Book Feature The Whalers (by Pat Pickens)

[Pat Pickens]

Hi everyone! My name is Pat Pickens, and I'm the author of "The Whalers: The Rise, Fall and Enduring Mystique of New England's (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise."

​

It's my first book and took me 10 years from start to finish and was released October 15. Anyone interested in purchasing the book can do so here.

I spoke with dozens of former players, including Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Brendan Shanahan, Mark Howe, Ray Ferraro, Ulf Samuelsson, Pat Verbeek, Dave Tippett, Mike Liut, Joel Quenneville, Larry Pleau and many others. I spoke with WHA-era founders Howard Baldwin, John Coburn and Godfrey Wood and ex-owner Peter Karmanos for the project as well as coach Paul Maurice.

But to tell the full breadth of the story I had to speak with other characters like Peter Good, the graphic artist who designed the Whalers now-legendary logo the team is known for. I spoke with George Ducharme, the Whalers marketing director who unearthed the iconic "Brass Bonanza." I spoke with legendary broadcasters Chuck Kaiton, John Forslund, Rick Peckham and longtime color commentator and Hockey Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers did the foreword.

I've covered hockey since 2013 with bylines in The New York Times, NHL.com, Sportsnet.ca, the Associated Press and many others. I just started writing content, mostly hockey-related so far, for The Game Day, a gambling website in December 2021.

I've attached excerpts from the first five pages for you to peruse below and would be happy to answer any and all questions about the book, my career covering hockey or anything else you want to ask!

Click to read more...

 

[Theokritos]

Thanks for joining us! I understand there were some availability issues earlier on, but the book is now fully available (again?), correct?

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Looking forward to finally grabbing this one - thanks for joining us here, Pat!

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Definitely on my want to read list!

 

[Pat Pickens]

Yes that’s correct. There were issues with stock due to the global paper shortage. However that has since been alleviated.

It was really frustrating to go through what we did for as long as we did, but it seems to be straightened out now!

 

[Jets4Life]

Sad that the Whalers lost their team. Their history parallels the Winnipeg Jets 1.0. They even met in the first WHA championship in 1972-73 (Whalers won). It's a shame Pete Karmanos bought the team. To this date, I still think he could not care less about Hartford, and his purchase had more to do with his rivalry with Mike Illitch (they both were from Michigan, and I think Karmanos may have been interested in buying the Wings at one time).

Along with Quebec Nordiques, there is a special place in my heart for the Whalers.

 

[Pat Pickens]

I'm not sure I agree with this. If you believe Karmanos, and if you read the book, he tried to make it work in Hartford and believes he was kicked out by the governor of Connecticut. I don't necessarily agree with his sentiments.

I also don't necessarily put all the blame on Karmanos as he was handed a really, really hard lease/financial agreement upon his purchase of the team. Owners who did not get sweetheart deals in the mid-to-late 90s often moved — there's a whole book chapter dedicated to exactly this in the NHL — and Richard Gordon, Hartford's owner before Karmanos, leveraged a lot of revenue streams to alleviate debt accrued in the early 1990s.

 

[MadArcand]

Ordered!

 

[seventieslord]

Thank you for writing this. It's a book that needed to be written. My wantlist is too long, but it's high on that list

 

[nabby12]

Give me your best Blaine Stoughton story!

 

[Pat Pickens]

I loved talking to Blaine. He was great -- spoke with me while he was on the way from his home to the airport with his wife sitting next to him.

My favorite Blaine Stoughton story is going to expose me a bit, but also I think describes how far my process came in doing this book:

The first person I interviewed for the book was Ken Holland — I went to college with Ken's son, and he set me up with an interview in November 2011. Ken wasn't actually quoted for the book, and played only a handful of games in Hartford, but I had access to him and figured I'd take what I could get at that point.

Anyway, Ken was describing the season he was playing for Hartford, and it turned out that it was the Whalers first season in the NHL, 1979-80. Ken was talking about Blaine Stoughton scoring goals, and at that point I had no idea who Blaine Stoughton even was.

By the end of the project, I obviously knew who Blaine was but realized he still holds the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise record for single-season goals (56). I had spoken to both him and Mike Rogers, Blaine's linemate on the bash-dash-stash line in Hartford, about their chemistry together and why that line was so successful.

