Category: Sports

• A Check on the Whale’s Attendance Numbers

  Who’s curious to see where the Whale rank in the AHL’s overall attendance standings following a few months of re-branded hockey and the outdoor festival? Probably only me.

  When we last checked in with the numbers, the Whale (or Wolfpack) were averaging just under 3,600 fans a game and ranked 22nd in the standings. The team now has an average of 5,600 fans a game and are sitting in 11th position, or an increase of 2,011 fans on average. Unfortunately I didn’t document the total attendance number before, but Connecticut has pulled in 162,391 in total attendance since the start of the season.

  The team still trails Charlotte in the ranking by two spots and by about 300 fans a game and 20,400 total. It should be noted that Charlotte’s metro population is bigger than Hartford’s by roughly 600,000. If one compares percent attendance (the rough percentage of each city’s population to walk through the gates) Charlotte is attracting roughly 10.4%, while Hartford pulls in roughly 13.6% of there’s. Neither of these account for season ticket holders, repeat visitors, or those who travel from outside the metropolitan statistical area. In other words, the numbers are probably meaningless and you shouldn’t cite them anywhere.

  In the end the re-branding has brought an increased numbers of fans through the gates, but the more important issue is how long Hartford can keep the increased attendance going.

  02/02/2011

  Whalers

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• The Knock-Off Whalers

  Before November 27th of last year one would walk into the XL Center in Hartford and be greeted by a wall of pictures showcasing the sporting history of the XL Center. The wall included the Hartford Wolfpack, the Hartford Whalers and UConn basketball.  The only other sign of the Whalers in the building were the few souls who donned Whalers gear for the game and the old Whalers banners that still hang from the rafters.

  Now when one heads to the XL Center they’ll be greeted by hordes of fans who’ve either shelled out for new Whalers gear or dug old ones out of the closet.  The team skating on the ice isn’t the Hartford Whalers, rather the Connecticut Whale.  Having watched the changeover from afar and having written multiple pieces on Hartford hockey, I decided to attend some Whale games when I returned to Hartford over Christmas break.  What was originally suppose to be two games ballooned into four (plus a Springfield Falcons game) and provided a good look at Hartford hockey and only deepened questions about its future.

  When I first saw the Connecticut Whale’s green jersey (which was only worn until they got the new blue and white ones in) I couldn’t help but refer to the team as the knock-off Whalers.  Not only does the jersey look like some cheap Chinese take on the Whalers, but the atmosphere in the XL Center only added to the feeling.  The team introduction begins with a montage of Hartford hockey starting with the New England Whalers and continuing up through the Connecticut Whale.  Then Brass Bonanza blares from the speakers and the Whale takes the ice.  Fans decked out mostly in Whalers gear invariably ended up chanting, “Let’s Go Whalers!” over anything else.  Pucky the Whale, the iconic mascot, skated around the rink during intermission with Sonar, the old Hartford Wolfpack mascot.  I’m assuming Sonar will be retired following this season, but having him skating around in a Wolfpack jersey while Pucky skated around in his old Whalers jersey (the one with the picture of a whale and -rs tacked onto the end) only made understanding the team that much weirder.

  If the first game was a confusing mix of nostalgia and knock-off, the second game against the Portland Pirates only increased the questions. The night started off with former Whaler and Ranger Nick Fotiu signing autographs and dropping the ceremonial puck before the game.  The team also handed out singleers remembering the Whalers 1986-87 Adams Division winning team.  Oncemore, during a timeout the jumbotron ran a commenrative piece on Whalers great Kevin Dineen, the coach of the Portland Pirates, the team the Whale were playing that night.  The montage ended with Dineen being splashed on the video board and fans breaking out in applause for the opposing coach.

  While the first two games raised questions of what the Whale hoped to do, the final two raised issues about how longtime Wolfpack fans felt about the new team.  Fans who I can only assume are longtime season ticketholders labeled Baldwin an “idiot,” the green jerseys “monstrosities,” and chanted for the “Wolfwhale,” “Whalepack,” even the “Wolfpack.” It was pretty clear these fans held some resentment towards what they were seeing on the ice, and who can blame them? The Hartford Wolfpack had made the playoffs every year but one since joining the AHL and had one Calder Cup.  The team, while playing in a city that truly didn’t care about them, had built a legacy of its own. That legacy seemed to have been wiped away with the flick of a wrist, replaced instead with a team hoping to pull in fans based on nostalgia and unrealistic goals.

  While there were some improvements, new blue/white jerseys are far better than the green ones, I still feel Baldwin is playing a dangerous game. While management is quick to herald the increased attendance numbers, I don’t know how much one can read into the numbers at this point.  For one you traditionally draw more during this period, its winter and the kids are out on break. Furthermore it’s hard to figure out who the new fans are rooting for. They’re obviously not rooting for AHL hockey in Hartford, which even with a winning team was losing fans.  It seems to me that most of the fans are rooting for the Whale to get the Whalers.  In other words, support the Whale and show the NHL we can support hockey in Hartford.  Yet since the rebranding the team has only managed to pull in 1500 more fans, undoubtedly mostly ex-Whaler fans, and still trails the Charlotte Checkers in total and average attendance (which I mention because Hartford now in essence competes with its former self). So what happens in five years when these fans realize the NHL is never coming back to Hartford? Do they continue supporting the Whale? Or do they return to not caring about hockey until the next person comes along promising a Whalers return? I fear Howard Baldwin isn’t re-creating a hockey culture in Hartford, rather he’s stringing along nostalgic fans with unattainable promises.

