2013–14 Bridgeport Sound Tigers season

2013–14 Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Division 5th Northeast Division
Conference 14th Eastern Conference
2013–14 record 3–5–1–0 (5 pts)
Home record 2–3–0–1
Road record 1–1–0–0
Goals for 22
Goals against 31
Team information
General Manager Garth Snow
Coach Scott Pellerin
Assistant Coach Eric Boguniecki
Doug Holewa
Captain Chris Bruton
Alternate captains Calvin de Haan
Aaron Ness
Arena Webster Bank Arena
Team leaders
Goals Mike Halmo (4)
Assists Ryan Strome (10)
Points Ryan Strome (13)
Penalties in minutes Brett Gallant (37)
Plus/minus (+) Mike Halmo (+3)
(–) Dallas Jackson (–7)
(–) Aaron Ness (–7)
(–) Johan Sundstrom (–7)
Wins Anders Nilsson (2)
Goals against average Kenny Reiter (3.45)
< 2012–13 2014–15 >

The 2013–14 Bridgeport Sound Tigers season is the franchise's 13th season in the American Hockey League, which began on October 5, 2013. The team saw a great deal of turnover in the off-season, and started the season without an AHL veteran for the first time in their history.

Off-season

Speculation grew during the off season that the Sound Tigers would leave Bridgeport after the 2013-14 season. Bruce Ratner, who bought the rights for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, publicly stated that he expected the team to relocate to Nassau after their parent company, the New York Islanders, leave for the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Sound Tigers president Howard Saffan denied those claims, stating the team has a contractual agreement to remain in Bridgeport.[1]

The Sound Tigers saw several departures during the off-season, including former team captain Matt Watkins, Sean Backman, Jon Landry, Nathan McIver, Ty Wishart,[2] Brandon DeFazio,[3] Jordan Hill,[4] Blair Riley,[5] Nino Niederreiter,[6] and Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro, who ended his 2012-13 season with Bridgeport.[7] Brock Nelson and Matt Donovan were both transferred from Bridgeport to the Islanders.[8] New off-season additions to the Sound Tigers included goaltenders Parker Milner and Kenny Reiter; forwards Justin Johnson,[9] Chris Bruton, Alan Quine[2] Ben Rosen, Nick Larson;[10] Greg Miller and Riley Wetmore; and defensemen Mike Dalhuisen,[11] Mathieu Coderre-Gagnon, Sean Escobedo, Dallas Jackson and Mike Keenan.[9][12] Despite the signings, for the first time in their history Bridgeport was left without an official American Hockey League veteran on their roster, meaning one who played at least 260 games at AHL level or higher. At age 32, Johnson was the only player older than 26, and the only one to have played more than 200 professional games. Coach Scott Pellerin said he hoped to use the team's youthful energy to their advantage.[2]

Regular season

October

Starting the season with five straight home games,[13] the Sound Tigers lost their October 5 season opener against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5–2 after allowing three unanswered goals.[14] Bridgeport scored their first victory the next day with a 4–3 victory, with Ryan Strome and John Persson scoring in a six-round shootout.[15] Kirill Kabanov, who scored a power play goal in the season opener, was sent to ECHL's Stockton Thunder on October 8. Officials said it was to give him more ice time, but the Connecticut Post said he was consistently late for team meetings.[16] The Sound Tigers lost their next four games, and fell into a scoreless streak that lasted 145:04 until Johan Sundstrom scored on October 13 during a 3–1 loss to the Springfield Falcons on October 13.[17] Bridgeport was left with a 0-for-18 power play streak, including a failure to score on 11 attempts against Manchester, a team record for unsuccessful power plays in a single game.[18]

Over the season's first four games, the Sound Tigers had scored only two power play goals in 29 chances, and surrendered their opponent three short-handed goals during those chances. Larson was called up from the Stockton Thunder after Bruton was briefly taken off the active roster due to an upper-body injury,[19] while Dalhuisen and Keenan were sent down to the ECHL team.[20] Bridgeport put up their highest goal tally of the season to date in a 6–5 overtime loss to the Binghamton Senators on October 20, with Persson scoring two goals, including one on a power play.[21] After also lost their last two games of the month.[22][23] By the end of October, Bridgeport had been outscored 30–15, had the league's worst power play scoring record at 8.5 percent, and ranked 28th out of 30 on the penalty kill with a 73.7 percent success rate.[24]

November

Bridgeport began the month with a dominating 7–1 victory over the Worcester Sharks on November 7, their first regulation win. Strome scored two goals and three assists, making him the fourth Sound Tiger to score five points in a single game. Winger Mike Halmo scored two goals and two assists, and the team scored four power play goals, matching their combined total in the season's first seven games.[25] The Sound Tigers also defeated the Norfolk Admirals 4–3 the next day in a shootout after Halmo tied the game with 4:06 left in regulation. Strome and Persson scored in the shootout, while Nilsson stopped all four Norfolk shots.[26]

