The Whale is Coming
The AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack will be renamed the Connecticut Whale on Monday at 5 PM, according to the Hartford Courant.
A long-in-the-works deal for Howard Baldwin to take control of the American Hockey League franchise is apparently done. It was rumored he would rename the team the Connecticut Whalers. Perhaps he's saving that name for his ultimate goal of reviving the Hartford Whalers.
Connecticut Whalers T-shirtThe Courant says the deal and the rebranding efforts will be officially announced late Monday afternoon at the XL Center and that the new logo will not be unveiled. However, it could look something like what's on a t-shirt being sold through Baldwin's website. Wrote up a whole blog post last month.
Despite the announcement coming right away, it'll take some time before the change over happens. According to the newspaper:
The team will open the 2010-11 season as the Wolf Pack; the name change is expected to take place at some point before midseason. The name, a new logo and uniforms are expected to be in place by Feb. 19, when the Whale face the Providence Bruins.
That previously scheduled game is expected to be moved outside to Rentschler Field and played before an exhibition between a team of Hollywood celebrities — centered around the movie "Mystery, Alaska" — and former NHL All-Stars in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the NHL All-Star Game played in Hartford.
The article says to expect the changes to the logos and uniforms to happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Definitely keeping an eye on that.
Thanks to Jason for the tip!
Chris
A lot of the feedback on this story seems to be centered around the lack of a plural name — Connecticut Whale vs Whales vs Whalers. Actually, "a source close to Baldwin" was quoted in the article I referenced, explaining the choice.
"Based on internal discussions and significant feedback from both Whalers fans and Wolf Pack fans, we've chosen a name that touches on our past but also signifies this new era in Hartford hockey," one source close to Baldwin said. "Fans have always referred to the Hartford Whalers as the 'The Whale,' so it's a very familiar name."
Personally, I'm all for singular team names. They sound just fine to me. But then my team is the Lightning. It's not like I think every team should do it, but variety is always nice. Not only that, but I like the conscious choice of avoiding the Whalers name. They're wise to save that for a return of the NHL and the Hartford Whalers. Why diminish that?
By the way, for more on this subject, FOX Connecticut did a live shot this morning from the XL Center talking about the change. You can watch the video here:
Reader Comments (33)
Awesome news. I wonder if this is the first time a team has switched identities in the middle of a season. It almost reminds me of the second Mighty Ducks movie, haha.
i think the whole thing is ridiculous
yes i would love to see the whalers name make a comeback in profesional hockey, but "whale"? no, they just needed to name the team "whalers" and be done with it. and whats with re-branding the team midway through the season, just wait till next season to do an overhall of name and uniform, or re-brand the team before the season starts
RIP Wolf Pack. You had an awesome name and logo. Shame we couldn't have seen that Ivall design become the primary.
You know what, I love my Moose, and I defend the AHL non-stop to people that refuse to accept that it is quality hockey, but crap like this doesn't help my case. Good on them wanting to change the team name, congratulations to the new owner, you can change the team to the Connecticut Crap if you really want, but seriously, in mid-season? That's just bush league.
"Whale"? Singular?
Um, okay. But why not the Connecticut Whales?
While the Penguins changed their color scheme midway through 1979-80 (technically, just promoting their logo colors), there hasn't been a full mid-season name change in the NHL. In the WHA, two teams changed mid-season, but both were relocations: the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades in 74-75, and the Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics in 1975-76 (the latter folding after just 7 games as Ottawa). I can't think of anything else that comes close... in any sport, really.
Time to fire up the Brass Bonanza!
Figures... I submit a comment, then realize there's one important thing missing... uniform discussion!
There are a few options if the Connecticut Whalers want to emulate their NHL forebears. If they choose to go with green as their primary color, emulating Hartford's 79-92 era, they could simply pallet-swap the Blackhawks design (the hem stripes of the old Whalers' uniforms are very similar to the Hawks'), and go from there (possibly tweaking the sleeve stripes, since those were different). If they choose to go blue (92-97), then they could re-import that design perfectly, as the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds adapted that design to their Edge uniforms.
Oddly enough, the Plymouth Whalers didn't follow Seattle in adapting the 90s Hartford design; their white jersey is a straight-up Blackhawks pallet-swap, while their blue jersey... all I can say is, I really hope Connecticut doesn't go in that direction.
... if I said "Connecticut Whalers", then it shows I didn't read the very top of the article... oops! (I'm submitting this right after my last submission, so...)
They Hartford Whalers were referred to as "The Whale" in popular culture, so maybe Baldwin just wants to run with that for now.
how about this
The one thing I don't like about singular team names is that it causes awkwardness when you're talking about individual players. Not that it's a major thing, but its linguistically convenient (unlike that phrase) to be able to say "Thornton was a Bruin, then he was traded, and he's been a Shark ever since". Say the same thing about a guy like Kurtis Foster and the language gets pretty tortured. "Kurtis Foster was a Wild..er...he played for the Wild, then signed as a free agent to become a Ligh..um..he joined the Lightning."
Was anyone else more interested in the story about the judge at the end of the clip? Or was it just me.
Sorry Chris, but I totally disagree with the idea of singular team names. Especially in the NHL and hockey in general. The only sport where this concept would work is in soccer, ie. Chicago Fire, Toronto Blizzard. However, the use of plural names just sounds bushleague. In hockey, a player is a Canuck, a Canadien, a Ranger, or an Islander. Not a Wild(worst name ever), not a Lightening(use Bolts instead), and not an Avalanche(at least they're called the Avs). Let's be more respectable.
