Connecticut Whale logo unveiled

Howard Baldwin, the former owner of the Hartford Whalers and current head of Whalers Sports & Entertainment, recently took over the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, the minor league team affiliated with and owned by the NHL's New York Rangers.  Baldwin is going to run the business operations of the club.  His first move as head honcho was to rename and essentially rebrand the team as part of his ongoing efforts to bring NHL hockey (and specifically the Hartford Whalers) back to the Hartbeat.

The result, ladies and gentlemen, is that midway through the upcoming season, the Hartford Wolf Pack will become the Connecticut Whale.  And just yesterday at around 6:00 p.m. EST, the team unveiled the new logo and color scheme for the Whale:

Readers, I am interested in your thoughts about this new look.  Personally, I think it is terrible.  It looks like it was designed by a high school sophomore who was playing around with an outdated and illegally downloaded version of photoshop.  The "C" could not be more generic.  The logo also fails at transforming the peaceful whale into a fearsome hockey player (perhaps this is why the original Hartford Whalers logo featured only the tail rather than a full whale).  Speaking of the whale tail, it is the only homage to the original NHL logo, and it is tucked away in the bottom right-hand corner!  The entire image, in my eyes, is typical minor league garbage.  It is plain and boring.  Just look at the font used for the team name....I cannot detect even a whiff of style or flair.

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Hartford Whalers Reunion & Fan Fest 2010

Final game = Whalers 2, Lightning 1

As I've discussed previously on this blog, the Hartford Whalers hold a very special place in my heart.  Although I grew up as a Devils fan in New Jersey, I went to tons of Whalers games with my grandfather (a longtime season ticket holder), so I certainly felt like a part of the Whalers family.  And here's the kicker -- the team's gritty captain, Kevin Dineen, has Crohn's Disease just like me!  Plus, he used to emcee the charity golf tournament that my grandparents helped run in Simsbury each year to raise money for the CCFA.  Needless to say, I was devastated when he and the rest of the Whalers left for North Carolina in 1997.

I wasn't alone in my heartbreak.  After living in Hartford and West Hartford for the last four years, I have found that people are still obsessed with The Whale around here.  Whenever my Brass Bonanza ringtone goes off, I'll notice a knowing smile from someone around me.  Whenever I wear my Dineen jersey or any of my various t-shirts and hoodies featuring one of the best logos ever, I inevitably get high-fives and a "Let's Go Whale!" cheer from passersby.  Since I'm used to my spoiled peers (a.k.a. Yankees, Giants, Devils, and Nets fans), it is incredibly inspiring to see such passion from such a small market, especially about a now-defunct team that won only 1 NHL division title in 27 years!

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