SHU Alumnus Writes Book on Hartford Whalers
The team is gone, but Pat Pickens finds fans still love it
Sacred Heart University alumnus Pat Pickens ’07 explores the love Connecticut fans still hold for the state’s former hockey team in his new book, The Whalers: The Rise, Fall and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise. Pickens spent 10 years researching and writing the book, which was published in October.
The book tells the story of the Hartford Whalers, the popularity of which grew in the 1980s. It delves into the team’s dynamic, state residents’ fascination with the team and much more.
While the Whalers disbanded and left Hartford in 1997, Connecticut residents still don jerseys and hats with the blue and green W logo. People can be heard chanting “Hartford Whalers” at sporting events and concerts and remain loyal to a team that hasn’t existed in more than two decades.
“The book is definitely geared toward hockey people and fans of the Whalers, or people intrigued by the Whalers,” Pickens said. “But I also think people who don’t know a lot about sports or hockey will find it interesting. It’s hard not to be fascinated by a team that refuses to die.”
Before Pickens wrote his book, he was just a guy interested in writing and reporting about sports. He came to SHU for its great media arts program, and because he wanted to attend a small school. “I didn’t want to get swallowed up,” Pickens said. “SHU really was the perfect place for what I wanted to do. It really set me up for what I’ve been able to do throughout my career.”
At Sacred Heart, Pickens wasted no time before getting involved as student manager of the football team―a post he held for four years. “I just wanted to be around sports,” said Pickens, who grew up playing football but knew he couldn’t play at the college level. Managing the team enabled him to be part of SHU’s athletic family.
During his junior year, he started writing for the University’s student newspaper, The Spectrum. “I grew up reading the news, and I always wanted to cover sports,” Pickens said. “I really fell in love with newspaper writing.” In his junior year at SHU, Pickens covered the Spectrum’s hockey beat, reporting on the games and getting to know the players and coaches. He also developed a sports column for the paper his senior year.
In 2008, Pickens joined the Fairfield Citizen newspaper as sports editor, a job he held for more than five years. He covered high school sports and learned everything about the town’s teams. Yet, while he enjoyed the job, he didn’t want to be pigeonholed into covering high school sports for the rest of his career.
While searching for new opportunities, Pickens was talking one evening with a friend about what they wanted to do professionally. He realized he really would love to write a book. When he pondered the idea more, he thought about the Whalers’ story. “I sat on the idea for a while,” Pickens said.
After leaving the Fairfield Citizen in 2013, Pickens started doing freelance work. He reached out to The New York Times to ask about covering hockey. To his delight, he got the go-ahead to write hockey articles for the prestigious paper.
“I was covering the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers and the Islanders,” Pickens said. “It was a whirlwind time … there were a lot of late nights, and I didn’t sleep much. I would work until 2 a.m. covering games, get a little sleep and then get up to cover practice.”
At the time, he also was trying to gain momentum on his book idea by making contacts in the hockey world and conducting interviews.
He credits his freelancing with The New York Times, and the networking it provided, for his ability to meet and talk to people connected to the Whalers. He started to realize how much people in Connecticut were still fascinated by the team that had disbanded so long ago, and he talked to former players who recommended other players he should contact. With that, his writing flowed.
As his work on the book continued, however, his freelancing career became unmanageable. “It’s a hard way to live,” Pickens said. Therefore, he was thrilled in 2016 when he joined the workforce at NHL.com, an online resource for all things hockey.
Pickens continues to credit Sacred Heart for contributing to his success. “Had I not gone to SHU, a school in Connecticut, I don’t think I would have learned about the Whalers and what the team still means to Connecticut residents. I owe SHU a lot,” he said.
Sacred Heart professors in the School of Communication, Media & the Arts (SCMA) appreciate how Pickens has given back to the University by speaking to students with similar career goals.
“We are tremendously proud of our alumni in communication and media, and Pat Pickens is an alumnus that has achieved professional success and remained connected to Sacred Heart University,” said Andrew Miller, associate professor in the SCMA. “His work on The Whalers reflects the inquisitive mind and attention to detail that was evident when Pat was an undergraduate at SHU. It brings together his extensive experience covering hockey with his well-earned knowledge of Connecticut sporting culture, and we look forward to bringing him back to campus.”
“Pat took several courses in our program, most memorably sports media, about 15 years ago,” said Josh Shuart, a business professor who teaches courses such as sports marketing and sports media, and who shares Pickens’s love for the Whalers. “Pat has since returned to that class about a half-dozen times to assist with press releases and a game summary project. He acts as judge and mentor to the students in the class, and his on-the-job expertise is greatly appreciated. He came in while he was writing for the Fairfield Citizen, NHL.com and, most recently, immediately after the release of his book. We are looking forward to hosting him again in 2022 with the SCMA program as he continues to promote his book.”
Pickens, 36, resides in Jersey City, NJ, with his wife, Krystle, and two children, Eleanor and Harris.
The Whalers is printed by Lyons Press in Guilford, CT and can be purchased on Amazon.