Howard Baldwin
| Howard Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 14, 1942 New York City, New York, United States |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | American entrepreneur and film producer |
| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) | Karen Mulvihill Baldwin |
| Awards | 2010 inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the builders category |
Howard Baldwin (born May 14, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and film producer. He is the CEO of Baldwin Entertainment, which has produced films such as the Academy Award-nominated Ray. Baldwin founded the New England Whalers ice hockey franchise in the WHA and has also owned part of the Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchises. He won the Stanley Cup in 1992 with Pittsburgh. The WHA's coach of the year award was originally named the Howard Baldwin Trophy in his honor.
Baldwin has a long-standing involvement with Connecticut starting in 1974, when he relocated the New England Whalers to Hartford, and continuing with that after taking control of the Hartford Wolf Pack's business and every thing non-hockey related, he has also renamed the team the Connecticut Whale.
Baldwin became one of the youngest executives in professional sports when he became a founder and partner of the World Hockey Association's (WHA) Boston-based Whalers in 1971 at the age of 28. 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.
In 1974, Baldwin determined that the team needed its own building. He moved the Whalers from Boston to Hartford's new Civic Center Coliseum, a vehicle for the revitalization of downtown Hartford. In 1979 Baldwin guided the WHA into a historic merger with the National Hockey League. Baldwin served as the managing general partner of the Whalers until the team was sold to local ownership in 1988.
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 to manage the day-to-day business and marketing affairs for their AHL affiliate the Hartford Wolf Pack. As part of the marketing agreement, the minor league team was renamed the Connecticut Whale, as tribute to the former Hartford Whalers team.
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