Standings

Divisional standings

    		Northeast Division[27] GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
    1 Springfield Falcons (CBJ) 14 10 3 0 1 21 38 32
    2 Albany Devils (NJ) 17 10 6 0 1 21 44 39
    3 Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) 17 8 7 0 2 18 48 58
    4 Adirondack Phantoms (PHI) 15 7 6 0 2 16 36 38
    5 Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) 14 4 8 1 1 10 36 51

    After games of November 20, 2013

    Conference standings

      		Eastern Conference[28] Div GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA
      1 *y– Manchester Monarchs (LAK) AT 76 48 19 3 6 105 244 188
      2 *y– Springfield Falcons (CBJ) NE 76 47 23 1 5 100 247 212
      3 *y– Binghamton Senators (OTT) ET 76 44 24 3 5 96 276 232
      4 x– St. John's IceCaps (WPG) AT 76 46 23 2 5 99 258 207
      5 x– Albany Devils (NJD) NE 76 40 23 5 8 93 220 193
      6 x– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) ET 76 42 26 3 5 92 206 185
      7 x– Providence Bruins (BOS) AT 76 40 25 2 9 91 233 210
      8 x– Norfolk Admirals (ANA) ET 76 40 26 3 7 90 201 192
      9 e– Hershey Bears (WSH) ET 76 39 27 5 5 88 221 213
      10 e– Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR) NE 76 37 32 1 6 81 202 220
      11 e– Worcester Sharks (SJS) AT 76 36 34 4 2 78 189 226
      12 e– Syracuse Crunch (TBL) ET 76 31 32 4 9 75 198 232
      13 e– Adirondack Phantoms (PHI) NE 76 30 38 2 6 68 182 225
      14 e– Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) NE 76 28 40 2 6 64 183 238
      15 e– Portland Pirates (PHX) AT 76 24 39 3 10 61 222 284

      * = Division leaders are seeded 1, 2, and 3 in Conference standings.
      The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.
       y–  indicates team has clinched division and a playoff spot
       x–  indicates team has clinched a playoff spot
       e–  indicates team has been eliminated from playoff contention

      Schedule and results

      2013–14 Game Log – Regular season
      November: 2–0–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0–0 ; Road: 1–0–0–0)
      # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet
      8 November 1 Bridgeport 7–1 Worcester Nilsson 2,424 2–5–1–0 5 Gamesheet
      9 November 2 Norfolk 3–4 Bridgeport SO Nilsson 3,820 3–5–1–0 7 Gamesheet
      10 November 5 Albany Bridgeport
      11 November 9 Bridgeport Hershey
      12 November 10 Adirondack Bridgeport
      13 November 11 Bridgeport Albany
      14 November 15 Bridgeport Springfield
      15 November 16 Hartford Bridgeport
      16 November 22 Bridgeport Providence
      17 November 23 Bridgeport Worcester
      18 November 24 St. John's Bridgeport
      19 November 29 Hartford Bridgeport
      20 November 30 Bridgeport Albany

      Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1-point)

      Player statistics

      Skaters

      Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
      Updated as of October 27, 2013[29]

      Regular Season
      Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
      Strome, RyanRyan Strome* 6 1 5 6 −2 4
      Sundstrom, JohanJohan Sundstrom 6 2 2 4 −5 2
      Pedan, AndreyAndrey Pedan* 4 1 3 4 0 2
      Persson, JohnJohn Persson 6 2 1 3 −2 15
      Lee, AndersAnders Lee* 6 1 2 3 −3 4
      Halmo, MikeMike Halmo 5 1 1 2 0 6
      Wetmore, RileyRiley Wetmore* 6 1 1 2 −1 4
      Kabanov, KirillKirill Kabanov‡ 2 1 0 1 −2 0
      Diamond, JoeJoe Diamond* 6 1 0 1 −1 13
      Nelson, BrockBrock Nelson‡ 1 0 1 1 2 2
      Finley, JoeJoe Finley 5 0 1 1 2 14
      Jackson, DallasDallas Jackson 6 0 1 1 −6 6
      Ness, AaronAaron Ness 6 0 1 1 −7 6
      Larson, NickNick Larson* 1 0 0 0 0 0
      Gallant, BrettBrett Gallant 2 0 0 0 0 10
      Cantin, MarcMarc Cantin 3 0 0 0 −3 6
      Bruton, ChrisChris Bruton 4 0 0 0 0 12
      Quine, AlanAlan Quine* 4 0 0 0 −4 0
      Miller, GregGreg Miller* 5 0 0 0 −3 0
      Clark, JasonJason Clark* 6 0 0 0 −2 4
      de Haan, CalvinCalvin de Haan 6 0 0 0 −2 0
      Johnson, JustinJustin Johnson 6 0 0 0 0 0
      Mayfield, ScottScott Mayfield* 6 0 0 0 −1 6