  01/07/2011

  Whalers

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• Required Reading For All Whalers Dreamers

  Here’s an excellent piece from “Puck Daddy” that not only summarizes the current discussion of whether or not the Atlanta Thrashers will relocate to Canada but also provides a solid no in response. To quote the takeaway

  Bettman’s reign in the NHL has been one of expansion, not contraction; of venturing forth to new frontiers, rather than retreating to comfort zones.The success of these initiatives can, and should, be dissected and debated. But there’s no question that moving a Bettman era expansion or relocated team (like Atlanta or Phoenix) north of the border carries with it a sense of defeat, of failure, of having staked a claim in a new market and then having seen that market, for whatever reason, reject the NHL.And you expect Gary Bettman to symbolically admit to that?

  Not only would it be a sign of defeat for Bettman but the ill will created towards the league in any city with relocation can’t be something anyone in the NHL front offices hopes for. Plus, for people in Hartford still dreaming about a return of the real whale take a look at the cities mentioned. If you were hoping for Hartford you probably don’t want to look.

  12/08/2010

  Whalers

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• Oh The Whale

  The Connecticut Whale kicked off in Hartford this weekend and it looks to have been a successful debut (in more ways than one). I’m stated my position on the Hartford NHL issue in the past but having read news on the debut (I plan on attending a game next month when I return to Connecticut) I’m not liking the new Whale.

  With Brass Bonanza blaring, green and blue jerseys and Pucky the Whale it should be the Whalers, instead we’ve gotten what looks like a cheap Chinese knockoff. Howard Baldwin said he didn’t use the Whalers name because he didn’t feel sorting out the copyright issues were in the best interest of Hartford hockey at the current time. Fine, but now that he’s christened the Whale and started his Quixotic quest to return the NHL to Hartford he should address the copyright issues and admit the NHL isn’t coming back to Hartford.

  As a Whalers fan I’d be far happier to see a Whalers playing in the AHL than the knockoff CT Whale. Furthermore in 5–10 years when Hartford still has no prospects of an NHL team what affect is the name and current campaign going to have on the hockey market? In other words, how many people showed up at the Whale debut in the hopes of being an influence on the NHL rather than to support an AHL team?

  We can debate why the Whalers left and if they should have all day but the one thing that’s not up for debate is the NHL returning to Hartford. It’s not happening and Baldwin’s campaign only strings along fans who’ve been promised the NHL for 14 years now. I applaud Baldwin for wanting to return the hockey culture to Hartford but we need to rally around our AHL team, whether they be named the Wolfpack or the Whale(rs), because that’s the best we’re going to get. If we continue to hold out for the NHL we could very well wake up one morning and find the AHL gone as well.

  11/29/2010

  Whalers

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• Do Hartford’s AHL Attendance Figures Mean Anything for its Potential NHL Future?

  In remarks given yesterday at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce’s Business to Business Expo, Howard Baldwin, the new owner of the Hartford Wolfpack (or CT Whale) and former Whalers owner, said he’s no longer skeptical of the Hartford hockey market.

  This, to someone who still remains skeptical of the market potential, seemed like an odd thing to say when half way through the article you find out Hartford is 22nd in AHL attendance with an average of 3,589 fans per game.¹ On first reading that stat and Howard’s statements it looked like just another case of Howard being delusional about Hartford’s ability to get an NHL franchise.

  However, instead of instantly writing Howard off as someone with serious seller’s remorse, I decided to dig around in attendance statistics and see what the market has looked like over the last five years (as far back as I could go). I also decided to look at attendance not only for the Hartford Wolfpack, but also for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Springfield Falcons, both teams within an hour’s drive of Hartford.

  Can (or Should) We Read Anything Into the Statistics?

  Before the stats, let me make a few caveats clear. One, I’m not a statistician or very good with numbers. Second, all of the numbers are just the numbers available on the AHL’s site. They don’t take into account double attendance, people who would attend an NHL game over an AHL game, or other variables. It other words, should we read much into these numbers? Probably not but they reveal at least one important thing.

  The Numbers

  Here’s the average (per game) attendance for the three AHL teams in the region and an NHL rank based on adding up the three averages and the total attendance for the three teams as well as the NHL ranks based on sum total.

  The most striking thing out of all these numbers is the fact that Hartford’s attendance has been falling since 2005 even though they made the playoffs every year but last year. Springfield, the weakest of the three markets, hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2003 and their attendance probably reflects that fact. Bridgeport has been in the middle of the two teams, missing the playoffs in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

  Is Hartford Going to get the NHL back?

  Read what you will about the numbers, but I’ve been blunt in the past and I’ll continue that here. Hartford isn’t going to get an NHL franchise any time soon, there’s just too many issues. For one we’re talking about an overall market that has has lost close to 35,000 fans in 5 years and hasn’t gotten higher than 19th in league attendance. That’s not something the NHL would probably be willing to risk a franchise on. Even if the NHL was willing to do so Hartford probably slots behind Winnipeg and Quebec at the very least. Add that to the fact that the NHL probably won’t expand beyond more than 2 teams, meaning Hartford’s best shot at an NHL team is probably a relocated team. I doubt the NHL would be willing to foster more bad blood by moving a team, even one with low attendance, unless it absolutely has to (see the Coyotes last off season). Last but not least, if the NHL returns Hartford would need a new arena, something we’ve been promised since the Whalers left.

  I enjoy that Howard Baldwin wants to bring NHL hockey back to Hartford, but until I see something different he’s fighting a battle he’s probably not going to win. The first step Baldwin and his management group needs to do is turn around attendance, bring it back above 200,000 and then move Hartford into a consistent top 10 AHL attendance team. A few Whalers Fan Fests and outdoor hockey games aren’t going to bring the NHL back to Hartford.

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  1. The Courant article lists them as 21st with an average attendance of 3,856, however the AHL’s official stats are used here. ↩

  11/11/2010

  Whalers

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