Stoughton also said, which I didn't realize, that he went to the Rangers after his time with the Whalers because they were trying to capitalize on the Rogers-Stoughton chemistry. It didn't work though.

 

[reckoning]

Is there anything in the book, or have you heard anything, that explains Pierre Larouche's departure from the team? It appears that Emile Francis offered Larouche a termination contract which made him a free agent without compensation. Larouche promptly signed with the Rangers and scored 48 goals. I know Pierre could be difficult to deal with, but I'm surprised that someone as astute as Emile Francis would let him go for nothing. Is there more to the story?

I have always felt Emile Francis never got the credit he deserved for his work in Hartford. They were an absolute mess, but he quickly turned things around.

 

[Pat Pickens]

The book goes into great detail about some of the ill-conceived trades of the early-80s, and Larouche is prominently featured as well. I've also found it unique that Larouche is beloved by Rangers fans and Penguins fans -- he still works in the Pittsburgh org -- yet ran himself out of both Montreal and Hartford.

There is a full account of what actually happened that led to his exit in the book, but essentially he had a run-in with Larry Kish during the 1982-83 season that got him suspended and ultimately led to his departure from the team.

Your point about Emile is taken too. Unfortunately I didn't get to speak with him -- he is up in age, and I believe he's suffering from Alzheimer's. But Emile made great decisions and built a Stanley Cup contender, which I don't think many people realize. The Whalers were legit Cup contenders for at least two seasons and probably more like 3 of 5 in the late 1980s.

 

[Theokritos]

@Pat Pickens: The reading extract goes into the "Enduring Mystique" aspect. In your opinion, is it the logo that explains most of it? Because I also see quite some Quebec Nordiques nostalgia around, but apparently not quite as much as Hartford Whalers nostalgia. Perhaps because Nordiques are viewed as strongly associated with the Francophones of Canada/Québec while Hartford Whalers are less connected with a specific identity and thus have a broader appeal.

 

[kaiser matias]

The book goes into great detail about some of the ill-conceived trades of the early-80s, and Larouche is prominently featured as well. I've also found it unique that Larouche is beloved by Rangers fans and Penguins fans -- he still works in the Pittsburgh org -- yet ran himself out of both Montreal and Hartford.

There is a full account of what actually happened that led to his exit in the book, but essentially he had a run-in with Larry Kish during the 1982-83 season that got him suspended and ultimately led to his departure from the team.

Your point about Emile is taken too. Unfortunately I didn't get to speak with him -- he is up in age, and I believe he's suffering from Alzheimer's. But Emile made great decisions and built a Stanley Cup contender, which I don't think many people realize. The Whalers were legit Cup contenders for at least two seasons and probably more like 3 of 5 in the late 1980s.

Aside from Francis, who would certainly have been a key addition here (though understandable why not), is there anyone else that you wanted to interview that you couldn't, for whatever reason?

 

[Pat Pickens]

I feel really disappointed I didn't get to speak with Gordie Howe. Obviously he died in 2016 and had been suffering from dementia — plus I got some great stories about Gordie from his son Mark and so many other great former Whalers. Part of the treat of doing the book was hearing fun, old Gordie Howe stories, but I sort of wish I'd gotten some from the man himself.

I made plans to speak with Chris Pronger for this project — and was supposed to receive calls from him on several occasions — but that also didn't pan out. I could've gotten some better perspective on his two-season tenure in Hartford and why he underachieved there before his career really took off in St. Louis.

I would've liked to speak directly with Brian Burke and Jim Rutherford too.

Other than them I think I covered a lot of ground with the subjects I did speak with. The only other figure I wish I'd spoken with directly is John Rowland — the Governor of Connecticut when the team moved. I spoke with his chief of staff, Brendan Fox, to get the governor's perspective on the move, but to hear from John in his own words would've been preferable, especially since Peter Karmanos' perspective is so prevalent in the text.

