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www.HartfordBusiness.com November26,2012•Hartford Business Journal 11 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News For much of the last decade of the 20th Century, Hartford was consumed with dreams of playing in the major leagues. In 1993, with pro hockey's Whalers seem- ingly in hand for what then looked like 20 years, thoughts turned to landing the Nation- al Football League's New England Patriots. The team was struggling to remain economi- cally competitive in a deteriorating stadium in Foxboro. Owner James Orthwein had put the team on the block and a star-studded Connecticut group, led by author Tom Clancy, offered a reported $180 million for the team with the goal of moving it to Hartford. The ownership team included actors Paul Newman and Tom Sellack, NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff, Apple chairman John Scully and former NFL star Walter Payton. The legislature autho- rized a $252 million stadium and the Connect- icut Development Authority came up with a $66 million loan for the ownership group. All signs seemed to be go but, in the end, Orthwein accepted less — perhaps as much as $25 million less — from Robert Kraft, a Boston busimnessman who owned Foxboro Stadium where the Patriots had been play- ing. Orthwein explained the decision by say- ing he'd pledged to sell to a local buyer if at all possible and this was the "cleanest, least complicated way to proceed." Key factors were reportedly indications the Massachu- setts legislature was ready to fund a new stadium and NFL opposition to leaving the nation's sixth largest television market. In perhaps the most telling statement, Orthwein said: "Truthfully, we weren't sure it was a done deal until [Kraft] signed the papers half an hour before the press conference." There were lessons aplenty in that brush with the Patriots, but Hartford had come close and wasn't giving up, particularly Gov. John Rowland. A shot heard 'round New England was fired Nov. 19, 1998. A mere two weeks after being re-elected, Rowland accepted a foot- ball handoff from Kraft as part of a ceremony Patriots come, go, and never arrive in Hartford Whalers swim south for better audience F rom the time the New England Whal- ers arrived from Boston as a World Hockey Association team in 1974, through the team's acceptance as a National Hockey League team in 1979 until it depar- ture for greener pastures in North Carolina in 1997, there was a civic pride in the Whalers. Finally, Hartford was recognized as a major league market. But the journey was marred by problems almost from the outset. The Hartford Civic Center wasn't ready for opening day and the team took refuge at The Big E Coliseum in West Springfield. The team finally made its Hartford debut Jan. 11, 1975 before a sellout crowd. Barely three years later — hours after a game — the weight of snow from a heavy storm brought the roof down in the wee hours of Jan. 18, 1978. There were no injuries but the team would be homeless for two years. Hockey legend Gordie Howe was the cen- terpiece of the team that entered the NHL when the leagues merged in 1979. Gone was the name New England and for the first time Hartford was in the standings with the big kids — New York, Chicago and, of course, Boston. Across its 18 NHL seasons, the Whalers had just three winning campaigns. While the team made the NHL playoffs eight times, it won just one playoff series. There certainly were big name players. That first NHL team added legend Bobby Hull in mid-season to play alongside Hull and his son Mark. Dave Keon, Andre Lacroix and Rick Ley were also on the team that was swept by the storied Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. Howe, Hull and Lacroix all then announced their retirements, a blow that set back the Whalers for several years. The team hit a high-water mark of sorts in the 1985-86 campaign when Ron Francis and Kevin Dineen led a late season rush that resulted in a fourth place finish and a playoff spot. The Whalers swept the Quebec Nor- diques, the team's only playoff series win, before being ousted by the Montreal Cana- diens in an epic overtime game seven. The following season, the team won a division championship but lost in the first round of the playoffs. The on-ice gains weren't matched at the box office and on March 4, 1991, the team traded two of its most popular and expen- sive stars — Francis and Ulf Samuelsson — for four young players who proved to be disappointments. Attendance was always an issue as was corporate support. It was a challenge to keep the team from drowning in red ink. The team was playing in the NHL's smallest market in one of its smallest arenas and in proximity to the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, each of whom had a half-century headstart on building fan loyalty. But for one shining moment in 1993, it looked like the Whalers would turn the cor- ner. A 20-year deal gave the state control of the Hartford Civic Center and promised the Whalers rent-free use plus $30 million of debt-relief. Ogden Entertainment Services would take over operations of the arena and cover all shortfalls. But the deal unraveled and in the summer of 1994 the team was sold to Peter Karmanos, CEO of Compuware. While the ownership changed, the situa- tion didn't. Bad trades sapped the progress and when star Brendan Shanahan ripped Hartford in 1995 and demanded a trade to a big-market team, the handwriting was on the wall. Karmanos demanded a new arena with more modern revenue-enhancing features like executive skyboxes. Gov. John Row- land's offer of $150 million wasn't enough to keep the team from exiting with one year left on its contract. The crux of the matter was Karmanos' claim the team would lose $45 million waiting for the state to build that new arena. Those were losses Karma- nos wouldn't bear and Rowland wouldn't subsidize. The Whalers won their final game — a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay — on April 1, 1997 and NHL hockey was gone. Today, the Whalers' fluke logo – still a big- seller among NHL gear — and some photos in the XL Center's lobby are all that remain. The Whalers took the unusual step of fleeing its home with no new destination in hand. On March 31, 1999, the Hartford Business Journal listed Minneapolis-St. Paul, Columbus and Nashville as the lead- ing contenders. The eventual winner was Raleigh, although the ex-Whalers had to endure time in Greensboro while Raleigh readied an arena. The cruelest blow for Whaler fans came in 2006 when the Carolina Hurricane won the Stanley Cup and Hartford hockey fans were left to wonder what might have been. – Norm Bell StorieS 20 Years of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, center, shakes hands with Gov. John Rowland after the signing of the bill to fund the team's stadium. Looking on are, from left, House Speaker Moira Lyons, D-Stamford, Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell, Mayor Mike Peters, Senate President Kevin Sullivan (D-West Hartford) and Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, D-Stamford. Rooting already for Hartford's new home team … With the ink still drying on the deal of the century, Hartford's advertising and public relations firm of O'Neal & Prelle (better known to its fans as O&P) has jumped the media gun and erected a giant billboard along Interstate 84 — which in six little words says it all. The Patriots would pull out of the deal. Karmanos P H O T O / I N D I a B l U E Continued on page 15