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Bridgeport Islanders

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Bridgeport Islanders
CityBridgeport, Connecticut
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionAtlantic
Founded2001
Home arenaTotal Mortgage Arena
ColorsBlue, orange, white[1]
     
Owner(s)Jon Ledecky
General managerChris Lamoriello[2]
Head coachRick Kowalsky
CaptainSeth Helgeson
MediaConnecticut Post
MSG Network
News Radio WPOP (1410 AM)
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliatesNew York Islanders (NHL)
Worcester Railers (ECHL)
Franchise history
2001–2021Bridgeport Sound Tigers
2021–presentBridgeport Islanders
Championships
Regular season titles1 (2001–02)
Division titles2 (2001–02, 2011–12)
Conference titles1 (2001–02)
Calder Cups0
Current uniform
Current season

The Bridgeport Islanders are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the franchise. The team started in 2001–02 season and were purchased by the Islanders in 2004. The team is based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and play their home games at the Total Mortgage Arena.

History

See also: Professional ice hockey in Connecticut
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers logo, used from 2001 to 2021
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers logo, used from 2001 to 2021

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers joined the American Hockey League as an expansion franchise in 2001 and were coached by Steve Stirling. The team's name referenced both the Long Island Sound where Bridgeport lies, and the circuses of former resident P. T. Barnum, with the Sound Tigers identity being unveiled at the Barnum Museum.[3] In their inaugural season, the team won their division and had the best regular season record to win the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy. In the playoffs, they won Eastern Conference championship and the Richard F. Canning Trophy to advance to the Calder Cup finals against the Chicago Wolves. They lost the series four games-to-one.[4]

In their second season, the team finished second in their division and the fifth conference seed in the playoffs. They advanced to the conference semifinals where they lost to their division champion Binghamton Senators in six games. Stirling was promoted to head coaching position with the New York Islanders and was replaced by Greg Cronin for 2003–04. As the Sound Tigers, the team then had limited success, missing the playoffs ten times and not winning a playoff round since their second season.

On May 10, 2021, it was announced that the team would change its name to the Bridgeport Islanders beginning with the 2021–22 season.[1]

Team identity

Mascot

The lone mascot of the Sound Tigers is a anthropomorphic blue tiger named Storm. He appears at home games sporting a jersey with the number 01 (short for the year the team was founded). While Storm can usually be found exciting fans throughout the arena, he skates on the ice during periodic intermissions. Storm's appearance has changed since the team's inaugural season. Storm has weathered the storm since the clubs change to the Islanders monicker and is a regular at home games.

Rivalries

The main (and instate) rival of the Islanders are the Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers (the main rival of the Bridgeport Islanders' parent club, the New York Islanders). The games have become known as the Battle of Connecticut. They have formed a rivalry with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate, and the Providence Bruins, the Boston Bruins' AHL affiliate, largely due to the teams frequently facing off in playoff match-ups and regular season play. They also are semi-rivals with the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals' AHL affiliate.

Season-by-season results

Regular season Playoffs
Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points PCT Goals
for 		Goals
against 		Standing Year Qual Round 1st
round 		2nd
round 		3rd
round 		Finals
2001–02 80 43 25 8 4 — 98 .613 240 192 1st, East 2002 — W, 3–1, MAN W, 4–0 SJM W, 4–3, HAM L, 1–4, CHI
2002–03 80 40 26 11 3 — 94 .588 219 198 2nd, East 2003 — W, 3–0, MAN L, 2–4, BNG — —
2003–04 80 41 23 12 4 — 98 .613 178 140 2nd, East 2004 — L, 3–4, WBS — — —
2004–05 80 37 38 — 1 4 79 .494 192 222 6th, East 2005 Did not qualify
2005–06 80 38 33 — 6 3 85 .531 246 253 4th, East 2006 N/A L, 3–4, WBS — — —
2006–07 80 36 37 — 1 6 79 .494 229 267 5th, East 2007 Did not qualify
2007–08 80 40 36 — 1 3 84 .525 225 240 5th, East 2008 Did not qualify
2008–09 80 49 23 — 3 5 106 .663 241 212 2nd, East 2009 N/A L, 1–4, WBS — — —
2009–10 80 38 32 — 4 6 86 .538 201 220 5th, Atlantic 2010 N/A L, 1–4, HER — — —
2010–11 80 30 39 — 4 7 67 .444 209 256 7th, Atlantic 2011 Did not qualify
2011–12 76 41 26 — 3 6 91 .599 233 219 1st, Northeast 2012 N/A L, 0–3, CON — — —
2012–13 76 32 32 — 7 5 76 .449 218 242 3rd, Northeast 2013 Did not qualify
2013–14 76 28 40 — 2 6 64 .421 183 238 5th, Northeast 2014 Did not qualify
2014–15 76 28 40 — 7 1 64 .421 213 246 5th, Northeast 2015 Did not qualify
2015–16 76 40 29 — 4 3 87 .572 209 220 5th, Atlantic 2016 N/A L, 0–3, TOR — — —
2016–17 76 44 28 — 3 1 92 .605 220 212 5th, Atlantic 2017 Did not qualify
2017–18 76 36 32 — 5 3 80 .526 206 214 5th, Atlantic 2018 Did not qualify
2018–19 76 43 24 — 6 3 95 .625 233 228 2nd, Atlantic 2019 N/A L, 2–3, HER — — —
2019–20 63 23 33 — 5 2 53 .421 152 206 8th, Atlantic 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 24 8 14 — 2 0 18 .375 59 81 3rd, Atlantic 2021 No playoffs
2021–22 72 31 30 — 7 4 73 .507 213 226 6th, Atlantic 2022 W, 2–0, PRO L, 1–3, CLT — — —
2022–23 72 34 30 — 7 1 76 .528 238 248 7th, Atlantic 2023 Did not qualify