 

[kaiser matias]

I feel really disappointed I didn't get to speak with Gordie Howe. Obviously he died in 2016 and had been suffering from dementia — plus I got some great stories about Gordie from his son Mark and so many other great former Whalers. Part of the treat of doing the book was hearing fun, old Gordie Howe stories, but I sort of wish I'd gotten some from the man himself.

I made plans to speak with Chris Pronger for this project — and was supposed to receive calls from him on several occasions — but that also didn't pan out. I could've gotten some better perspective on his two-season tenure in Hartford and why he underachieved there before his career really took off in St. Louis.

I would've liked to speak directly with Brian Burke and Jim Rutherford too.

Other than them I think I covered a lot of ground with the subjects I did speak with. The only other figure I wish I'd spoken with directly is John Rowland — the Governor of Connecticut when the team moved. I spoke with his chief of staff, Brendan Fox, to get the governor's perspective on the move, but to hear from John in his own words would've been preferable, especially since Peter Karmanos' perspective is so prevalent in the text.

I totally forgot about Howe, but yeah he would have been great to talk to.

Pronger would also have been interesting to hear.

 

[Theokritos]

Pat, judging by your presentation personal interviews were the main source for your book. Did you use any other source material? Newspapers would be the usual suspect, maybe also other books?

 

[Pat Pickens]

Hi, sorry. I thought I replied to this, but I guess it didn't post.

I did use newspaper archives, specifically those of the New Haven Register, Hartford Courant and New York Times. I had access to the Register's archive when I was working in Connecticut, and they were a godsend. The Courant migrated most of their archive online, and that was a tremendous resource as well.

The Times archive, which goes back to like 1869, was a great resource for contextualizing larger trends and stories. Also when NHL.com made every box score from every game it made things so much more seamless in terms of confirming scores, dates and facts that many sources couldn't pinpoint.

These archives enabled me to provide greater details and ask more informed questions when I got the opportunity to speak with sources directly since I had a lot of ground to cover and a finite amount of time to speak with them — most source interviews, especially with those in NHL organizations, were about an hour.

 

[Theokritos]

@Pat Pickens: The Whalers actually started off in Boston back in 1972 before relocating to Hartford in 1974. The reason they relocated is that they had to play at Boston Garden, which of course was owned by Boston Bruins – who obviously weren't impartial in the rivalry between NHL and WHA. But how much interest were the Whalers able to attract in Boston during their first two years there? The Bruins were obviously well established, is there any reason to assume Boston could have supported two successful big league hockey teams if only there would have been another suitable arena available?

In Toronto for example, Johnny F. Bassett thought the city could actually support two clubs, according to the book presentation by Denis Crawford last year:

Bassett felt the city could support two teams. He did not think he could overtake the Leafs, but felt with a different style of hockey and rosters filled with Canadian juniors and some European stars, he could appeal to the dissatisfied Leafs fan while courting a younger generation.

The Toros drew a respectable 10,000 per game, made the playoffs twice, had a high-powered offense with many star players (Nedomansky, Mahovlich, Henderson, Dillon, et al), and had promotions and giveaways years ahead of their time. (...) The failure was that the Toros never found a suitable home of their own. The city did not work with Bassett to revamp the CNE arena and Varsity Arena (their first home) was just too small. The only suitable venue was Maple Leaf Garden. Bassett's chief rival, Harold Ballard, was the landlord and severely overcharged the Toros for the site, so no matter how well Bassett's team did on the ice or at the box office, he was operating from a financial hole each year just to cover rent.

 

[Pat Pickens]

My understanding from talking with Howard Baldwin, and this is in the book too, is that staying in Boston was unsustainable. The Whalers had great success that first year, but attendance lagged in Year 2 which is what prompted Howard to go shopping for a new arena.

Boston is a good enough hockey market for two pro teams, but it isn’t an allegiance-splitting city. Plus the early-70s Bruins were on fire, competing for the Stanley Cup just about every year and captivating the city with stars like Bobby Orr, Terry O’Reilly, Derek Sanderson, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers in goal.

There is a reference in the book to the struggle of WHA clubs in finding suitable arenas too. Some, like Hartford, Indianapolis, Denver and others got to play at great venues. Some, like the Philadelphia Blazers, had a similar issues as the Toros.

