Happy Whaler Nation Birthday to Nick Fotiu

Dec 2010 article by Bruce Berlet

Athletes often have unique ways to get involved with the sports that they love.

Nick Evlampios Fotiu got plenty of enjoyment from football, soccer and boxing while growing up in Staten Island, but a bit of divine intervention helped the rugged New Yorker develop a desire to play hockey.

Fotiu loved the New York Rangers so much that he would follow their every move and spend more than an hour each way taking a bus, a ferry and a train from his home to Madison Square Garden, where he would sit in the cheap “blue seats” in the upper reaches of The World’s Most Famous Arena.

And on Sundays, Fotiu would stop in Greenwich Village to visit his grandfather for a pasta dinner and then travel to MSG to watch a team that occasionally challenged for the Stanley Cup but didn’t win pro hockey’s most cherished prize for more than half a century.

Ironically, a few years later, Fotiu would ride the same train for a totally different reason.

“It’s ironic how I was taking that train as a kid to watch the Rangers and ended up taking it to play for the Rangers,” Fotiu said.

But not before that night while entering MSG at 15 when Fotiu’s journey through life changed dramatically in the start of a quest to defy all odds to reach the pinnacle of hockey.

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This date in Whalers History: May 23, 1977, The Howe Family Signs with the Whalers

May 23, 1977 -- Whalers outbid the NHL to sign the entire Howe family, Gordie, Mark and Marty, to long-term contracts.

May 23, 1979:  the New England Whalers officially changed their name to the Hartofrd Whalers.

Former Whaler Paul Cyr is dead at 48

Paul Cyr, a member of the Whalers from 1990-1993, has died at the age of 48. The cause of death was reported as heart failure; he also was said to be suffering from complications from diabetes.

Cyr was part of one of the most heralded rookie classes in the history of the Sabres. He was taken ninth overall in 1982 by the Sabres, who also selected Phil Housley and Dave Andreychuk in the first round that year. He had scored 52 goals in 58 games for Victoria of the Western Hockey League in 1981-82, and helped Canada win a gold medal in the World Junior Hockey Tournament. Buffalo had hopes that the left winger could develop into another Rick Martin.

Cyr broke in with the Sabres in 1982-83, scoring 15 goals in 36 games. A highlight came on March 3, 1983 when he scored all three goals for Buffalo in a span of 3 minutes, 27 seconds in a 3-2 win over the Bruins. Cyr had his best year in 1984-85, when he scored 22 goals.

In the summer of 1987, Cyr was shot in the abdomen by a taxi driver during a robbery attempt in the Dominican Republic. He missed 17 games and had only one goal in 20 games when he was traded to the Rangers on Dec. 31, 1987 for Mike Donnelly and a draft choice that eventually was used to select Alexander Mogilny.

Cyr finished his Sabre career with 85 goals and 111 assists in 342 games. The forward had injury problems during his time with the Rangers and was eventually released. He finished his NHL career in the Hartford Whalers organization.

Happy Whaler Nation Birthday: Jean Sebastien Giguere

TORONTO STAR:  April 7, 2011: 

Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere realized something in jest when it was mentioned to him this week that he was one of two surviving Hartford Whalers playing in the NHL today.

“Must mean I’m pretty old,” Giguere said laughing.

Giguere and Flyers’ defenceman Chris Pronger are the only two players left from a Whalers team that moved to Carolina to become the Hurricanes in 1997.

That ended a colourful history of the relatively short life of the Whalers, which had begun life as a WHA team in 1972 before making the jump to the NHL in 1979.

Current Leafs GM Brian Burke got his start as a high level executive as the Whalers GM in 1992, and current TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire coached there in the 1990s.

The “Whale” were known for their green and white uniforms and bizarre tales, including the near disaster of Stormy, the pig mascot who reportedly was supposed to appear from inside a Zamboni at the call of a professional hog caller, but apparently had a seizure and was nearly asphyxiated from the fumes under the cowl of the vehicle.

Giguere looks back fondly on his time with the Whalers.

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"Whaler Talk" with Mark Willand

Carl Beane -- A True Whalers Fan.

