The Hartford Wolf Pack is one of the oldest professional hockey organisations in existence, having existed since 1926 in the days of the CAHL (Canadian-American Hockey League). They were known then as the Providence Reds. The franchise survived the merging of the CAHL and the IHL (International Hockey League) in 1936, becoming part of the International American Hockey until they dropped the International in 1940 to become the AHL.
They rebranded to the Rhode Island Reds for one season in 1976-77 before folding. They were bought, and relocated to Binghamton to become the Binghamton Dusters, before affiliating themselves with the Hartford Whalers in 1980, becoming the Binghamton Whalers, and then, finally, entering into a partnership with the New York Rangers that continues to this day, becoming the Binghamton Rangers in 1990.
In 1997, the franchise moved to Hartford and rebranded as the Wolf Pack. In 2010, to honour the defunct Whalers, the team was renamed the Connecticut Whale. Only two and a half seasons later they would revert to the Hartford Wolf Pack, their current name.
Though the team does not acknowledge it’s history as the Reds, the Wolf Pack are the only AHL franchise to have never missed a season since the league’s founding in 1936. Along with the Abbotsford Canucks, they are the oldest minor league franchises in North America. The only professional franchises older than the Wolfpack are the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.
Despite their long history, the Wolf Pack have only won the Calder Cup once in their history, defeating the Rochester Americans in 1999-00. This year marked the end of a seven year playoff drought for the Wolf Pack.
This season, the Wolf Pack finished the season with a record of 35-26-4-7, fifth in the Atlantic Division. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual Calder Cup Champions, the Hershey Bears.
Their head coach is Kris Knoblauch, their GM is Ryan Martin, and they play out of the XL Center.
Notable former Wolf Pack include Ryan Borque, Al Montoya, Dan Girardi and JT Miller.