By PAUL DOYLE, Courant Staff Writer
When the Whalers departed for North Carolina 10 years ago, the Connecticut Development Authority had three options.
Local businessman Brian Foley wanted to bring an International Hockey League franchise to the Civic Center. Former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin offered to bring an American Hockey League team to Hartford. And Madison Square Garden said it would run the Civic Center and move its AHL affiliate to town.
The winner? MSG by a landslide. The CDA figured MSG's track record of running the world's most famous arena made for a sound business decision.
But the CDA overlooked emotion. The Whalers left behind a vibrant core of fans who were offended by the arrival of any minor league team.
The fact that the team was affiliated with the Rangers only deepened the anger. The way Whalers fans saw it, the powers at MSG had no interest in returning the NHL to Hartford and their constituents were obnoxious loudmouths who invaded the Civic Center when the Rangers were in town.
So why support them?
A decade later, those fans still aren't supporting the Wolf Pack. Meanwhile, the state is losing $4 million year on the Civic Center deal and the CDA is trying to decide if it should renew the MSG contract, which expires Aug. 31.
MSG is again competing with Baldwin, who says he will rebuild the market with an AHL franchise and has an eye on bringing the NHL back to Hartford. When he bid in 1997, he was part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and intended to bring an AHL team to Hartford.
The Penguins went bankrupt and Baldwin was out as owner a few years later, but he has always talked about bringing the NHL to Hartford. So if Baldwin had been handed the keys 10 years ago, he probably would have operated the AHL franchise with thoughts of luring the NHL back.
Foley's proposal involved a team in a renegade league that fancied itself as competition for the NHL. The IHL folded in 2001 and six franchises were absorbed by the AHL, so there's a chance Hartford would have wound up where it is today.
But a team run by Foley and other local investors might have garnered more goodwill among hockey fans. And it was in 1997 that Northland Investment Corp. began pouring money into downtown Hartford, so it's easy to imagine chairman Lawrence R. Gottesdiener - the man who vows he will bring the NHL back to Hartford - getting involved in the pursuit of hockey far sooner.
As it turned out, MSG became the operator of Rentschler Field and the company is still well-liked by the CDA. But regardless of how MSG has run facilities in Greater Hartford, the decision to put the Rangers' AHL affiliate in the Civic Center was misguided.
Many still view the Wolf Pack as New York's team. That won't change any time soon.
