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The Whaler Guys: On a mission to bring the Whalers back to Hartford

HARTFORD —  They’re two of the biggest Hartford Whalers fans around, a duo who day in and day out do all they can to keep the Whalers name alive. Th...
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HARTFORD —  They’re two of the biggest Hartford Whalers fans around, a duo who day in and day out do all they can to keep the Whalers name alive.

They are “The Whaler Guys.”

Both Peter Hindle and Jerry Erwin are advocates for the Whalers who want to bring the Whalers back home to Hartford.

In August 2011, the two began their TV show and have done over 375 shows on the Whalers, Hockey in Hartford and Hartford’s growth.

They also have a podcast on SoundCloud titled “Shut Yer Blowhole.”

What makes the Whalers so special to them?

“They are ours.” The Whaler Guys said. “Hartford having a major league sports team that get national attention before UConn became incredibly successful, was what put Hartford on the map. The Hartford Whalers logo says it all with the “H” in the middle of the negative space in the logo. It is territorial we have a mission to hang on to this and fight to get a NHL team back in the city.”

The Whalers joined the NHL in the 1979-90 season. On April 13, 1997, the Whalers finished 18 years of NHL play in Hartford.

What would The Whaler Guys have done differently to try to keep the team in Hartford?

“We would have started a TV show a lot earlier and started a more grass-roots movement to get the fans voices to be heard,” The Whaler Guys said. “The fans are the ones that suffered the most with the departure of the Whalers.  As former Whaler Bob Crawford has said in interviews, ‘The Whalers were taken from Hartford’.”

The duo said Hartford needs an NHL team, especially with the new developments happening in the Hartford.

“Hartford needs an NHL Team to become a major league city again,” they said. “With all of the new apartments downtown for young people to move into the city there needs to be something to do or we are going to lose our young people to other cities that have that attraction.”

“We are losing all of entertainment dollars to, Boston, New York, the casinos and in the Spring 2018 Springfield, Massachusetts with MGM coming online.  Without renovating the XL Center we can’t remain a marketable area for concerts and show to come into the city,” they added.

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