Fans play role in Whalers franchise

DANBURY, CT – As the Danbury Whalers of the Federal Hockey League began its first season of play, ownership knew that it had to capitalize on the city’s history as a hockey town if it was going to be successful. Following months of aggressive marketing and outreach, the team found itself on opening night at the Danbury Ice Arena with a sixth man they didn’t know they’d have: a fan base ready to bang the glass, yell long and loud and make the DIA an intimidating place to play.
Nobody is enjoying the hockey-crazy fans more than Chris Firriolo, the coach of the Whalers.

In fact, as he was building the roster, he wanted a team that was skilled, puck-hungry and reflected the people in the stands.
“It’s important to create an uncomfortable environment for our opponents,“ Firriolo said. “Danbury requires a very gritty, tough kind of blue-collar, bring your lunch pail mentality. I think we’ve got that element there too.”
Whalers C.E.O. and Managing Partner Herm Sorcher said that the fans were the most important element in planning the team. In the 14-month run-up to beginning play, the Whalers staff talked with fans and drafted a contract with the community, pledging “affordable, fun, high energy entertainment”. The agreement centered around the concepts of customer service, value and communication with a “tell us what you want to see and we’ll do it” philosophy.
The fans in Danbury have seen plenty of teams come thru the city. There was the Danbury Trashers of the UHL from 2004-2006, a franchise that fell victim to allegations of criminal activity by ownership. Then came the New England Stars of the Northeastern Hockey League in 2006-07. They were followed by the Mad Hatters of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 2008-09.
Enter Sorcher and the Whalers ownership. Sorcher has 20 years of sports management under his belt, including time with Howard Baldwin and the Hartford Whalers of the NHL. Following 17 years in minor league baseball, he joined the EPHL as the league’s Vice-President of Sales and Marketing. He jumped at the chance to operate a team and utilize his many years of experience.
“Hockey has always been my number one passion in sports. This (running the Whalers) is the combination of everything coming togetheras the perfect situation – a great arena and a city that supports the team,” he said.
Sorcher thinks that he knows why past teams failed. He said that it all revolves around customer service, or the lack of it. His promise to fans is simple: the Whalers will keep every promise they make, learn fans’ names, always answer the phone and make the players accessible to the people.
“We can be the best team in the world if we follow these rules,” he said.
Fans like Stacy Ashby are among the members of the target market for Sorcher and the Whalers. The 30-year old resident of nearby Bethel has held season tickets with several of the previous franchises and has returned to join the Whalers’ family. So far, she has been pleased with the personal relationship the new team is forging with fans.
“They are taking the time to explain everything to the fans and making us a part of it,” Ashby said. “It’s more thought out and well planned. I love that hockey is back in Danbury.”
The Whalers are using every available method to reach out to the fans. The franchise has embraced social media including Facebook where the Whalers have over 1,000 friends. The use of social media has brought an additional benefit – allowing the team to cut its marketing costs by some $30,000 – $50,000.
“It’s the greatest change I’ve seen in my career. The fans love the constant, up-to-the-second information,” Sorcher said. It has changed the game in regards to budgeting and leads to ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship packages.”
There is another piece of history that the Danbury Whalers are trying to turn into an advantage. Despite the fact that the franchise has been gone for more than a decade, the Hartford Whalers still hold a special place in the hearts of Connecticut hockey fans. The fact that theHartford Whalers’ Booster Club still boasts over 70 active members is a testament to that. In fact, if one looks at the Danbury Whalers franchise, the name, jersey color scheme and even the logo with the famous “whale tail” all pay homage to the team that blared the “Brass Bonanza” after every goal at the Hartford Civic Center.
Sorcher, ever mindful of his time with the Hartford Whalers, contacted Al Victor, immediate past president of the Hartford Booster Club, and even drove to Victor’s home to discuss the Danbury team. He went to discuss the plans for Danbury and solicit input from Victor. By the time Sorcher left, he not only had Victor’s full support but a business relationship as well. The Hartford club encourages its members to attend Danbury games and they also have a table at Danbury games where old Hartford merchandise is sold to benefit the club’s annual scholarship fund where a Connecticut high school senior is given a $1,000 scholarship for use at the college of their choice.
Sorcher and Game Operations Director Jerry Deno are also hoping to draw people in with promotional events. Their first big promotion was bringing actor Paul D’Amato to drop the ceremonial puck and sign autographs at an early November game. D’Amato may not be know to everyone but to hockey fans, he was Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken of the Syracuse Bulldogs from the iconic movie “SlapShot”. The mythical Bulldogs and the Charlestown Chiefs played in the Federal Hockey League where the game was secondary to the fights and craziness.
For his part, D’Amato said that he liked the “real” Federal Hockey League but noted that while the play is much cleaner, the retaliation was very similar. (It should be noted that in the game D’Amato attended, Danbury and Broome County combined for 119 penalty minutes.)
The hockey purists think that the game’s the thing and Danbury is certainly doing as good a job on the ice as off. The Whalers are 8-5-1 thru 14 games, good enough for second place in the FHL behind the red hot Akwesasne Warriors who are 13-3. The coaching staff of Firriolo assisted by Tom Westfall and Phil Esposito (no, not the NHL Hall of Famer) has done a great job thus far, drawing a “B” rating from Sorcher. Off the ice, Sorcher graded the team an “A”, especially in light of the efforts of the players in rescuing a car accident victim on I-84 while coming home from a game in Binghamton.
“It’s pretty amazing. We are really proud of them,” Sorcher said of the roadside rescue.
So beware all teams who enter the Danbury Ice Arena who look and see a sea of green and blue behind the bench in Section 102 for those seas will be an angry one, just like the one looking back on the ice. Contact the author at susan.erichsen@prohockeynews.com