It's a sad night in New England as the Boston Globe reports that Fenway Park public address announcer Carl Beane died in a single-car accident on Wednesday afternoon. The 59-year-old had manned the mic at Fenway since 2003 and was well-known around Boston as a local radio announcer.

According to Peter Abraham of the Globe, Beane was driving his car in Sturbridge, Mass., when it "crossed the double solid lines, left the road and hit a tree and a wall." The accident did not involve anyone else and is still being investigated by police.

May he rest in peace.

Happy Whaler Nation Birthday: Tom "Bussey" Martin

Tom "Bussey" Martin recalls strange trade

By Evan Weiner  - NHL.com Correspondent

  Tom Martin was one of those players who seemed to bounce between the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League on an annual basis throughout the 1980s. He was good enough to be in the NHL but his career stats were pretty much non-descript. He played in 92 games for Winnipeg, Minnesota and Hartford between 1984 and 1990, scored 12 goals and assisted on 11 others. Martin was also a tough guy who rang up 249 penalty minutes in his NHL days, but many others could make that claim as well. But Martin holds one distinction that no one in the NHL, and maybe the entire sports world, could claim about his playing days.

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This Date in Whalers History - May 6, 1973: New England Whalers Win WHA Crown

New England Whalers WHA 1972-73 Highlite Video in its entirety

Box Score

1st 2nd 3rd Final Winnipeg 2 2 2 6 New England 5 1 3 9
1st Period Scoring:
New England	Webster	0:21	Williams	Ley
New England	Pleau	4:43
Winnipeg	Johnson	7:07	Sutherland
New England	G. Smith	11:47	Williams	Webster
New England	Ley	15:43
Winnipeg	Beaudin	17:53	Hull
New England	Sheehy	18:41	Webster	Pleau
2nd Period Scoring:
New England	Webster	0:15	Williams	Green
Winnipeg	Beaudin	3:15	Bordeleau	McDonald
Winnipeg	Black	4:02	Shmyr
3rd Period Scoring:
Winnipeg	Woytowich	4:59	Swenson	Asmundson
New England	Pleau	5:24	Sheehy	French
New England	Pleau	7:31	Sheehy	French
New England	Byers	17:20	Green	Williams
Winnipeg	Asmundson	18:10	Swenson	Cuddie
Goalies:
Winnipeg	Daley
New England	Smith
Shots: 1st 2nd 3rd Final Winnipeg 17 12 13 42 New England 11 6 10 27

1972/73: Led by former Boston University Coach Jack Kelley, and playing in the historic Boston Garden the New England Whalers hit the ice for the first time playing in the upstart World Hockey Association, on October 12th, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Philadelphia Blazers 4-3. While other WHA teams spent their money on NHL stars the Whalers decided to go after solid steadier players, and it paid off as they would go on to finish with a league best 46-30-2 record. In the playoffs the Whalers would make quick work of the Ottawa Nationals advancing to the semifinals in 5 games. In the semifinals the Whalers would dominate again as they beat the Cleveland Crusaders in 5 games to advance to the very first AVCO Cup Finals. In the finals the Whalers would shut down the highflying Winnipeg Jets in 5 games to emerge as the first champions of the WHA.

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A Look Back at the "Big Bopper" Jack Carlson

From:  Living Light New Online:

He could have been in pictures - with Paul Newman no less.

In 1976, professional hockey player Jack Carlson received a call from his older brother Jeff informing him that they, along with their younger brother Steve, had been offered a supporting role in Slap Shot, a hockey movie starring Paul Newman.

  It wasn't that the brothers were particularly great hockey players or actors. They were unique, however. Besides the fact they played on the same line together and wore long hair and heavy-framed sports glasses - while playing - the brothers were known for scoring punches, not goals. Forget about not hitting a guy wearing glasses - these guys were tough.

  "Jeff was the toughest,"

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This Date in Whalers History

In 1995 Former Whalers head coach Pierre McGuire forfeits half of his pay for furnishing confidential material to Edmonton.

In 1995 Darren Turcotte scores a goal in his final career Whalers game vs Quebec.

In 1996 "Save the Whale" season ticket sales drive is extended for 11 days.

In 1999 Former Whalers player Steve Chiasson passes away in Raliegh, NC.

In 1970 Ted Crowley was born in Concord, MA