Hartford (XL) Civic Center Here We Come!!!

gregkitefan

You have to love a Saturday night show.

FenwayFaithful

BabaBooey1979 wrote:

I've been thinking about having someone design me a custom shirt for this show. (for my benefit only of course).

locked

gregkitefan wrote:

You have to love a Saturday night show.

Bump..

and "Oceans" will be the opener..

you heard it here first..

FenwayFaithful

I'm just glad we have moved beyond this:

LloydXmas

locked wrote:

gregkitefan wrote:

You have to love a Saturday night show.

Bump..

and "Oceans" will be the opener..

you heard it here first..

I would be 100 percent ok with this.

Newch91

locked wrote:

gregkitefan wrote:

You have to love a Saturday night show.

Bump..

and "Oceans" will be the opener..

you heard it here first..

I'll take it.

BUMP.

Newch91

There was an article in my newspaper yesterday and today about how the Whalers' spirit has been kept alive with people having organizations and selling merch in stores. Thought I'd share with all the Whaler lovers out there! (Sorry for the long read)

This is Sunday's article:

http://www.rep-am.com/sports/doc4baec86 ... 202229.txt (not full article, so I'll have to type it out)

Keeping the spirit of the Whalers alive

More than a decade later, fans haven't forgotten

By Roger Cleaveland

The NHL may have left Connecticut some 13 years ago, but for many people in this state the Hartford Whalers live on.

They live not in some perverse reconstituted version the league calls the Carolina Hurricanes, but in the hearts of loyal fans who pay tribute to the Whalers by flying their true colors again in hopes of bringing back the Whalers some day.

To the most passionate of fans, bitterness lingers over team owner Peter Karmanos' move of the franchise to North Carolina in 1997. They show no allegiance to his team, especially now that none of the former Hartford players still play for the Hurricanes.

Yet throughout the holiday season and well in the new year, there has been a revival of Whalers pride as team merchandise began popping up in sporting goods stores and malls throughout the state. The influx of jerseys, T-shirts, caps and other merchandise featuring the Whalers logo has carried over to the Internet, including the official NHL Web site.

There has been speculation that the renewed popularity in Whalers merchandise resulted from a recently opened marketplace. Reports circulated on various Web sites and through the community of hockey fans that the merchandising rights to the Whalers logos lapsed over the summer, allowing many manufacturer the opportunity to sell Whalers goods.

That's not true, according to Connecticut Development Authority president Marie O'Brien. She said the CDA was granted the merchandising rights, among other things, during the negotiating process of the Whalers's exit from Connecticut.

O'Brien said the CDA has never relinquished those rights and it currently seeking legal counsel to determine what rights the state agency has with respect to preventing others from manufacturing and selling goods with the Whalers' logo.

Meanwhile, retailers keep capitalizing on devout Whalers fans who are passionate to show they still love their team.

"There is still a Whalers' heart beating in this state," said 26-year-old Sam Lombardo, the newest member of the Hartford Whalers Booster Club. "I know there are hundreds of Whalers fans like me who were the future season ticket holders who are just looking for a reason to come out again."

The proliferation of the marketplace with new Whalers merchandise may help.

"Absolutely, it encourages me," said the booster club treasurer, Herman Munhill of Thomaston. "When we take our trips to Boston, Long Island, New Jersey or Montreal, the reception we get wearing our Whalers gear is phenomenal. They tell us they wish we were back. I don't know if they say that because back in the old days they used to beat us up a lot, but they always give us a positive reception."

While it may surprise some that a Whalers Booster Club still exists more than a decade after the team left, current president Al Victor said the team made a huge, everlasting impact on the state. The players were down to earth, approachable and involved in the community. The intimacy of Hartford's small market generated significant pride that Connecticut was a major league state.

Just like Brooklyn will never forget the Dodgers, he believes Connecticut will never forget the Whalers. Victor and Marty Evtushek, the booster club president when the team left, have dedicated themselves to keeping the Whalers alive in hockey fans' consciousness.

"We vowed that we were going to do our darnedest," Victor said. "Because we had a place in the NHL, because they have a place in our hearts, we would try to keep the Whaler name alive for as long as we could. If it came down to Marty and I being the only two left in the club, that is what it would be. We will keep it together."

Victor said that initially when the team left, the booster club was maintained for nostalgic purposes. Passionate fans used it as a forum to get together periodically to commiserate over their loss and relive fond memories.

Every year, the club hosts a Fanniversary on April 13, the date of the last home game in Whalers history. The event draws 50 to 400 people to celebrate what the Whalers meant to them.

