HARTFORD, Conn. — For the second straight season, the Hartford Wolf Pack won two playoff series and advanced to the Atlantic Division Finals of the Calder Cup, but the success didn’t stop on the ice.
According to a release from the team, the club had its highest single-season average attendance since 2010-2011. During the 2023-2024 campaign, the Wolf Pack sold out the lower bowl of the XL Center 19 times, and 24 of the 36 regular season home games drew a crowd of at least 5,000 fans.
The average attendance for home games during the regular season was 5,456, and the Wolf Pack have observed a 56% increase in ticket sales since the 2021-2022 season, the team said.
During the season, the Wolf Pack also grew their footprint in the Greater Hartford Community, as the club’s mascot, Sonar, appeared 60 times at local schools, community events, community fundraising initiatives, youth sports practices and more.
Wolf Pack players and coaches also contributed to the good vibes by making 23 community visits during the season, according to the team. Beyond traditional visits to local schools and youth hockey practices, Wolf Pack players and coaches visited Connecticut Children’s Hospital during the holiday season to donate toys as part of the team’s annual toy drive. They also donated teddy bears after the team’s annual “Teddy Bear Toss” game.
The team also traveled to Southington to assist with lunch service and cleanup at a local soup kitchen, the Wolf Pack said. The club additionally donated more than 500 backpacks to teachers in over 20 classrooms in the Greater Hartford area, as Wolf Pack players and front office staff delivered them to students.
Going further, the team said the “Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation” donated more than 1,000 tickets during the 2023-2024 season. The donations were made as part of fundraising efforts for local schools, youth sports organizations, community initiatives local to the Hartford area and more, according to the Wolf Pack.
Some of the ticket donations were even made to organizations that allowed clients to attend a Wolf Pack game who would have been unable to do so otherwise.
The team’s community foundation issued seven grants totaling over $40,000 during the season to Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, The Hartford Police Athletic League, Children in Placement, Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Hands on Hartford, Covenant Preparatory School and the Boys & Girls Club of Meriden.
Lastly, the club donated more than 1,100 pounds of food to Hands on Hartford after the Wolf Pack’s annual food drive on March 16 at the XL Center.
To learn more about the foundation and the Wolf Pack’s community initiatives, one can click here.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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