HARTFORD, Conn., August 3, 2011 ― Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Whalers Sports & Entertainment today announced a new agreement making Aetna the first member of the “Whalers Alliance.”  The Whalers Alliance refers to companies and corporations who have made significant, long-term commitments to the mission of Whalers Sports & Entertainment (WSE).

Aetna (NYSE: AET) and WSE have signed a three-year agreement valued at nearly $500,000, which is highlighted by Aetna’s becoming the title sponsor of the Whale’s new Amateur Hockey program.

“Aetna has really stepped up here with a significant commitment to hockey in Connecticut,” said Howard Baldwin, chairman and chief executive officer of WSE.  “Aetna’s support will allow us to do even more exciting things for youth hockey and adult recreational hockey, helping to grow the game more and more.  Just as importantly, this agreement affirms that Aetna shares our vision of the Whale, and an enhanced hockey market, helping to revitalize downtown Hartford and make our city an even more attractive place for young professionals to live and work.  This is exactly the type of corporate backing that we need to make professional hockey in Connecticut absolutely the most it can be.”

“Aetna is pleased to continue its 158-year commitment to supporting a vibrant Connecticut community and the Hartford area in particular by becoming the first member of the Whalers Alliance,” said Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna chairman, CEO and president. “In particular, we see it as vitally important to the health of our children to encourage their interest in physical activity. The Connecticut Whale’s efforts to engage children in sports, as well as in education and sportsmanship, is a positive for children and families in Hartford and across the state.”

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As part of the Aetna-sponsored Whale Amateur Hockey program, each player on every team that plays one of its games at the XL Center prior to a Whale game will receive a “Whale of an Experience.”  That package includes a personalized locker name plate, a team photo and a welcome bag, and every amateur game will be treated like an actual professional game, with music and a public address announcer.  Each team will also receive a DVD recap of the game.

Aetna also will foster good sportsmanship in the game of hockey, with the selection of the “Aetna Clean Team of the Month” throughout the hockey season, publicized through the Whale’s official website, www.ctwhale.com.  Additionally, there will be an “Aetna Stick Kid of the Game” at each 2011-12 Whale home game, giving a deserving youngster an ice-level look at all that goes into the equipment preparation for a Whale game.

“It is exciting to kick off the Whalers Alliance, and support the organization’s momentum and energy. We encourage other Connecticut corporations to join us in building the team’s presence in Connecticut not only to help revitalize professional hockey here, but also to support the businesses downtown that benefit when families come to Hartford,” said Floyd Green, vice president of Community Relations and Urban Marketing at Aetna. “We look forward to working with the WSE team and the Connecticut Whale players to build on their success and continue to engage with the community.”

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.  More details on the Amateur Hockey Program can be obtained by contacting Jocelyne Cummings in the Whale office at that same number, (860) 728-3366.

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HARTFORD, July 25, 2011:  Whalers Sports & Entertainment today announced five prime home-ice dates that have been guaranteed to the Connecticut Whale by the American Hockey League for the upcoming 2011-12 AHL season.

The first of those is Saturday, October 15, and the other four are all also prime Friday or Saturday nights.  Those other dates are: Friday, November 4; Saturday, December 17; New Year’s Eve (Saturday, December 31); and Saturday, January 21.

All of these premier weekend home games will feature major promotions, as the franchise enjoys its first full season under the Whale banner.

The entirety of the Whale’s 2011-12 schedule will be announced later in the summer, as soon as it is finalized.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

HARTFORD, July 18, 2011:  Whalers Sports & Entertainment today announced the Connecticut Whale’s 2011 preseason schedule.  The schedule consists of four total games, three of which will be local home contests.

The Whale open the preseason Tuesday, September 27 at Trinity College’s Koeppel Community Sports Center, with a 7:00 PM game against the Albany Devils.  The Koeppel Community Sports Center is located at 175 New Britain Ave. in Hartford, and the September 27 game is a benefit for the Ryan Gordon/Connecticut Whale Community Scholars Fund, with donations accepted at the door in lieu of an admission charge.  The fund memorializes young fan Ryan Gordon, who passed away in 2006 and asked that a portion of the monies set aside for his college education be donated to the Connecticut Whale Community Foundation.

The Whale’s lone road preseason contest is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28, when they travel to the MassMutual Center in Springfield to battle the Springfield Falcons at 7:00.  The Whale then host the Worcester Sharks at the TD Bank Sports Center at Quinnipiac University Friday, September 30, with faceoff at 7:00.  Admission to that game is $5, with proceeds benefitting Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, CT.

