Connecticut Whale Logo Could Be Unifying Force

While the Wolf Pack skated against the Albany Devils in their first exhibition game Wednesday night, the fusion of Hartford’s fractured hockey community was on display in the lobby at Trinity’s Koeppel Community Sports Center.

Many fans wore various versions of Wolf Pack jerseys. Others donned Whalers shirts, including one with John Cullen’s No. 11.

And a few fans were spotted in crisp white T-shirts with a brand new logo on the front. The Connecticut Whale were branded with a new insignia before the game – a grimacing blue whale diving through a green C while clutching a hockey stick.

Howard Baldwin’s Whalers Sports & Entertainment has taken over the marketing and sales operation of Hartford’s AHL franchise and changes are coming rapidly. The Wolf Pack, who came to Hartford in 1997, will have a new name before the end of the year.

And along with the new name come a new logo and new uniforms. The team is combining the green from Hartford’s dearly departed NHL franchise with a same shade of blue on the Pack’s uniform.

Baldwin, who is more of a traditionalist, initially resisted the logo.

“But then, this grew on us,” Baldwin said. “It grew on us and it grew on us. I realized this was more like a family logo.”

Meshing Hartford’s extended hockey family is a bigger challenge than designing a nifty emblem. With mediation in mind, Baldwin followed his unveiling by meeting with the Wolf Pack Booster Club.

Club members had plenty of questions and concerns, from their status as an organization to the status of Sonar as an active mascot. Baldwin said he wants the Wolf Pack Booster Club to combine with member of the Whalers Booster Club to form a Connecticut Whale Booster Club.

As for Sonar, he’ll move from a solo act to a partnership with Pucky the Whale.

“We have this whole thing with Pucky and Sonar, this whole production,” Karen Baldwin said. “We’ll keep that going.”

Baldwin said he was impressed with the interest and passion from Wolf Pack fans. His goal, he told them, was to build on what they’ve created and to increase attendance.

“It’s great, but unfortunately we need more,” Baldwin said. “That’s the difficult thing for us, is to find a way to build up that [attendance] number. We want to retain those fans and bring in more. We want to pull everybody together.”

By the end of the night, virtually everyone in the arena was cheering for the Wolf/Whale in a 3-0 victory. After two scoreless periods, the Pack took the lead on a goal by Norwegian sensation Mats Zuccarello 2:13 into the third period.

The diminutive Zuccarello, who also had an assist, was MVP of the Swedish Elite League before signing a two-year contract with the Rangers.

“He’s a pretty quick study,” coach Ken Gernander said. “I think he’s coming pretty quickly.”

About four minutes after Zuccarello’s goal, Samson Mahbod scored off a rebound of a Brandon Wong shot. Defenseman Lee Baldwin put the game away with a goal midway through the third.

Many of the core players watched from the stands, including veteran NHL defenseman Wade Redden. Redden, 33, reported to the Wolf Pack Wednesday after being demoted by the Rangers to clear salary cap space.

But for Gernander, the victory provided an opportunity to evaluate players competing for roster spots.

“I thought there were a lot of good things,” Gernander said. “Just little things that you look for in preseason. … I thought we played hard and we had some guys who showed some grit.”