Former Whalers owner still wants NHL team in Hartford

The former owner of the Whalers would like to see hockey return to Hartford, but he does not see relocating the Islanders as an option right now.

In a telephone interview with Newsday, Howard Baldwin said he has not reached out to Islanders owner Charles Wang, calling the idea "jumping the gun." He said he first needs to prove that Hartford is worthy of another NHL team before he starts shopping around for one.

Baldwin took the initial step on that front this past week when he announced a 10-day outdoor hockey festival - "Whalers' Hockey Fest" - to be held in Hartford next February. He said it will feature a Whalers reunion game, an All-Star game of legends and several AHL, college and high school matchups.

He hopes the interest generated from the event spurs the league to consider Hartford in the future. "I started the Whalers, I had them for 18 years and I feel very strongly about Hartford being a great hockey market," Baldwin said. "Our first priority is to show people in the hockey world that Hartford is a good and vibrant hockey market . . . Then who the hell knows what will happen?"

Wang, meanwhile, is waiting to hear what the Town of Hempstead views as an acceptable version of his proposed Lighthouse project, a $3.8-billion mixed-use development that features a refurbished arena. Supervisor Kate Murray announced in February that she planned to create a scaled-down zone for Wang's stalled project, and she has said she expects to make those plans public as early as this month.

Tired of waiting for an answer, Wang vowed before the Isles' opener last October that he would begin exploring options outside Nassau County. Last month Mets COO Jeff Wilpon told Newsday he has had preliminary talks with Wang about potentially building an arena in Willets Point for the Islanders.