 

[Theokritos]

My understanding from talking with Howard Baldwin, and this is in the book too, is that staying in Boston was unsustainable. The Whalers had great success that first year, but attendance lagged in Year 2 which is what prompted Howard to go shopping for a new arena.

Boston is a good enough hockey market for two pro teams, but it isn’t an allegiance-splitting city. Plus the early-70s Bruins were on fire, competing for the Stanley Cup just about every year and captivating the city with stars like Bobby Orr, Terry O’Reilly, Derek Sanderson, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers in goal.

Right. With the Bruins being as successful as they were in the early/mid-1970s, it's a bit hard to imagine the Whalers carving out a good living for themselves in Boston, even if the Garden wasn't owned by the Bruins.

There is a reference in the book to the struggle of WHA clubs in finding suitable arenas too. Some, like Hartford, Indianapolis, Denver and others got to play at great venues.

At the same time, none of the other US-based WHA clubs proved as stable as New England Whalers. Do you think Hartford was just a better hockey market during the period in question or did the club have a better management than other US-based WHA clubs?

 

[Pat Pickens]

I think it's funny when people refer to the Whalers as one of the most stable WHA teams. It's accurate, but they played in five different buildings in three different cities over their WHA tenure, and somehow THAT was a mark of stability in that league.

I think Hartford had a lot of things going for it. For starters, it was, and still is a wealthy city with wealthy suburbs. It was far enough from Boston and New York — in the pre-cable and satellite TV days. The Whalers had the Howes, which were a marquee draw leaguewide in the second-half of the WHA days. They had a spectacular marketing apparatus, with "Brass Bonanza" at the core. Plus they were good, making the playoffs every year.

But I think what really set the New England Whalers apart was their ownership situation. Howard Baldwin created a shares system where the major corporations — mostly insurance — invested and funded the day-to-day operation then ceded the decision-making to Howard and his front office. They were essentially the Green Bay Packers of hockey in that regard, where even the local newspaper had a 0.1 percent stake in the team.

There was a will among the local difference-makers to have a first-class pro sports team in the city, and they made sure to fund the team and things like the new roof and arena upgrades after the roof collapsed in January 1978 — which was a major factor in the Whalers being allowed into the NHL in the WHA-NHL merger.

 

[Theokritos]

I think it's funny when people refer to the Whalers as one of the most stable WHA teams. It's accurate, but they played in five different buildings in three different cities over their WHA tenure, and somehow THAT was a mark of stability in that league.

That's the WHA in a nutshell!

I think Hartford had a lot of things going for it. For starters, it was, and still is a wealthy city with wealthy suburbs. It was far enough from Boston and New York — in the pre-cable and satellite TV days. The Whalers had the Howes, which were a marquee draw leaguewide in the second-half of the WHA days. They had a spectacular marketing apparatus, with "Brass Bonanza" at the core. Plus they were good, making the playoffs every year.

But I think what really set the New England Whalers apart was their ownership situation. Howard Baldwin created a shares system where the major corporations — mostly insurance — invested and funded the day-to-day operation then ceded the decision-making to Howard and his front office. They were essentially the Green Bay Packers of hockey in that regard, where even the local newspaper had a 0.1 percent stake in the team.

There was a will among the local difference-makers to have a first-class pro sports team in the city, and they made sure to fund the team and things like the new roof and arena upgrades after the roof collapsed in January 1978 — which was a major factor in the Whalers being allowed into the NHL in the WHA-NHL merger.

Quite some information that is new to me, interesting!

After the relocation to Carolina, have there been any Whalers alumni events in Hartford with former players etc?

 

[Pat Pickens]

Yeah. There are a lot actually. Some are informal and others are way more organized. For instance, Kevin Dineen, Ron Francis and Joel Quenneville each met their wives in Connecticut, and they get together there a lot.

Plus there is the annual Whalers Weekend at the minor-league baseball park in Hartford where fans and Whalers alumni come together — at least they did pre-pandemic — for stories, autographs, pictures and a luncheon. It’s one of the best events of the year, and the ex-players love coming back.

I just want to thank everyone who participated in this. The thread is open to more questions, and I’ll keep monitoring, but thanks to you all!