"We will throw in some Whalers tapes and relive some of the good times we had, some of the trips we went on, some of the players," Victor said.

Evtushek, now vice president of the booster club, said the club, which once had as many as 1,000 members when the team won the Adams Division in 1986, dropped to as few as 16 members a few years after the team left.

Interest has picked back up in recent years as the club started focusing on efforts to help bring the NHL back to Connecticut. It has an online petition to drum up support for building a new arena that might attract a struggling team looking to relocate.

Lombardo showed up at the February meeting of the Hartford Whalers Booster Club and became the 50th current member of the club. He said he went to the first Fanniversary and has kept tabs on the booster club's efforts through its Web site, whalerwatch.com.

"These guys have kept the Whalers alive in spirit as well and kept hope for the future alive through the legislature and stuff," Lombardo said. "There are a lot of people sitting at home willing to talk to you about the Whalers. To get them from the chairs to (active roles in the booster club) is the difficult part. I am hoping I can help get others, especially younger fans, to take the step."

Toward that end, club members have gone to New Britain Rock Cats games in their Whaler colors and set up a table looking for signatures or new members. They may do the same thing at a Torrington Titans game this summer.

The club holds monthly meetings in Hartford to discuss strategies to keep the Whalers name relevant. Quinnipiac hockey hosts a Whalers Night for the club. The club also plans three or four trips to NHL games each year. The last game, to see the New York Islanders, attracted 13 youth hockey players and 13 parents from Cheshire along for the trip.

"We think in no small part what we have been doing has kept the Whalers on the radar of a lot of people," Victor said. "We are out there making or presense felt."

That presence may be felt the most at the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Hartford. Club members decorate a float, don their Whalers gear and throw out Whalers hockey cards to fans along the route.

"I think the biggest thing that tells me there is still a Whalers presence in the state would be the St. Patrick's Day parade," Munhill said. "When our float goes down the street, the place goes crazy. They cheer, 'Let's Go Whalers!' It's a lot of fun, and it lets us know the people still care."

This is today's article:

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2010/03/ ... 665185.txt

Whalers vintage gear hot seller

By Roger Cleaveland

HARTFORD --- The recent proliferation of Whalers' T-shirts, jerseys and caps has renewed the spirit of the team's fans, but it also raised the ire of the Connecticut Development Authority.

When Whalers merchandise began resurfacing in significant amounts at sporting goods stores, malls and on Web sites this past holiday season, rumors circulated that the merchandising rights had lapsed over the summer, opening up the market to anyone who wanted to capitalize on the loyalty of Whalers fans.

According to CDA president Marie O'Brien, her agency was granted “exclusive, irrevocable” rights to the Whalers name, logo and all trademarks as part of the National Hockey League team's exit agreement in 1997. She said the CDA still holds those rights and has sought legal counsel to determine why someone else is profiting from Whalers merchandise.

“If someone is going to profit, perhaps it should be the state of Connecticut,” O'Brien said. “But first we have to answer some of the questions that go back to the legal rights we were given in that 1997 settlement with the KTR Group for the exit of the Whalers from the state.”

O'Brien said that at this time the CDA actually isn't trying to get into the sporting goods business to make a profit on the Whalers name and trademarks. She just doesn't want someone else inappropriately making money off Whalers merchandise and possibly de-valuing the rights.

O'Brien said that when Whalers team owner Peter Karmanos and the NHL negotiated the move of the professional hockey team from Connecticut to North Carolina 13 years ago, the CDA fought to safeguard the Whalers name and logos in hopes of attracting a future NHL franchise here.

The CDA believed that having the rights to the Whalers trademarks could provide great value to a future team in terms of marketing, merchandising and re-connecting with the Whalers fanbase.

But recently the NHL decided to start exploiting the Whalers' logo for a variety of reasons and purposes. The league began promoting its history, and as part of that capitalized economically on new revenue streams by selling vintage merchandise.

“It might be interesting to go back and see what has happened in that sport financially,” O'Brien said. “The economic times have forced us all to look for every sliver of value in the assets that we own. It could be a combination of what is happening within their league as well as the economic times.”

O'Brien said part of the reason the CDA is looking at the merchandising rights with legal counsel is to clarify what rights, if any, the NHL may have maintained through the 1997 agreement.

The NHL has Whalers merchandise for sale on its Web site along with vintage memorabilia from other defunct teams.

The NHL refused to comment publicly on the rights or the sale of Whalers merchandise other than to e-mail the Republican-American a comment from NHL Executive Vice President of Marketing Brian Jennings saying, “Our fans have an incredible appreciation and understanding of the NHL's rich history and our vintage product offerings allow our fans to emotionally connect with that past.”

