Connecticut Whale

Connecticut Whale
City Hartford, Connecticut
League American Hockey League
Conference Eastern Conference
Division Northeast Division
Founded 1997
Home arena XL Center
Colors

Blue, white, green

              
Owner(s) Madison Square Garden, Inc.
General manager Jim Schoenfeld
Head coach Ken Gernander
Media The Rock 106.9 WCCC-FM
Affiliates New York Rangers (NHL)
Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL)
Franchise history
1926–1976 Providence Reds
1976–1977 Rhode Island Reds
1977–1980 Binghamton Dusters
1980–1990 Binghamton Whalers
1990–1997 Binghamton Rangers
1997–2010 Hartford Wolf Pack
2010-present Connecticut Whale
Championships
Regular season titles 1 1999–00
Division Championships 3 1999–00, 2003–04, 2008–09
Conference Championships 1 1999–00
Calder Cups 1 1999–00

The Connecticut Whale (formerly the Hartford Wolf Pack) are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They play in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play their home games at the XL Center.

The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds, and after a series of relocations moved to Hartford as the Hartford Wolf Pack. They adopted their current name in October 2010 in honor of the Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League.[1] The Whale are the top affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers and are one of several professional hockey teams in Connecticut.

Contents

History

The minor league Connecticut Whale is named for the only major league sports franchise to have been based in Hartford, the former Hartford Whalers, which left for North Carolina in 1997 to become the Carolina Hurricanes. In the season following the Whalers' departure, the New York Rangers' minor league affiliate, the Binghamton Rangers, relocated to Hartford to begin play at the vacated Hartford Civic Center (today known as the XL Center).

Following a "name-the-team" contest, the franchise became the Hartford Wolf Pack, intending to honor the Seawolf-class submarines built in Connecticut (the name "Seawolf" itself being taken by the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL). Following the submarine theme, the mascots were named "Sonar" and "Torpedo".

The Wolf Pack's first coach was E.J. McGuire and in the first game, the team won 2-0 against the neighboring Springfield Falcons. PJ Stock recorded the first goal in Wolf Pack history. The team reached the playoffs during the first twelve years of their existence, and won the Calder Cup in 2000, defeating the Rochester Americans in the Cup finals. As of December 2010 the team has only missed the playoffs during the 2009-10 AHL season.

In Summer 2010 the team hired Howard Baldwin, former owner of Hartford Whalers National Hockey League team, as the team's head of marketing. On September 20, 2010 Baldwin announced the Wolf Pack would change their name to the Connecticut Whale in honor of the Whalers.[2] The name change took place on November 27, 2010; the final game with the "Wolf Pack" name came on November 26, 2010. The opponent was Connecticut's other AHL team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Sound Tigers won 4-3, in a shootout. On November 27, 2010, the team played first game under the new "Whale" name. The opponent was, again, the Sound Tigers. The Whale won 3-2, in a shootout. The attendance for the debut game was 13,089, which is the second-largest crowd in franchise history.[3] On January 1, 2011 the Connecticut Whale debuted new home jerseys featuring light blue instead of green, however the color has been shelved for the 2011-12 season. The Whale uniform now consists of a white sweater at home with blue and green "wave" striping, and a green road sweater with blue and white "wave" striping.

The Whale were hosts and participants in the 2011 AHL Outdoor Classic, the Whale Bowl, held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. Connecticut fell to the Providence Bruins, 5-4, in a shootout.

Retired numbers

Mascots

The then-Hartford Wolf Pack started in 1997 with one mascot, a wolf named Sonar. The name was chosen to keep with the submarine theme that the team had used in their naming and logo. Shortly after, the team added a second wolf mascot named Torpedo; this mascot has since been retired. In 2010, with the renaming of the team to the Connecticut Whale, the former Hartford Whalers mascot Pucky the Whale joined as a mascot. Sonar retains his Wolf Pack hat, but now wears a Connecticut Whale jersey; Pucky first wore a unique Whalers jersey which featured the Pucky shoulder patch as the primary logo, but now has a typical Whale sweater.

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SL Points GF GA Standing Avg. Attendance
1997–98 80 43 24 12 1 99 272 227 2nd, New England 7,017
1998–99 80 38 31 5 6 87 256 256 2nd, New England 7,221
1999–2000 80 49 22 7 2 107 249 198 1st, New England 6,243
2000–01 80 40 26 8 6 94 263 247 2nd, New England 7,099
2001–02 80 41 26 10 3 95 249 243 2nd, East 6,714
2002–03 80 33 27 12 8 86 255 236 3rd, East 5,845
2003–04 80 44 22 12 2 102 198 153 1st, Atlantic 5,514
2004–05 80 50 24 3 3 106 206 160 2nd, Atlantic 5,145
2005–06 80 48 24 6 2 104 292 231 2nd, Atlantic 5,045
2006–07 80 47 29 3 1 98 231 201 2nd, Atlantic 4,563
2007–08 80 50 20 2 8 110 266 198 2nd, Atlantic 4,405
2008–09 80 46 27 3 4 99 243 216 1st, Atlantic 4,190
2009–10 80 36 33 6 5 83 231 251 6th, Atlantic 4,188
2010–11 80 40 32 2 6 88 221 223 3rd, Atlantic 5,695

