Whalers’ Owner Hints at Moving Team

HARTFORD, Conn. —  Pending the wire transfer of funds, Richard Gordon was scheduled Thursday to close on the $4 million deal to acquire 37.5 percent of the Hartford Whalers from the ashes of the fallen Colonial Realty empire.

Ben Sisti is gone forever, sentenced to the Whalers’ archives with former Coach Larry Kish, former forward Mike Crombeen and “Brass Bonanza.”

Add it all up and Gordon officially owns 76 percent of an NHL franchise. But he is not a man doing cartwheels over that fact.

Maybe 76 is a fitting number. Wasn’t it 76 trombones that led the big parade? And one must ask how long it will be before Gordon leads the Whalers’ parade out of town.

He could wake up some morning and decide he has wasted enough time and enough of his millions on the Whalers. I couldn’t blame him.

It’s last call for the fans and corporations.

Will the Whalers pack up and head to Miami in the mid-January night while the players are in Vancouver?

No, that won’t happen.

But could this franchise be gone from Hartford for the start of next season?

Yes.

From John Cullen to Zarley Zalapski to Wayne Huizenga, more rumors surround the Whalers these days than Madonna and Magic Johnson combined.

Miami supposedly wants the Whalers.

Milwaukee, Dallas, Anaheim, too. Everybody wants the Whalers -- except maybe for Hartford. Or will the state find a way to buy the franchise and keep it here?

One of the ironies to the rumors is that Godfrey Wood is involved with the Miami bid. Wood, one of Howard Baldwin’s buddies who helped start the WHA Whalers for a quarter and two dimes 20 years ago, is one of the leaders of the Miami charge. Wood lost on Miami’s bid for NHL expansion in 1990.

But it is Huizenga, with huge Blockbuster Entertainment cash, who has plans for a new arena to someday attract the NBA Heat and NHL ice. There also is talk that former New York Islanders owner John Pickett is involved with the Miami bid.

Said Huizenga: “I don’t think it’s any secret that I would like to see hockey in south Florida, but I’m not going to pursue the team at this time. If someone came to me and was interested in building an arena and building it on land we have available, I would listen. If someone was $5 million or $10 million short, I might be interested in what they had to say.”

All rumors, right? Well, here’s a chunk of reality. Gordon is sick and tired of putting up his own money on the club. He says the Whalers lost $4.5 million last year. He says they can lose at least $6 million this year.

The truth is the Whalers are becoming a black hole even for Gordon’s deep pockets. Gordon is basically eroding his equity by keeping the franchise here.

This team could be sold in the coming months -- to the state or out of town.

“I have never negotiated with anybody to move this team -- that is the honest-to-God truth,” Gordon said. “But I cannot do it all alone.

“The state cannot guarantee the seats and skyboxes will be filled. All the state did was provide a guarantee that I can lose up to $10 million more this year. People don’t understand the deal. They said the state bailed me out. The state, corporations and banks are not going to lose a nickel. It’s me.”

Gordon looked up at the crowd Wednesday and saw 8,207 people, the sixth-smallest crowd in the club’s NHL history. Fourteen of the 45 skyboxes are dark and more than half of the Coliseum Club is empty.

Gordon knows the Whalers’ average attendance for five nights is 9,360, 60 percent of capacity.

His club is hemorrhaging financially and the sharks who want to get something better than an expansion team for $50 million are circling.

The Whalers have some strong young talent and General Manager Brian Burke, 37, is one of the sport’s bright, young executives. But they are 3-7 and, despite all of Burke’s and Coach Paul Holmgren’s good intentions, the ship is flooding while the rebuilding program turns like an aircraft carrier.

The player payroll, only $4 million four seasons ago, is heading toward $10 million this season. The rules in the NHL have changed. Smaller NHL cities are in big danger. There are a handful of smaller NHL towns in Canada, but hockey is No.1 in the North Country. It’s obvious hockey isn’t No. 1 in Hartford.

A huge concern is arena management. The governor supposedly is not wild about putting money into keeping the team unless the state gets some control in the Civic Center. But before a long-term lease is settled -- now is the time Gordon and Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. have leverage. The lease extension runs through the end of November. What happens then? Another extension could be given. With no concessions or parking, Gordon says he has a terrible lease deal. The city, seriously strapped for cash, can’t give in too much. Short-term extensions could eventually mean a long-term exit.

Too many folks mistakenly say the governor gave Gordon some kind of grant. What Weicker basically did was make it easier for Gordon to lose more money.

“The governor cannot risk the state’s money on something that doesn’t make sense,” Gordon said. “More than anything else, the governor wants to ensure this team stays in the state. That’s his primary mission. And mine, too. But who’s going to buy a team in Hartford to lose money? Nobody.”

How bad is it? The Whalers drew 8,833 in New Jersey and 8,633 on Long Island last week. Not only are the Whalers killing hockey in Hartford, they’re killing it in other cities.

When Weicker and Gordon held their press conference to announce the state was loaning Gordon $4 million to close the ownership deal and guaranteeing $10 million in loans, they didn’t know they were on shaky ground by announcing the state had gained right-of-first-refusal at 85 percent of any sale out of town.

NHL President Gil Stein has since told Gordon that, although there is nothing in the constitution, the Board of Governors last year would not allow the province of Manitoba to take direct ownership of the Winnipeg Jets.

Gordon met with Weicker Thursday and, by using the Connecticut Development Authority, the two say the NHL legal eagles could allow them to circumvent the problem. Also, in putting touches on an adjusted deal, the potential state buyout increased from 85 to 90 percent.