Players

Current roster

Updated March 24, 2024.[5]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
39 Canada Ken Appleby G L 29 2021 North Bay, Ontario Islanders
15 Canada Samuel Asselin C L 26 2023 Repentigny, Quebec Bridgeport
21 United States Cole Bardreau (A) C R 31 2019 Fairport, New York Bridgeport
4 Canada Dennis Cholowski D L 26 2022 Langley, British Columbia Islanders
28 Canada William Dufour RW R 22 2022 Quebec, Quebec Islanders
27 United States Aidan Fulp D R 24 2023 Westfield, Indiana Islanders
16 Canada Julien Gauthier RW R 27 2024 Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec Islanders
2 United States Seth Helgeson (C) D L 34 2017 Faribault, Minnesota Bridgeport
7 United States Grant Hutton D R 29 2019 Carmel, Indiana Islanders
17 Russia Ruslan Iskhakov C L 24 2022 Moscow, Russia Islanders
38 United States Alex Jefferies (ATO) LW R 23 2024 Framingham, Massachusetts Bridgeport
12 Finland Otto Koivula LW L 26 2018 Nokia, Finland Islanders
41 United States Matt Kopperud (ATO) F L 25 2024 Denver, Colorado Bridgeport
36 United States Jeff Kubiak (A) C L 30 2017 Tinley Park, Illinois Bridgeport
25 Canada Daylan Kuefler LW L 22 2023 Red Deer, Alberta Islanders
24 United States Karson Kuhlman C R 29 2023 Esko, Minnesota Islanders
8 United States Paul LaDue D R 32 2021 Grand Forks, North Dakota Islanders
26 Finland Eetu Liukas LW L 22 2023 Turku, Finland Islanders
18 Canada Matthew Maggio RW R 21 2023 Windsor, Ontario Islanders
20 United States Travis Mitchell D L 24 2023 South Lyon, Michigan Islanders
33 Canada Reece Newkirk C L 23 2021 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Islanders
14 United States Brian Pinho C R 29 2023 Beverly, Massachusetts Islanders
3 Finland Robin Salo D L 26 2021 Espoo, Finland Islanders
6 Canada Vincent Sevigny D L 23 2022 Quebec, Quebec Bridgeport
1 Czech Republic Jakub Skarek G L 25 2019 Jihlava, Czech Republic Islanders
29 United States Tyce Thompson F R 24 2023 Oyster Bay, New York Islanders
11 Canada Carsen Twarynski LW L 26 2024 Calgary, Alberta Bridgeport

Team captains

Notes
  • ^1 There were three captains for the 2004–05 season: Aldridge named on Oct. 16, 2004, Seeley named on Nov. 6, 2004, and Campbell named on Mar. 16, 2005
  • ^2 There were two captains for the 2012–13 season: McDonald named on Dec. 7, 2012, and Watkins named on Feb. 22, 2013.
  • ^3 There were two captains for the 2018–19 season: when Ben Holmstrom played, he wore the "C" on his sweater. When Holmstrom did not play, Kyle Burroughs wore the "C".

Notable alumni

The following players have played both 100 games in Bridgeport and 100 games in the National Hockey League:

Team records

Single season
Goals: Jeff Hamilton, 43, (2003–04)
Assists: Rob Collins, 48, (2005–06)
Points: Jeff Tambellini, 76, (2007–08)
Penalty minutes: Eric Godard, 295, (2004–05)
GAA: Wade Dubielewicz, 1.38, (2003–04)[C]
SV%: Wade Dubielewicz, .946, (2003–04)[C]
^ C. AHL Records
Career
Career goals: Jeff Hamilton, 89
Career assists: Jeremy Colliton, 126
Career points: Jeremy Colliton, 203
Career penalty minutes: Brett Gallant, 857
Career goaltending wins: Wade Dubielewicz, 81
Career shutouts: Wade Dubielewicz, 15
Career games: Mark Wotton, 368

References

  1. ^ a b "Bridgeport reboots as the Islanders". American Hockey League (Press release). May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021. The new Bridgeport Islanders logo features an iconic mark for the team's future. The strong letter "B" recognizes the great city of Bridgeport. The stick which forms the letter "B" has the parent Islanders "NY" logo as the tape on the blade, a subtle nod to the affiliation between the two clubs. The iconic Islanders blue and orange colors remain the same.
  2. ^ Fornabaio, Michael (May 22, 2018). "Lamoriello takes over Islanders' hockey operations". Connecticut Post. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  3. ^ TWENTY YEARS OF SOUND TIGERS, Bridgeport Islanders
  4. ^ Clinton, Jared (September 10, 2015). "AHL Logo Ranking: No. 7 - Bridgeport Sound Tigers". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  5. ^ "Bridgeport Islanders Roster". Bridgeport Islanders. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
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