Bridgeport Islanders

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==
thumb|150px| logo 2005-2010
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.TWENTY YEARS OF SOUND TIGERS, Bridgeport Islanders 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.
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.https://theahl.com/bridgeport-reboots-islanders
==Team information==
===Mascot===
The lone mascot of the Sound Tigers is named Storm. Storm is an anthropomorphic blue tiger. He appears at home games sporting a white home jersey with the number 01. 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.
===Rivalry===
The main (and instate) rival of the Sound Tigers are the Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers (the main rival of the Sound Tigers’ parent club, the New York Islanders). The games have become known as the Battle of Connecticut. They also have a very good rivalry with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL affiliate. This is due largely to the fact that Bridgeport and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are frequent playoff match-ups. They also are semi-rivals with the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate.
==Season-by-season results ==
Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Playoffs	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs 	Playoffs
Season 	Games 	Won 	Lost 	Tied 	OTL 	SOL 	Points 	PCT 	Goalsfor 	Goalsagainst 	Standing 	Year 	Qual Round 	1stround 	2ndround 	3rdround 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2007–08 	80 	40 	36 	— 	1 	3 	84 	.525 	225 	240 	5th, East 	2008 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2013–14 	76 	28 	40 	— 	2 	6 	64 	.421 	183 	238 	5th, Northeast	2014 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2014–15 	76 	28 	40 	— 	7 	1 	64 	.421 	213 	246 	5th, Northeast	2015 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2017–18 	76 	36 	32 	— 	5 	3 	80 	.526 	206 	214 	5th, Atlantic 	2018 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 	24 	8 	14 	— 	2 	0 	18 	.375 	59 	81 	3rd, Atlantic 	2021 	No playoffs 	No playoffs 	No playoffs 	No playoffs 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2023–24 	72 	25 	38 	— 	7 	2 	59 	.410 	162 	222 	8th, Atlantic 	2024 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
==Players==
===Current roster===
Updated April 23, 2024.
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===Team captains===
*Alan Letang, 2003–04
*Keith Aldridge, 2004–05 
*Richard Seeley, 2004–05 
*Ed Campbell, 2005
*Kevin Colley, 2005–06
*Mark Wotton, 2006–11
*Jeremy Colliton, 2011–12
*Colin McDonald, 2012–13
*Matt Watkins 2013
*Chris Bruton, 2013–14
*Aaron Ness, 2014–15
*Ben Holmstrom, 2015–19
*Kyle Burroughs, 2018–20
*Seth Helgeson, 2021–
;Notes
* 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
* There were two captains for the 2012–13 season: McDonald named on Dec. 7, 2012, and Watkins named on Feb. 22, 2013.
* 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:
*Sebastian Aho
*Andy Andreoff
*Sean Bergenheim
*Steve Bernier
*Kyle Burroughs
*Blake Comeau
*Michael Dal Colle
*Rick DiPietro
*Bruno Gervais
*Eric Godard
*Ben Guite
*Micheal Haley
*Jeff Hamilton
*Trent Hunter
*Jesse Joensuu
*Ross Johnston
*Andrew MacDonald
*Scott Mayfield
*Colin McDonald
*Frans Nielsen
*Adam Pelech
*Ryan Pulock
*Alan Quine
*Trevor Smith
*Jeff Tambellini
*Chris Terry
*Devon Toews
*Raffi Torres
==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)
:SV%: Wade Dubielewicz, .946, (2003–04)
: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==
==External links==
*Official website
Category:American Hockey League team
Category:Ice hockey teams in Connecticut
Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 2001
Category:American Hockey League teams
Category:Ice hockey in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Category:New York Islanders minor league affiliates