Playoffs

Season Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
1997–98 W, 3–0, NH W, 4–3, WOR L, 1–4, SJ
1998–99 W, 3–0, SPR L, 0–4, PRO
1999–2000 W, 3–2, SPR W, 4–1, WOR W, 4–3, PRO W, 4–2, RCH
2000–01 L, 2–3, PRO
2001–02 W, 3–2, MAN L, 1–4, HAM
2002–03 L, 0–2, SPR
2003–04 W, 4–1, POR W, 4–0, WOR L, 3–4, WBS
2004–05 L, 2–4, LOW
2005–06 W, 4–3, MAN L, 2–4, POR
2006–07 L, 3–4, PRO
2007–08 L, 1–4, POR
2008–09 L, 2-4, WOR
2009–10 Out of Playoffs
2010–11 L, 2-4, POR

Team records

Single season
Goals: 50, Brad Smyth (2000–01)
Assists: 69, Derek Armstrong (2000–01)
Points: 101, Derek Armstrong (2000–01)
Penalty Minutes: 415, Dale Purinton (1999–2000)
GAA: 1.59, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
SV%: .936, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
Shutouts: 13, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
Goaltending Wins: 34, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
Career
Goals: 184, Brad Smyth
Assists: 204, Derek Armstrong
Points: 365, Brad Smyth
Penalty Minutes: 1077, Dale Purinton
Shutouts: 21, Jason LaBarbera
Goaltending Wins: 91, Jason LaBarbera
Games: 599, Ken Gernander

Team captains

Retired numbers

Hartford Whalers Retired numbers

In January 2006 The Hartford Wolf Pack honored three former Hartford Whalers by raising their numbers to the rafters of the XL Center along with the 2, 9 and 19 retired by the Hartford Whalers. These numbers are not officially retired by the Hartford Whalers, nor are they honored by the Connecticut Whale.

Current roster

Updated January 2, 2012.[4][5]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
18 Audy-Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Audy-Marchessault C R 21 2011 Cap-Rouge, Quebec Whale
16 Avery, SeanSean Avery LW L 31 2009 North York, Ontario Rangers
77 Baldwin, LeeLee Baldwin D L 23 2010 Victoria, British Columbia Rangers
9 Bell, BrendanBrendan Bell D L 28 2011 Ottawa, Ontario Rangers
61 Bouchard, FrancoisFrancois Bouchard RW L 23 2011 Sherbrooke, Quebec Rangers
17 Bourque, RyanRyan Bourque LW L 21 2011 Topsfield, Massachusetts Rangers
7 Deveaux, AndreAndre Deveaux RW R 27 2011 Freeport, Bahamas Rangers
44 Erixon, TimTim Erixon D L 20 2011 Port Chester, New York Rangers
10 Grant, TommyTommy Grant LW L 25 2011 North Vancouver, British Columbia Rangers
30 Johnson, ChadChad Johnson G L 25 2009 Calgary, Alberta Rangers
3 Klassen, SamSam Klassen D L 23 2009 Watrous, Saskatchewan Rangers
15 McKelvie, ChrisChris McKelvie LW L 26 2010 New Brighton, Minnesota Whale
11 Newbury, KrisKris Newbury (A) C L 30 2010 Brampton, Ontario Rangers
27 Nightingale, JaredJared Nightingale D R 29 2008 Jackson, Michigan Whale
46 Owens, JordanJordan Owens LW L 25 2011 Toronto, Ontario Whale
5 Parlett, BlakeBlake Parlett D L 22 2011 Bracebridge, Ontario Rangers
22 Prough, JeffJeff Prough F R 25 2011 Farmington Hills, Michigan Whale
6 Redden, WadeWade Redden (A) D L 34 2010 Lloydminster, Saskatchewan Rangers
33 Talbot, CameronCameron Talbot G L 24 2010 Caledonia, Ontario Rangers
13 Tanski, ScottScott Tanski RW R 21 2011 Burlington, Ontario Whale
90 Tessier, KelseyKelsey Tessier C R 22 2010 Fredericton, New Brunswick Whale
55 Thuresson, AndreasAndreas Thuresson RW R 24 2011 Kristianstad, Sweden Rangers
25 Valentenko, PavelPavel Valentenko D L 24 2010 Nizhnekamsk, Soviet Union Rangers
36 Zuccarello Aasen, MatsMats Zuccarello Aasen RW L 24 2010 Oslo, Norway Rangers

References

Notable alumni

External links