Howard Lapsley Baldwin
[Rose Weld Baldwin obituary](_blank)
ccgfuneralhome.com; accessed March 8, 2017. (born May 14, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and film producer. Baldwin founded the
New England Whalers
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
ice hockey franchise in the
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...
(WHA) and retained ownership when the team became the
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1 ...
and joined the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL). He has also owned part of the
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
and
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
franchises. He is the CEO of Baldwin Entertainment, which has produced films such as the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-nominated ''
Ray''.
Professional ice hockey
Connecticut ice hockey
Baldwin has had a long-standing involvement with ice hockey in
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
since the early 1970s, starting with the WHA's New England Whalers/NHL's Hartford Whalers, then with the
Hartford Wolf Pack
The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...
/Connecticut Whale of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
(AHL), and finally with the
Connecticut Whale of the
Premier Hockey Federation
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...
(PHF).
New England/Hartford Whalers
Baldwin became one of the youngest executives in professional sports when he became a founder and partner of the WHA's Boston-based New England Whalers in 1971 at the age of 28.
accessed May 09, 2017.
accessed May 09, 2017. Five years later he was president of the league. The Whalers first season in the WHA was a success both on and off the ice with coach Jack Kelley's team winning the 1973 AVCO World Cup Championship. Kelley was also the very first recipient of a trophy named after Baldwin, the WHA's coach of the year award.
In 1974, Baldwin determined that the team needed its own building as the Whalers had been sharing the
Boston Garden arena with the NHL's
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
. He moved the Whalers from Boston to Hartford's new
Civic Center Coliseum, a vehicle for the revitalization of downtown Hartford, with the team playing their first game there in 1975. In 1979 Baldwin guided the WHA into a historic
merger with the NHL with his New England Whalers making the transition to the more established league after their identity was changed to the Hartford Whalers. Baldwin served as the managing general partner of the Whalers until the team was sold to local ownership in 1988.
Hartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale
In 2009, Baldwin founded Hartford Hockey LLC, better known as Whalers Sports & Entertainment, to promote ice hockey throughout Connecticut. In August 2010, Whalers Sports and Entertainment was hired by the
NHL's New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
to manage the day-to-day business and marketing affairs for their
AHL affiliate the
Hartford Wolf Pack
The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the PeoplesBank Arena. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. ...
. As part of the marketing agreement, the minor league team was renamed the Connecticut Whale, as a tribute to the former Hartford Whalers team.
Women's Hockey
Baldwin licensed the name ''Connecticut Whale'' to
a franchise of the
Premier Hockey Federation
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...
, a founding member of the 2015 upstart league.
Whalers Hockey Fest
In the early 2010s Baldwin organized the "Whalers Hockey Fest", an outdoor ice hockey festival which featured "up to 20 minor league, college, high school, and youth hockey games at a rink...built at
Rentschler Field, the
University of Connecticut's football stadium in
East Hartford".
Other teams
Baldwin created the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
as an expansion team, later taking a controlling interest in the
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
, and before later purchasing the
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
, all of which are NHL ice hockey teams. At one time, he held a 50% interest in the
Moscow Red Army team.
He became involved with the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
, a player development league affiliated with the NHL, forming the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (sometimes known as the WBS Penguins) are a professional ice hockey team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Pengui ...
in Pennsylvania, and
Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire. Baldwin was a founding investor in the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...
and was to own a franchise in
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, but pulled out of the league before its inaugural 1974 season began.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Baldwin's specialty was buying franchises with very little of his own money invested. For example, his actual cash investment in the Penguins was just $1,000. The rest was assumed debt and capital provided by other partners. His purchase of the Penguins was bankrolled largely by Morris Belzberg. Baldwin served as the Penguins chairman of the board and represented the club on the NHL Board of Governors. Under his direction the Penguins won the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...
in the
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
, one Patrick Division regular season title, four Northeast Division titles, and one President's Trophy.
Baldwin and his partners created The American Hockey League expansion franchise in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1999 as the minor league affiliate of the NHL Penguins. When Belzberg left the ownership group, Baldwin recruited Roger Marino, a Boston investor. By that time, the Penguins were struggling financially and wound up declaring bankruptcy in November 1998.
Honors
The WHA's
Robert Schmertz
Robert Schmertz (November 15, 1926 – July 24, 1975) was an American real estate developer and sports franchise owner. He was owner or part-owner of two NBA franchises; the Portland Trail Blazers from 1970 through 1972, and the Boston Celtics ...
Memorial Trophy was originally named the
Howard Baldwin Trophy in his honor. In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the
World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the builders category.
Profile
, whahof.com; accessed May 22, 2015.
Baldwin Entertainment Group
In addition to his interest in professional hockey, Baldwin has also pursued a career in film as a producer with his wife and producing partner, Karen Mulvihill Baldwin.
, holycross.edu; accessed May 22, 2015. The Baldwins produced such films as ''Mystery, Alaska
''Mystery, Alaska'' is a 1999 American sports comedy-drama film, directed by Jay Roach, about an amateur ice hockey team from the fictional small town of Mystery that plays an exhibition game against the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Y ...
'', '' Odd Man Rush'', '' Sudden Death'', '' From the Hip'', '' Spellbinder'', and ''Joshua
Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
'', among others.
References
External links
*
Baldwin Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Howard
1942 births
Living people
Film producers from New York (state)
Businesspeople from New York City
Hartford Whalers executives
Minnesota North Stars executives
National Hockey League executives
National Hockey League owners
Pittsburgh Penguins owners
San Jose Sharks personnel
Stanley Cup champions
Boston Bulls