The Whale’s final preseason action is Sunday, October 2 at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, the Sharks again providing the opposition.  That game will face off at 2:00, and a $5 admission charge will benefit Junior Wolf Pack youth hockey.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, July 14 2011:  The Connecticut Whale today announced its schedule format for the upcoming 2011-12 American Hockey League season.

The Whale’s 76-game regular-season schedule will be highlighted by 12 games (six home, six away) against its closest regional rival, the Springfield Falcons.  The next highest number of games against a single opponent for the Whale is ten (five home, five away), in the GEICO Connecticut Cup series against their Nutmeg State neighbors the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  The Whale will play the other two teams in their new Northeast Division, the Albany Devils and the Adirondack Phantoms, four times each (two home, two away).

The Whale will also see a significant amount of 2011-12 action against its old division, the Atlantic.  Eight games (four home, four away) are on tap vs. the arch-rival Providence Bruins, and Connecticut will also see the Portland Pirates eight times (four home, four away).  The Whale will take on the Manchester Monarchs six times (three home, three away), and will play the Worcester Sharks and the new St. John’s, Newfoundland franchise four times each (two home, two away).

The rest of the Whale’s schedule will be comprised of battles with the East Division, including four games each (two home, two away) vs. the Hershey Bears, the Norfolk Admirals and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  The Whale will meet the defending Calder Cup-champion Binghamton Senators, and the Syracuse Crunch, twice each (one home, one away).

The Whale’s full schedule of specific game dates will be released later in the summer, as soon as it is finalized.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, July 13 2011:  As the Connecticut Whale drives to increase its season ticket base greatly for the upcoming 2011-12 American Hockey League season, numerous Connecticut business groups and associations have joined forces with the Whale in a “grass roots” effort, and are offering special incentive deals to their members to become Whale season seat-holders.

“Making deeper inroads into the local business community is the most important part of our objective to re-energize Hartford as a hockey market,” said Whalers Sports & Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr..  “We are excited by the response so far from some of the areas best-regarded and most-influential chambers and professional groups.”

Numerous local chambers of commerce either have launched, or will soon launch, programs to incentivize their memberships to invest in Whale season subscriptions.  Those include the Metro Hartford Alliance, the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce, and the chambers of commerce of Branford, Bristol, East Hartford, Glastonbury and Meriden.

Among other business and professional associations partnering with the Whale are: the Advertising Club of Connecticut, Business for Downtown Hartford, the Connecticut Bar Association, the Home Builders Association of Greater Hartford, the CT Society of CPAs, I.A.T.S.E. Local 84 and the Rockledge Men’s Club.

The support of all of these groups will be a key component of the Whale’s off-season campaign to “Skate to 3,000” season tickets for the 2011-12 Connecticut Whale season.

A special early bird discount on 2011-12 season seats is available now. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, July 7, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Jonathan Audy-Marchessault to an American Hockey League contract for the 2011-12 season.

Audy-Marchessault, a 5-9, 175-pound 20-year-old who hails from Pont-Rouge, Quebec, has spent the entirety of a four-year Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career with the Quebec Remparts.  Audy-Marchessault led all QMJHL players in postseason points and assists this spring, totaling 22 assists and 33 points, to go along with 11 goals, in 18 games.  That was after a regular season in which he led the league in game-winning goals with 11, while finishing fifth among QMJHL skaters in goals and tying for sixth in points, with 40-55-95 in 68 games.  Audy-Marchessault paced the Eastern Division-champion Remparts club in points and goals.

In 254 career games in a Quebec uniform, Audy-Marchessault accumulated totals of 98 goals, 141 assists, 239 points and 180 penalty minutes.  He averaged better than a point-per-game in playoff competition, with 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 points in 52 career postseason games.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, July 6, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has re-signed forward Kelsey Tessier for the 2011-12 season.

As a rookie in 2010-11, Tessier led Whale first-year pros in assists, and finished second among team rookies in points and goals, with 10-18-28 in 75 games.  The 5-9, 177-pound native of Fredericton, New Brunswick also totaled 19 penalty minutes and a +2 rating.

