Wally The Whaler

There are probably hundreds of stories surrounding the Hartford Whalers where tidbits of information has changed or been lost over the annals of time. From the change in logos to the introduction and re-imaging of Pucky the Whale, the history of the Whalers literally needs to written from start to finish with all the key players involved. And that includes this guy to the left known as Wally the Whaler who spent one season absorbing insults and hatred from Whalers fans before disappearing forever. Honestly, it's not a great mascot at first glance, but the fact that he lasted one year in 1992 and is the only known mascot for the Whalers during their existence makes Wally a detail that needs exploration.

Wally first appeared on the Hartford hockey season at the start of the 1991-92 season. If you recall, the Whalers had completed a rather soul-crushing trade with the Penguins at the 1991 trade deadline when they swapped Ron Francis, Grant Jennings, and Ulf Samuelsson for Zarley Zalapski, John Cullen, and Jeff Parker. With fans still sore in watching their hockey heroes win a Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 1991, season-ticket sales were sluggish and attendance waned for the entire season. Introducing Wally didn't help as the fans immediately hated Wally. And this just wasn't your run-of-the-mill hate. They HATED him.

Ed Johnston, the general manager of the Whalers in 1991, held an inaugural "I Signed With the Whalers!" party in August 1991 for season-ticket holders and their guests where Wally was introduced to the 7500 fans in attendance. While no one seemed to notice Wally that night, it didn't help that the Whalers kept rolling Wally out all season while the team on the ice put together a horrid 26-41-13 season to finish 20th out of 22 NHL teams. As the team struggled and stumbled to their 15-games-below-.500 record, Wally was the face of that disappointment.

The thing about the internet in 1991 is that there is virtually no record of this hate and the frustration fans felt towards their team outside of a few short Reddit threads and a few mentions in an article by Steve Buckley on The Athletic despite a few of the details in Buckley's story being incorrect.

Mark Rankin told Buckley, "It definitely didn't bring anything forward as to what the Whalers were all about. It wasn't the Whalers. It wasn't hockey. I just don't know what they were going for there."

Mark Anderson seemed more surprised that Wally the Whaler still exists under the watch of Whalers fan Joanne Cortesa, telling Buckley, "I didn't know Joanne had Wally until today. I'm shocked. I figured that would have been burned at the stake a long time ago. The eyes were big and weird."

Matt Greene may have shown the most angst for Wally when he said, "It was awful. The ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life. Having seen it recently, up close and personal, it's even uglier. Doesn't seem very cuddly to kids."

Joanne, the keeper of Wally today, told Buckley, "I thought it was kinda cute. The only thing was it didn't seem to have anything to [do] with the Whale. I don't know who came up with that. It looked more like the Gorton's fisherman."

Now you, like Joanne, might be asking who designed Wally the Whaler before the fans revolted against the mascot. According to this resumé posted to his site, the man responsible for Wally is Richard Marzi! If you scroll to the bottom of the resumé to the Miscellaneous section, it reads, "Creator of 'Wally the Whaler' the mascot for the former Hartford Whalers NHL franchise"! I don't know Richard in any way, but you better believe I've reached out to him to see if he's willing to tell his side of the story! If and/or when Richard wants to talk, I'll post a follow-up with his interview!

After Ed Johnston was fired at the end of the 1991-92 season following that dismal campaign, he was replaced with Brian Burke prior to the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. While that draft produced a few notable names such as Robert Petrovicky, Andrei Nikolishin, and Jan Vopat, it was the moves made after the draft that maybe spelled the beginning of the end of the Whalers.

Burke was in charge when the Whalers changed the green-and-white jersey colours to the navy-blue-and-silver, when they axed the playing of Brass Bonanza following goals scored by the Whalers at the Hartford Civic Center, and when they unceremoniously retired Wally the Whaler without so much as a press release. That would be the last time anyone mentioned Wally the Whaler in Hartford as the team looked to find its way back into the win column more regularly.

With a proverbial snap of the fingers, Wally the Whaler was never seen again. That's the story of the only Hartford Whalers mascot to have physically occupied space in the Hartford Civic Center as far as I can dig up, but I'm hoping to hear more from his creator in Richard Marzi. Until that happens, our one year with Wally back in 1991-92 is all we have!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!