New Arena in Ct. will ressurect Hartford Whaler franchise. | HARTFORD WHALERS BOOSTER CLUB NEWS

FROM THE MAY NEWS LETTER FROM THE HARTFORD WHALERS BOOSTER CLUB, sign the petition at

http://www.whalerwatch.com

Dear Fellow Hockey Fans and Club Members:

Now that the regular season is over and we are enjoying the playoffs, it is time to bring you up to date on the new arena, what the Club has been doing, etc...

If you didn't get a chance to see the Face the State program a couple weeks ago, please know that things are happening in the process of getting a new arena for the State of Connecticut in Hartford. Mayor Perez has appointed a task force to look into corporate support, and they are hard at work going out into the corporate community to validate that there is corporate support for a new arena in Hartford. Speaker Amann has proceeded to seek corporate support from the Fairfield County area where he resides. Larry Gottesdiener is continuing his efforts to locate a portable NHL team to move into the new building. Our part continues to be the gathering of signatures on our "new arena" petition to give to the State legislature - by January 2009 - in time for that legislative session when they begin serious discussion on a new arena. It would be great if we could present our legislators in excess of 25-30,000 signatures.

Jason Page, who has a sports talk show Back Page on ESPN Radio 1410AM - afternoons 3-6:30PM, called me up to interview me on air about our efforts on bringing back the NHL. He was knowledgeable about what is going on in Hartford and his enthusiasm for bringing back the NHL equaled ours. He concluded the interview pledging to help us wherever he could. So tune in to Back Page and when phone lines open up, call in and promote our petition drive and bringing back the NHL. This venue will keep us in the minds of the listeners throughout the summer and beyond. Also, remember to help out by printing the petition off our website and taking it into work and to your friends and get as many signatures as you can, then mail it into the post office box provided. Be sure to include your own name and address when you send in your petitions, as the person who obtains the most signatures between now and the dropping of the puck in October to begin the new NHL season, will win two spots on one of our Booster Club trips during the coming season.

We had a great time at Mayor Mike's for our FANniversary - everyone was excited about what they had heard on the Face the State program; as well as much talk about what we should do for next year's St. Patrick's Day Parade! Our thanks to all the staff at Mayor Mike's - always such a pleasant experience being there; they are a professional, happy and fun group.

This month officially starts something new for our group. You will see the flashing logos of our advertisers on the front page of our website, and when you click on them you will link to the advertisers' information page where there are links to their websites. We are accepting advertising for our website (with a maximum of twelve advertisers). If you know of any business interested in advertising, please have them contact me.

Our featured supporter highlighted this month is NORTHLAND INVESTMENTS. I cannot say enough good things about what Northland has done in validating the Hartford Whalers Booster Club in their effort to return the NHL to Hartford. Please support them. Great exhibits and events -- Bodies Revealed, Bruce Sprinsteen, Neil Diamond, Titantic exhibit, and of course Hartford Hockey. They continue to do their part and we do ours by going to the events. Thank you, Larry, for advertising and continuing to support our efforts.

Enjoy the rest of the playoffs. See you at the next membership meeting. Keep the faith and continue to work toward completion of our dream.