Whale is plural now?
at mike wow thats a awesome design
I hope they bring back the whalers, I think from just a come back of the franchise there would generate enough revenue to make it worthwhile for a few years at the least. It's a shame a team like the whalers had to bow out only to have their team go to some crap city that knows nothing of winter and make a finals appearance and then win a cup. Wrong on so many levels. I'm not just trying to be mean to newer franchises either but sorry, Carolina, and Phoenix need to go back to being their original franchises, throw in Colorado for good measure, only reason anyone there took interest was because of the Patrick Roy "TRADE" :P j/k they can stay but bring back Quebec anyways. It's better for man kind.
nice stuff Mike, but the whalers need to be green and white. It stood out like a sore thumb in a good, no great, NO!!! FANTASTIC WAY!!!!!
One thing, as of right now Baldwin doesn't own the team, he's just in charge of marketing. The Rangers still own the Wolf Pack / Whale.
@ ANDRE said " Sorry Chris, but I totally disagree with the idea of singular team names. Especially in the NHL and hockey in general. The only sport where this concept would work is in soccer, ie. Chicago Fire, Toronto Blizzard. However, the use of plural names just sounds bushleague. In hockey, a player is a Canuck, a Canadien, a Ranger, or an Islander. Not a Wild(worst name ever), not a Lightening(use Bolts instead), and not an Avalanche(at least they're called the Avs). Let's be more respectable."
Not sure where your going there man, you just totally contradicted yourself. Adding an "S" doesn't always fit and is added with error realized later on, and a name in singular represents everything as a whole if it works with in the context of the word. When you answer a question like what hockey team do you like.. If you respond I'm a Ranger, thats used in the plural context as far as thought goes. Just a poor choice in name if you want to be technical about shit. I'm a "canuck/canadien" is actually plural because if you gave the answer to a Q? like who's your favorite team in the NHL and you responded "I'm a Canuck" that would be an plural answer since you are not the only fan and your answer meant "I'M A CANUCK" as in you are from a group of people that like the team. Like I said it's hard to explain but what you said makes no sense logically.
Nice hybrid of the Whale/Pack concept, Mike!
The difference between the name Whale and a singular like Lightning or Moose is that those names are already plural. Lightning or Moose can refer to one bolt of lightning/individual moose or many. They ARE plural names. The plural of moose is moose. The plural of lightning is lightning.
Noone refers to a group of whales as whale. It's flat out wrong. This is a silly gimmick and if I was a fan of the team I'd be annoyed that our team name is going to make people scratch their heads. It must be how Minnesota Wild fans feel.
@ ANDRE said " However, the use of plural names just sounds bushleague."
I always love when people do this. "Just SOUNDS (anything)" means you have no deeper rationale, you have no actual argument, you're just saying that YOU don't like it. Which is all well and good, but, honestly, who cares?
And "bushleague?" Hey, genius, it's MINOR LEAGUE HOCKEY. "Bushleague" is another one of those meaningless terms meant to be a pejorative but that really has no meaning other than to say YOU don't care for it. Well, lah tee freaking dah. Unless you're going to buy tickets to see this team play, I don't know that they should really care what you think.
Jason, best comment I've read here yet. Thank you. I know the comments here are for people to express their personal opinions about a subject. But there's a difference between saying "this is stupid" and "I don't like it." And we all know it.
Apparently, 'Connecticut Whalers' was allowed as a team name, but Balswin still chose the name 'Connecticut Whale' instead. Wonder if he's keeping the name Whalers for the NHL?
First off, nice jerseys mike, they look fantastic. It will be interesting to see what they go with and how they're received. I wouldnt be surprised to see something that looks like what Plymouth has now. And for the record, I do like Plymouth's blues.
what about the hartford whale pack
They could use my Hartford Hockey logo.
Posted at 5:22pm the 2nd of December 2007.
I've always been adverse to singular names for the most part, however I do agree that "The Whale" has always been a term I've liked. Much like "The Oil" for Edmonton. That said, if you think of the team as a whole, and then refer to the entity that is the team as "The Whale" it is somehow less offensive to me. I can even see myself warming up to it.
"The Whale is coming!" Maybe to your hometown to dearest your team. I like the strength of the vernacular.
Also with this type of name (as with the Wild, which I don't like as a name) you would have to refer to individual players as 'members of The Whale' or similar.
At any rate, I can't explain it fully, but I think a team that is a Whale is somehow more acceptable than a team that is simply Wild, as wild isn't a noun. Whale is a noun, and feels better to me.
i like the singular.
i also saw some different logos on the back drop of the news conf. - looked like a fluke w/ "whale" underneath it...
i like that. something simple.
i can't wait. my new favorite AHL team. hell, after the Bruins, my favorite hockey team.
(i love whales. loved the whalers logo, didn't like the concept of "whalers", however.)
www.ptownwhales.com
I don't get the "Whale" singular. If you're watching on TV or in the stands, you're going to say "Let's go Whales", not "Let's go Whale" - that just sounds ridiculous.
I remember years ago Larry King talking about the new basketball teams - the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat - he said "How do your root for a "Heat" or when you say "Let's go Magic", are you talking about the team or Magic Johnson?". Yes, I'm an old fart. :oD
It just sounds weird. But I'm all for the return ot the Whalers one day, so if this is a first step, they get a pass from me.
I'll be the first to directly respond to the poll at the end of the story -- HATE IT. It's not all there. GO WHALERS!!!
Here's a solution everyone can agree on: call the team the Connecticut Pod.
e.g. Cam Talbot is a Whale. He plays for the Pod.
Problem solved.
Looks like the Wolf Pack may be back. http://articles.courant.com/2013-02-16/sports/hc-return-of-the-wolf-pack-20130216_1_msg-connecticut-whale-howard-baldwin-s-whalers-sports