Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/881000
OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 49 No matter what your industry, from healthcare to oil and gas, public sector to non-profits, enterprises of all sizes rely on our capital, corporate services, and expertise to ensure their success. We offer commercial payments and investment banking as well as employer services and major real estate financing. We also provide timely research and outlooks from our industry experts. For businesses, executives, and owners, we are truly your one-stop bank for all your financial needs. For enterprise-wide solutions, use the red key. ® Key.com is a federally registered service mark of KeyCorp. ©2017 KeyCorp. KeyBank is Member FDIC. 161207-170606 key.com The last-second shot in April by Mississippi State University to beat the UConn women's basketball team and dash the Huskies' bid for a fifth-straight national title was painful, but unlike losing the Hartford Whalers, UConn fans can look forward to next season. When the Whalers pulled up stakes for North Carolina in 1997, there was no next season. That was it for National Hockey League play in Hartford, a painful loss that still stings for many fans 20 years later. But Hartford persevered, replaced the NHL void with the New York Rangers farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Other quality hockey includes UConn in the top- shelf Hockey East Association. "I think certainly Hartford has survived the loss of the Whalers and the city has certainly a lot of assets now that it didn't have when the Whalers left," including the Connecticut Convention Center and Front Street, which attract out-of- state meetings and money, a different kind of economic development than the Whalers, who brought regional money in, said H. Scott Phelps, president of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB), and former Whalers season ticket holder. "But the Whalers psychologically were extremely important to the people of the Hartford area," Phelps said. "We have had good professional hockey at the XL Center for the last 20 years," he added, citing the Wolf Pack's high-level athletes and play. "I think people lose sight of the fact because it's not NHL, they somehow don't have the respect for the team or the league that's there now, but they should." Oz Griebel, president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, was with BankBoston Connecticut when the Whalers decided to leave and part of a group of business leaders who tried to demonstrate that Hartford, the region and state could support an NHL franchise, even in the long shadows of NHL franchises in Boston and New York. Their departure was clearly a blow, with fans who once filled downtown 40 nights a year no longer dining in restaurants or visiting bars, he said. "It created a buzz that you're not going to replace easily," Griebel said. "Having said that, that is 20 years ago, you can't put the Genie back in the bottle." But the area has done an excellent job managing the XL Center and hosting Wolf Pack and UConn hockey, which won't fill the house, but comprise an important source of identity and pride for Connecticut, he said. Ironically, though, the date of the last Whalers game, April 13, also was the date of the first Hartford Yard Goats game 20 years later. While Double-A baseball isn't he NHL, the new Dunkin' Donuts Park is proving a whale of an attraction, replacing some of that lost business downtown and helping the city get some groove back. Sports Impact Hockey Hartford tries to fill Whalers void After losing the Whalers, the XL Center has added the Hartford Wolf Pack and UConn as hockey tenants. The minor league Hartford Wolf Pack replaced the Whalers as the main hockey draw in Hartford. By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com