HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Whalers' former owner is hoping to help Connecticut's capital city get back into the NHL.

For nearly 20 years, Howard Baldwin, the former owner of the Whalers, has been in Hollywood making movies. Now he wants to revive the state's favorite team.

PDF: NHL Hartford Season Ticket Deposit Form

Baldwin leads one of three groups of bidders hoping to run the Hartford Civic Center. Baldwin said if he wins the bid on the center, the Hartford Whalers would be the main attraction.

Baldwin said he wants to start with a minor league team named the Whalers and then work on catching the NHL's attention.

"We believe very strongly that the team we put together can bring this market back and get it humming again. If you get it humming again, anything can happen," Baldwin said.

Baldwin said that in his recent trips to Hartford, he's been impressed with how the vibrant the city has become and thinks that it could once again support a NHL hockey team.

"How many teams have been out of the market for 10 years and still have Web sites, still have a booster club with great people in it? You walk around the streets and see Whalers jerseys," Baldwin said.

Baldwin believes that 30 years after he first sold hockey to Hartford, he can do it again.

"I'm convinced it can happen," Baldwin said. "We just have to convince everybody else."

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