple of months is going to be a very critical time period for our efforts in Hartford. We therefore wanted to reach out to you directly so you hear from us directly as to what will be transpiring.
The first issue that we must deal with for the future is establishing a long-term and permanent home for the Connecticut Whale at the XL Center — under lease terms that enable us to properly operate our business in a professional manner. In order for us to be able to operate beyond 2013, we must have a lease arrangement with the XL Center that is competitive with other AHL teams. Right now we are operating under lease terms that are far and away the most onerous in the American Hockey League.
In no way is this meant to be a criticism of the current building management team or anyone else for that matter. We recognize full well that things that were done in the ‘90s have put an unfair burden on current operations at the XL Center, which of course includes us. However, these obligations will no longer exist after next season. Therefore it is imperative that as we go into the future these burdens are no longer passed on to the prime tenant (i.e. the Connecticut Whale). It is our responsibility to you and to all our loyal fans and sponsors to do what we have to do in the next 30-60 days to solidify hockey in Hartford for the next 10 years.
The month of March is an exciting month for the Connecticut Whale. During the month of March and the first half of April we have 12 home games, all on attractive weekend dates. This coming Saturday night, March 10th, we have the first Connecticut Hockey Hall-of-Fame night. This will be an annual event. Some of the players being inducted with this first group are former Whaler greats Mike Liut, Pat Verbeek and Blaine Stoughton as well as our great coach and former Wolf Pack player Ken Gernander, three-time US Olympian Julie Chu as well as former New York Ranger, Hall-of-Famer, Brian Leetch.
The month of March is hockey time. This is a time when playoffs are upcoming and the games are increasingly meaningful. We are counting on your attendance to as many of these games as possible.
Finally, rest assured on behalf of our partnership and each dedicated person that works for the Connecticut Whale, executives, coaches, and players alike, it is a privilege to play in this city and to have your support. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Howard Baldwin, Chairman/CEO
Howard Baldwin, Jr., President/COO
Whalers Sports & Entertainment/Connecticut Whale
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged American Hockey League, Blaine Stoughton, Brian Leetch, Connecticut, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Howard Baldwin, Howard Baldwin Jr., Julie Chu, Ken Gernander, Mike Liut, Mike Luit, New York Ranger, Pat Verbeek, XL Center
Mitch Beck was a standup comedian and radio personality for over 25 years. His passion for hockey started with Team USA in 1980 when they defeated the Soviets at Lake Placid. He is now self-employed and has been reporting on the New York Rangers, and exclusively on the Hartford Wolf Pack / Connecticut Whale since 2005.
Howlings Connect
