WHCT Hartford Whalers -Bruins Close

[meritmthl]

brings back memories of watching whalers on channel 18. thanks

[altfactor]

At the same time, Rick Peckham and Gerry Cheevers also called Hartford Whalers' games for the old Sportschannel-New England.

Didn't SCNE also produce the Whalers' telecasts that were shown on WHCT??

[kylebook]

@altfactor Not directly. WHCT actually contracted some of the SCNE personnel, along with some other folks that had worked on Rangers telecasts at the old WOR in NYC to handle the Whalers telecasts. There were a few sell outs at the Hartford Civic Center during the 1986-1987 season where the Whalers actually simulcasted the raw SCNE feed on Channel 18, with Channel 18's graphics. The Adams division clinching game vs. the Rangers in April '87 was one of those.

[PBruins109]

No shock, another Bruins victory!

[swami1]

Pick'em Peckham was great.

[CertifiedArmorer]

Rick Peckham and Gerry Cheevers - Sports Channels best! I used to love listening to them....Sucks the whale are gone...

[kylebook]

If you get the NHL Center Ice package on digital cable or Direct TV, you can still hear Rick Peckham call games for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

[dvystyu]

As usual is another B's win over the whale. Sidorkiewicz sucked ass

[kylebook]

This was the Mike Liut era, well before Peter

Sidorkiewicz....

[bananabis420]

nice clip! loved the whalers, but i saw more beast and knights games as a kid. New Haven Hockey FTW!

[kylebook]

Compared to the old Garden, the FleetCenter is incredibly sterile, and has no where near the sighlines the old Garden had. You could feel close to the action sitting in the upper deck there. You aren't going to get THAT experience in Nassau Coliseum, that for sure! (I presently live in LI, and have attended my share of Islander games, as well as concerts, and will attest to this....)

[Lebo89]

dont ever speak about my Coliseum like THAT...u dont deserve the seat u sit in

[kylebook]

Did you like your Coliseum when the overhead

scoreboard crashed to the ice several years back?

[CCampLI]

The new arena's are not dumps, how can you say that? They are un-fan friendly, yes, because the sightlines stink compared to what Chicago Stadium, the Forum, or the Garden could provide. One reason why I love the Nassau Coliseum, best sightlines in the NHL. Ofcourse, that is a rarity in the league.

[CCampLI]

For Whalers fans who think since the Hurricanes won a cup, it automatically means the Whalers would've is incorrect. NO ONE wanted to play for the Whalers, if you were traded to the Whalers, you did something VERY wrong to tick off your club. Brendan Shannahan anyone? The Whalers NEVER had good support, they were always near the bottom of the league in attendance, so lets get off this "we had a great fan base" crap, YOU DIDN'T.

[kylebook]

CCampLI, Both of your points are correct, but only at the very end of the Whalers' years in Hartford, when the team was known to be a lame duck, in the mid-90s.

The attendance problems were caused by that lame duck status, as well as an erosion of the season ticket base caused by a brutal economic recession.

Prior to those years, the Whalers never had problems filling the Civic Center. Ever hear of the I-91 club?

[xlibman]

Well Quebec Nordiques were a lame duck franchise starting on summer 1987 until the end of season 1991-1992 (missed playoffs/finished last in their division 5 years in a row and they had a 12-61-7 record once), yet they still filled Le Colisée at 94.47% during all that time. (approx 14500 fans a game). Most fans knew their team would lose every night they came at the games, but they still came to cheer and support the team.

[kylebook]

The popularity of hockey in Canada is not quite analagous to the US. Also, besides the Winter Carnival, what else was there to compete for Quebec City's entertainment dollars?

[iamnewfie1]

caroline has not supported the team ....

[boomac62]

Well, thats not true,Carolina HAS fan support they averaged this last season 16,663 and a 88.8% full house. thats better than 11 other clubs, including Boston,Washington,New Jersey and the Islanders...all this while missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

[RobMcDougall]

Makes me miss the old Garden. FleetCenter is a dump.

[WhatsAYak]

And people wonder why "corparatization" (to coin a phrase) sucks...

[bostonbrawla]

Don't you mean T D Banknorth Garden!

[ferrettunes]

No. First it was the BOSTON GARDEN then the FLEET bought the arena and it was named the FLEET CENTER Then TD BANKNORTH bought it and called it the TD BANKNORTH GARDEN

[bostonbrawla]

You forgot to mention how it was called Shamut Center before Fleet.

[ferrettunes]

Oh. I knew I was forgeting something. thanks.

[hammertime0101]

that's connecticut love right there, thanks for posting, you've made my day

[Duhey2]

Too bad you didn't have one where the Whale won!

[tuzlaruja]

I wanted to say thanks for the Whalers stuff, too...we'd have fun weekend trips to MA watching the Springfield Indians trying to "make it big"!

[futbolt]

Very nice! Do you have anymore footage from this game or any other Whaler games? And do you have a clip when 18 used to say "WHCT Right Here! Right Now!"

[kylebook]

I have a copy of this complete game, along with a slew of other Channel 18 stuff leftover from when I worked at the station from '85-'87. I'm also working on a website on the history ofthe history of the station from the '50s to the 90s, which will have ad samples dating back to the 50s. More about that to come. I've also posted the station's image promo from 1985 promo, where you ca hear the full "It's Right Now" theme song....

[WhatsAYak]

Well, I look forward to seeing this Ch. 18 tribute site...the UHF Morgue's page on the station's great, but I'm sure there's still plenty of info, anecdotes, etc. that haven't yet been shared.