Prior to joining the then-Hartford Wolf Pack on an AHL contract, Tessier played four seasons of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action with the Quebec Remparts and the Moncton Wildcats.  In 249 career QMJHL contests, he amassed a total of 103 goals and 141 assists for 244 points, along with 189 PIM.  After being traded by Quebec to Moncton late in the 2009-10 season, Tessier helped to lead the Wildcats to a QMJHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup, finishing second among all league skaters in playoff points, and third in postseason goals, with 14-16-30 in 21 games.

Tessier, 21, was a fourth-round pick (110^th overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, June 27, 2011:  Although the season has ended, the Connecticut Whale continues to rock off the ice with the announcement today by Whalers Sports & Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin of the new “rockin’” radio broadcast home of the Connecticut Whale.

Whalers Sports and Entertainment and “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM will partner in the Whale “Rockin’ Hockey” radio network starting with the upcoming 2011-12 Whale season, with all Whale regular season and playoff games being carried live on The Rock 106.9 WCCC-FM with its powerhouse 50,000-watt signal.

“Expanding our broadcast reach has been one of our top priorities since taking over the operations of Hartford’s American Hockey League (AHL) franchise, and this new partnership with WCCC-FM brings our game broadcasts to a much higher profile,” Baldwin said.  “The signal strength of ‘The Rock’ is competitive with the strongest in the market, and will allow fans throughout the state of Connecticut, and beyond, to hear our games.  We join the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox as teams here in New England who broadcast their games on FM. It’s the wave of the future.”

The Rock 106.9 WCCC FM is the Hartford market’s non-corporate, independent, live and local rock station, playing a wide variety of rock songs for a wide variety of rock fans.  The Whale “Rockin’ Hockey” partnership will include year-long cross-promotions, listener-interaction, opportunities to win and regular Whale player and staff on-air appearances on The Rock 106.9 WCCC, as the Whale and WCCC rock Connecticut together.

“This represents a whale of an opportunity for us to build on our long standing commitment to community involvement,” said Boyd Arnold, Vice President and General Manager of WCCC.  “The Connecticut Whale is a tremendous community asset and we’re proud to be involved with them at this level.”

Bob Crawford, the “Voice of the Whale” since the franchise’s inception, will return for his 15^th season behind the Whale microphone, and his 23^rd AHL campaign, in 2011-12.

“The WCCC-FM broadcast announcement is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of new programs and services for our fans this upcoming season,” Baldwin said. “Stay tuned.”

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, June 3, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Max Campbell to an American Hockey League contract.

Campbell, a 6-0, 190-pound, 22-year-old native of Strathroy, Ontario, just completed a four-year career at Western Michigan University.  Campbell posted college career highs of 42 games-played, 18 goals, 17 assists and 35 points this past season, leading all Western Michigan skaters in points and goals.  Highlights of his season included a game-winning overtime goal March 13 vs. Ferris State that sent Western Michigan to its first Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Semi-final berth since 1993, and a four-point game (one goal, three assists) that tied a personal career high November 26, in a 5-2 win over #5 Miami.

A fifth-round (138^th overall) draftee by the parent New York Rangers in 2007 prior to his college career, Campbell posted Western Michigan career totals of 154 games-played, 46 goals, 61 assists, 107 points and 113 penalty minutes.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.

HARTFORD, May 24, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has exercised its 2011-12 option on the AHL contract of defenseman Jared Nightingale.

Nightingale, a 6-3, 205-pound veteran of five pro seasons, played 71 games in a Whale uniform this past season, scoring two goals and tying his AHL career high with six assists, for eight points, and registering 204 penalty minutes.  That PIM total led all Whale defensemen and ranked third overall on the team.  Nightingale was scoreless in six playoff contests.

In addition to his on-ice contributions, Nightingale was one of the Whale’s true team leaders, voted by his teammates the winner of the Whale’s Bob Girouard Character Award and chosen by the Whale staff as the recipient of the Mary Lynn Gorman Community Service Award, and as the Whale’s IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year for community service.

A 28-year-old native of Jackson, Michigan, Nightingale has played 173 games with the Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack over parts of four seasons, and has totaled seven goals and seventeen assists for 24 points, along with 485 penalty minutes.  He has also seen AHL action with the Springfield Falcons, Iowa Stars and Chicago Wolves, and his career AHL totals show 197 games-played, 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points, and 509 PIM.

Prior to turning pro with Springfield late in the 2005-06 season, Nightingale was a four-year regular at Michigan State University.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 Whale season are available now, with a special early bird discount. Call (860) 728-3366 for information on that, as well as all Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages.  Visit the Whale on the web at www.ctwhale.com.