On Thursday, October 20th, Newhouse welcomed Pat Pickens to talk about his new book The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise. Broadcast and digital journalism graduate student Matthew Kibby hosted a conversation in which the two went through a discussion of both the book and advice regarding Pickens’ own career in the field.
The crux of the book is what the title suggests. It is a full narrative of what is the most mysterious and intriguing franchise in NHL history. While Pickens was spending time in Connecticut, he noticed that despite the Whalers already moving on to be the Carolina Hurricanes, the people around Hartford were still buying merchandise for the extinct team. From there, the fascination continued.
This was a team that played fourth or even fifth fiddle to others at the Garden, including the Bruins and even the circus. The move to Springfield and Hartford was the only way for the Whalers to become a priority and try to take advantage of the market between Boston and New York City. Pickens then went on to discuss the importance of Gordie Howe. His name alone was enough to put people in seats, but the star power Mr. Hockey brought later in his career to the city of Hartford cannot be understated. The other major point of the book he discussed was the role collapse of the Hartford Civic Center played in the survival of the team.
In the latter half of the talk, he went more into his career. He talked about how he went from a reliable job with the National Hockey League and took a chance on himself to do something more fulfilling. By pursuing this book, he was able to do something that felt right and along the way he was able to establish important connections. He was even able to interview his childhood idol Mike “Doc” Emrick in his completion of this story.
The event was attended by dozens of Newhouse students, and was one of several that have and will take place throughout the course of the year. For more information on the Sports Media Center, follow us on Twitter @NewhouseSports.