text: XL's Bedfellows Bring Puzzling Name Change -- CTnow
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  XL's Bedfellows Bring Puzzling Name Change Jeff Jacobs
  Thoughts and some juicy Connecticut building speculation while we await the American Athletic Conference to announce its move of the annual UConn women's basketball tournament from the XL Center to the Mohegan Sun.
  There is a great reason to change the name of Hartford's AHL affiliate from the Connecticut Whale back to the Hartford Wolf Pack. There is a stellar idea.
  For the life of me, I just can't figure out what it is.
  The last full season as the Wolf Pack — 2009-2010 — they averaged a franchise-record low 4,188 fans. When Howard Baldwin took over marketing control, the Wolf Pack had about 350 season ticketholders. That number grew to 1,000 equivalent season tickets under the Whale banner. Corporate sponsorship rose. For all his financial screwups, Baldwin did breathe some life into the building.
  So why return to the moribund?
  The AHL approved the name change early last week. Frank Russo of Global Spectrum, which is taking over management of the XL Center, spoke openly of it. Michael Freimuth of the Capital Region Development Authority wrote openly of it in an email. They said the decision rested with MSG and did not stand in the way.
  That's why I sought comment from MSG. To reconfirm that the Rangers own the rights to the AHL name and to explain why they initiated the change.
  "MSG will not be making any comment at this time," was the answer.
  There will be a press conference at some point, Russo said, to unveil the new/old name.
  In the meantime, we are left to wonder.
  Are the Rangers sick of all things Whale and Whalers? Does the very sight of Pucky make them gag? Are they actually doing us all a great service by mercy-killing any lingering delusions that the NHL will ever return to Connecticut? Are they reminding us Hartford is and will always be minor league?
  Some truth slipped out upon Baldwin's ouster last season when AEG and the hockey team immediately stopped playing "Brass Bonanza" after goals. That mistake was quickly rectified. "Brass Bonanza," at this point, has a life of its own, beyond Blaine Stoughton and Mike Liut.
  Or maybe the Rangers and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a big hockey fan, are doing everything they can to erase Baldwin's memory? Folks involved said the blood ran out of the MSG corporate faces when they found out how much Baldwin owed people. MSG stood to be embarrassed, especially with a huge bill with Reebok. Baldwin has long ties to Russo and Comcast Spectacor chairman Ed Snider. (Funny, the Flyers' parent company is involved with the Rangers' affiliate.) Yet with that pool of red ink, I am told that the governor and MSG wanted nothing more to do with Baldwin.
  Yet as Global Spectrum enters the stage, I am unconvinced that ditching all things green is going to bring more green into the building's coffers and spike interest in any way. Tradition, you say? C'mon, Wolf Pack tradition dates only to 1997 and it had nearly flatlined by 2010.
  Maybe you read all this and go, "Who cares?" After so much infighting between Wolf Pack and Whalers fans, I admit I had enough, too. My tongue-in-cheek response had been to have a vote at a game. If 3,000 AHL diehards showed up, Wolf Pack would probably win. If 10,000 showed up, Whale likely would.
  What mitigates the "who cares" crowd, however, is how much state government clearly cared. The CRDA mandated that Global Spectrum n