By Bruce Berlet

With all due respect to Frankie Valli and the Four Season, “Oh, what a day!”

Yes, a day to remember Saturday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford for the Whalers and their original and hopefully new owner Howard Baldwin, one of the first inductees into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame.

About 5,000 exuberant fans, 22 former Whalers players, Hockey Hall of Fame announcer Chuck Kaiton and longtime Whalers equipment man Skip Cunningham spent 61/2 hours celebrating, promoting and saying thanks during a larger-than-expected Whalers FanFest.

Baldwin, the former Whalers managing general partner and now CEO of Whalers Sports and Entertainment, had hoped at least 1,500 fans would show up in the first major test of his hope to revitalize the sport in the area and get another NHL team in Hartford.

Baldwin and the rest of the Whalers family were pleasantly surprised by the pouring of love for the former New England Whalers of the WHA and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League.

“This is the beginning of a new beginning,” Baldwin told boisterous fans after being inducted into the WHA Hall with the Gordie Howe family and Andre Lacroix. “Thank you for being so patient. This shows that, spiritually, the franchise never left. We’re here to stay, we’re going to do the Winter Fest (Feb. 11-20) and we’re going to do the summer event every year.”

Whalers Sports and Entertainment still has to officially become the new oversee of the off-ice activities of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, which could be announced next week. But the 5,000 on hand for the end of the weekend’s Whalers Reunion and FanFest, which also included a golf tournament and Arthritis Foundation Hat Trick Dinner on Friday, demonstrated that should be a no-brainer.

“It’s been a real eye-opening day,” former Whalers captain Kevin Dineen said.

“I’m overwhelmed with how many people showed up,” free-spirited left wing Paul Lawless said. “And my hand is fine except for the carpal tunnel syndrome that set in an hour ago.”

But that minor inconvenience and the slow-moving line were about the only glitches on a day when an estimated $25,000 was raised for the Whalers Wives Foundation.

The last person in the lengthy congo line was Steve D’Amico of Cooperstown, N.Y., who has been in Connecticut working at his girlfriend’s father’s accounting firm in Berlin. That prevented D’Amico from attending the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions two weeks ago, but now he stood mere feet from the first WHA Hall of Fame inductions.

D’Amica, who recently graduated from Ithaca College, arrived at 9 a.m. to work for one of the dozens of vendors at the FanFest, got in line at 1:45 p.m. and got his first autograph at 5 p.m.

“I hate to admit I had heard a little about the Whalers but really didn’t know anything about the team until I came here today,” D’Amico said with a sheepish smile. “But this has been amazing. I sure hope they get another team.”

So did the thousands who often chanted “Let’s Go Whalers” during the Hall of Fame introductions, which were made by Tim Gassen, the founder of the shrine from Indianapolis, Ind. The introductions included Colleen, the wife of Gordie and mother of Mark and Marty who died in March 2009. She earned entry because of the extensive off-ice work that she did for her family and the league, not to mention being one of the first female agents.

“This kind of turnout shows the Whalers belong in Hartford,” Gassen said.

Gassen then lauded the WHA Hall of Fame’s first of 46 inductees.

“Andre was what I consider the epitome of the perfect WHA player, averaging nearly a point a game while playing for six teams in seven years and doing so much charity work,” Gassen said. “The Howes helped put the WHA on the map, and that included Colleen, whom we’re so proud to include in this induction. Howard was the man who made all this possible, the man who helped bring about the merger (between the WHA and NHL), the man who is going to bring the Whalers back to the NHL.”

The last line drew the loudest roar of the day and chants of “Let’s Go Whalers,” “Let’s Go Howard,” “Let’s Go Gordie,” and “Let’s Go Andre.”

Gassen then received more applause when he said Hartford is among the leading contenders to be the permanent home of the WHA Hall of Fame. The other is Winnipeg, Manitoba, where Gassen will induct NHL Hall of Famer and brief Whalers left wing Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nillsson into the WHA Hall of Fame next Saturday. A week later, Andre Lacroix Day will be celebrated in Cleveland, where Lacroix now lives and runs an ice rink.

When told it might be nice to have a Hall of Fame home in Hartford AND Winnipeg, Gassen liked the idea. The New England Whalers won the first AVCO Cup in 1973, the Winnipeg Jets the last in 1979.

“We have lots of memorabilia, films and artifacts, and now all we need is a permanent facility,” said Gassen, who will talk to Baldwin Sunday about housing the Hall of Fame. “Hartford was the WHA’s most stable franchise, and Winnipeg is among the league’s proudest franchises. Maybe Hartford could be the eastern home with its trophy, if we can find it, and Winnipeg could be the western home with its trophy.

“We’d like to have something done as soon as possible, so hopefully I’ll be back in Hartford soon.”

That, too, would be greeted with applause, but it’s doubtful it would be as loud and long as Saturday. But it was only Step One. Many more steps need to be climbed, hopefully starting next week with the official word that Baldwin & Co. are taking over the off-ice Wolf Pack doings. Then it’s lots of support for the Winter Fest, which will include 20-25 outdoor games at The Rent.