Howard Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1942-05-14)May 14, 1942 (age 83) New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupations | American entrepreneur and film producer |
| Known for |
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| Spouse | Karen Mulvihill Baldwin |
| Awards | 2010 inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the builders category |
Howard Lapsley Baldwin[1] (born May 14, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and film producer. Baldwin founded theNew England Whalers ice hockey franchise in theWorld Hockey Association (WHA) and retained ownership when the team became theHartford Whalers and joined theNational Hockey League (NHL). He has also owned part of theMinnesota North Stars andPittsburgh PenguinsNHL franchises. He is the CEO of Baldwin Entertainment, which has produced films such as theAcademy Award-nominatedRay.
Baldwin has had a long-standing involvement with ice hockey inConnecticut since the early 1970s, starting with the WHA's New England Whalers/NHL's Hartford Whalers, then with theHartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL), and finally with theConnecticut Whale of thePremier Hockey Federation (PHF).[2]
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.[3][4] 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 theBoston Garden arena with the NHL'sBoston Bruins. He moved the Whalers from Boston to Hartford's newCivic 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 historicmerger 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.
In 2009, Baldwin foundedHartford Hockey LLC, better known asWhalers Sports & Entertainment, to promote ice hockey throughout Connecticut. In August 2010, Whalers Sports and Entertainment was hired by theNHL'sNew York Rangers to manage the day-to-day business and marketing affairs for theirAHL affiliate theHartford Wolf Pack. As part of the marketing agreement, the minor league team was renamed theConnecticut Whale, as a tribute to the former Hartford Whalers team.[5][6]
Baldwin licensed the nameConnecticut Whale toa franchise of thePremier Hockey Federation, a founding member of the 2015 upstart league.
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 atRentschler Field, theUniversity of Connecticut's football stadium inEast Hartford".[2]
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Baldwin created theSan Jose Sharks as an expansion team, later taking a controlling interest in theMinnesota North Stars,[7] and before later purchasing thePittsburgh Penguins, all of which are NHL ice hockey teams. At one time, he held a 50% interest in theMoscow Red Army team.
He became involved with theAmerican Hockey League, a player development league affiliated with the NHL, forming theWilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Pennsylvania, andManchester Monarchs in New Hampshire. Baldwin was a founding investor in theWorld Football League and was to own a franchise inBoston, Massachusetts, but pulled out of the league before its inaugural 1974 season began.
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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 theStanley Cup in1992, 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.
The WHA'sRobert Schmertz Memorial Trophy was originally named theHoward Baldwin Trophy in his honor.[8] In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into theWorld Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the builders category.[9]
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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.[10] The Baldwins produced such films asMystery, Alaska,Odd Man Rush,Sudden Death,From the Hip,Spellbinder, andJoshua, among others.[10]
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