      †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining team. Stats reflect time with the team only.
      ‡Left the team mid-season
      *Rookie

      Goaltenders

      Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time on Ice; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SV = Saves; SA = Shots Against; SV% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalty Minutes
      Updated as of October 27, 2013[30]

      Regular Season
      Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SV SA SV% SO G A PIM
      Reiter, KennyKenny Reiter 3 131:11 0 2 6 2.74 45 51 .882 0 0 0 0
      Nilsson, AndersAnders Nilsson 5 236:45 1 3 18 4.56 105 123 .854 0 0 0 0
      Totals 367:56 1 5 24 3.91 150 174 .862 0 0 0 0

      ‡Left the team mid-season
      *Rookie

      Milestones

      Player Milestone Reached
      Nick Larson 1st AHL Goal
      1st AHL Assist       		November 1, 2013[25]

      References

      1. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (August 17, 2013). "Sound Tigers' future may be at Nassau Coliseum". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
      2. 1 2 3 Fornabaio, Michael (October 5, 2013). "Young Sound Tigers open AHL season tonight". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      3. ↑ "DeFazio, Grenier added to Comets' roster". Observer-Dispatch. September 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      4. ↑ McCarthy, Brendan (September 23, 2013). "IceCaps training camp set to get underway". The Telegram. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
      5. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (July 11, 2013). "Mature Lee ready to help Islanders, Sound Tigers". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
      6. ↑ Compton, Brian (September 24, 2013). "30 in 15: Wild raised the bar with playoff appearance". National Hockey League. Archived from = 683762 the original Check |url= scheme (help) on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      7. ↑ Fornabio, Michael (July 1, 2013). "Islanders to put DiPietro on waivers". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
      8. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 2, 2013). "Having shaken mystery illness, Nilsson feeling better than ever". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      9. 1 2 Fornabaio, Michael (August 3, 2013). "Sound Tigers signed experienced right winger". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
      10. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael. "Camp, Day 0 (again): Five tryouts". Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
      11. ↑ "Sound Tigers Sign Three for 2013-14". Bridgeport Sound Tigers. April 19, 2013. Archived from = YES&DB_OEM_ID = 22700&ATCLID = 207322760 the original Check |url= scheme (help) on September 23, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
      12. ↑ Fornabio, Michael (June 4, 2013). "Sound Tigers sign 3 to one-year contracts". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
      13. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 4, 2013). "Sound Tigers have high hopes for Strome-Lee duo". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      14. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 6, 2013). "Penguins open campaign with victory". The Sunday Dispatch. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
      15. ↑ "Bridgeport beats Norfolk in shootout". WAVY-TV. October 7, 2013. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
      16. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 8, 2013). "Kabanov demoted to Sound Tigers to ECHL's Stockton". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
      17. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 13, 2013). "(Team) at Bridgeport (repeat)". Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
      18. ↑ Fornabio, Michael (October 12, 2013). "Sound Tigers, feeling powerless, fall to Monarchs". Fairfield Citizen-News. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
      19. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 17, 2013). "Small sample, but Sound Tigers failing on power play". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
      20. ↑ Linesburgh, Scott (October 17, 2013). "Thunder turns to veteran captains for leadership". Recordnet.com. Archived from = /20131017/A_SPORTS/310170334 the original Check |url= scheme (help) on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
      21. ↑ "B-Sens ride Powerplay to OT win". WICZ-TV. October 20, 2013. Archived from = 30204 the original Check |url= scheme (help) on October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
      22. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (October 26, 2013). "Sound Tigers shut out by Crunch in first road game". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
      23. ↑ "Wolf Pack Dominates 3rd Period, Beat Sound Tigers". Hartford Courant. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
      24. ↑ "Game day: Sound Tigers at Worcester Sharks". Connecticut Post. October 31, 2013. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
      25. 1 2 Fornabaio, Michael (November 2, 2013). "Sound Tigers put it all together, whip Sharks". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
      26. ↑ Fornabaio, Michael (November 3, 2013). "Sound Tigers take 'character win' over Admirals". Connecticut Post. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
      27. ↑ "2013–14 Regular Season – Division". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
      28. ↑ "2013–14 Regular Season – Conference". American Hockey League. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
      29. ↑ "Skaters – 2013–2014 Regular Season – Bridgeport Sound Tigers". American Hockey League. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
      30. ↑ "Goalies – 2013–14 Regular Season – Bridgeport Sound Tigers". American Hockey League. Retrieved October 27, 2013.

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