The league would also not release information about how well the Whalers merchandise was selling compared to other vintage merchandise or the merchandise of current teams.

It appears that the NHL is certainly behind the influx of Whalers merchandise. For instance, on FansEdge.com the Whalers' merchandise is listed as product officially licensed by the NHL and made by Old Time Hockey

Cupstuff.com advertises on its home page that Whalers merchandise has finally arrived and provides a link to its page for merchandise for all defunct teams. On that page there are 18 different T-shirts available from various teams like the Oakland Seals, Minnesota North Stars, Atlanta Flames and Colorado Rockies. Yet 10 of the 18 T-shirts available are Whalers' shirts.

In it's vintage section, Icejerseys.com includes Whalers items manufactured by CCM, Twins '47, Retro Sport, Bulletin and Old Time Hockey. It does state on the Web site that “all NHL team logos and marks are property of the NHL.”

Even if the NHL does have its own merchandising rights, it is unclear as to whether the state, through the CDA, should be earning a percentage of the merchandise sold by the league. O'Brien is looking into that, as well.

When asked if the CDA would consider creating a subsidiary to manufacture Whalers merchandise for the economic benefit of the state, she said it is within the authority of the organization but that it would be unusual.

“Our history is such that we haven't done that,” O'Brien said. “We have helped many companies and many entities do exactly that in conjunction with manufacturing and selling of products for service here in Connecticut. So that is one of the questions we will be taking a look at. But it is not part of our core business.”

Steve Dunne

nice post

R-Dub81

Pearl Joe wrote:

Anyone know if the "Crowne Plaza Hartford Downtown" is within walking distance? Looks like it is only 1/2 mile away, so easily walkable distance-wise. However, looks like you have to cross over major highways using the direct route. Thanks

it is walking distance, and you can go under the highways. They are all above that part of the city. Also, it is one of the few hotels in Hartford that is a favorite for bands to stay. (just a little inside info from a past runner)

Not For You

Anyone driving up from the Philly Area??? I'm sure there are just wanted to see if anyone wanted to drive up either together or as a pack of cars. I'm going up by myself cause I couldn't scoop any extra tixs so I'm riding solo for this one. If you are heading up from philly area, let me know.

jrnyc

Still looking for one 10c to this show if anyone has an extra to sell.

Grandmas Jam

Steve Dunne wrote:

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Cue Brass Bonanza*

I've been saying this the whole time! Stop stealing my thunder

Steve Dunne

Grandmas Jam wrote:

Steve Dunne wrote:

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Cue Brass Bonanza*

I've been saying this the whole time! Stop stealing my thunder

what are you even talking about? thread is almost 3 weeks old.

Newch91

Steve Dunne wrote:

Grandmas Jam wrote:

Steve Dunne wrote:

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Cue Brass Bonanza*

I've been saying this the whole time! Stop stealing my thunder

what are you even talking about? thread is almost 3 weeks old.

And I've been talking about Pearl Jam hoping to play the XL and hoping to have Pearl Jam Whaler shirts before the tour was announced. I've predicted half of that right so far.

Kraven

I really hope the play Oceans in Hartford, it is the only song off of Ten I have not seen live. I hail from Southern Connecticut, and my house is 500 feet from the beach.

The song I would really love to hear, is Light Years. My grandmother passed away in February, and I can't listen to that song without thinking about her and in turn losing it. It is my favorite song on Binaural and since her passing has been the entire quotes section of my Facebook page in a memorial to her. I have seen it twice live, but I am truly hoping for a third.

LloydXmas

Just got my "your tix have been printed" confirmation

megatron

looks like CT is getting washed away...

Newch91

Kraven wrote:

I really hope the play Oceans in Hartford, it is the only song off of Ten I have not seen live. I hail from Southern Connecticut, and my house is 500 feet from the beach.

The song I would really love to hear, is Light Years. My grandmother passed away in February, and I can't listen to that song without thinking about her and in turn losing it. It is my favorite song on Binaural and since her passing has been the entire quotes section of my Facebook page in a memorial to her. I have seen it twice live, but I am truly hoping for a third.

I'd love to hear Light Years also. I hope they do play it for you. I never knew who Pearl Jam was in 2003 when my grandfather passed away and when I first heard it in 2006, I knew this song was going to be in my top 5 Pearl Jam songs. Everytime I hear it, I think of my grandfather.

FenwayFaithful

BabaBooey1979 wrote:

Just got my "your tix have been printed" confirmation

+1 :thumbup:

Newch91

44 days.