AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Big Holiday Crowd Highlights Three Game Week

November 30, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


A season-high 7,394 fans packed Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard to see the Sound Tigers rally and beat the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-1 this past Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. However, the home win was sandwiched between a pair of road losses as the Sound Tigers were beaten 3-2 by the Binghamton Senators Thursday and 4-2 by the Worcester IceCats Saturday. The Sound Tigers finished last week in fifth place in the East Division with 20 points and a 10-9 record, including 8-1 at home and 2-7 on the road.

THU NOV 25th at BIN, 3-2 L: Binghamton built a 3-0 lead in a wild first period that saw 68 penalty minutes called, including three game misconducts. DENIS HAMEL and CHRIS KELLY scored the first two goals for Binghamton, assisting on one another's tallies with JASON SPEZZA also assisting on both goals. CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT added the Senators' third goal. KEVIN COLLEY, in the second period, and ROB COLLINS, in the third, pulled the Sound Tigers to within 3-2 with a pair of power-play goals, but they could not tie the game. The Sound Tigers were 2 for 7 on the power play and outshot Binghamton 35-25. The Senators were 1 for 8 on the advantage.

FRI NOV 26th vs. HAR, 3-1 W: In the third meeting of the ten-game 2004-05 Geico Connecticut Cup, Hartford opened the scoring with a five-on-three, power-play goal by JAMIE LUNDMARK, but the Sound Tigers rallied with three goals in the third period. RICHARD SEELEY scored his first goal with the team, JUSTIN MAPLETOFT notched the game-winner and SEAN BERGENHEIM iced the win with an empty-netter. ROB COLLINS had two assists. WADE DUBIELEWICZ made 23 saves. The Sound Tigers outshot the Wolf Pack 28-24 and were 0 for 5 on the power play. Hartford was 1 for 4 on the advantage. The win was the Sound Tigers' AHL-best fourth, all of which have come at home, when trailing after two periods of play this season.

SAT NOV 27th at WOR, 4-2 L: DENNIS WIDEMAN and JON DiSALVATORE scored in the second period and MIKE STUART and JOHNNY POHL scored in the third period for Worcester. The Sound Tigers scored two third-period, power-play goals by JUSTIN MAPLETOFT and former IceCat JUSTIN PAPINEAU. The Sound Tigers were 2 for 4 on the power play, 4 for 4 on the penalty kill and posted their fifth straight shots on goal advantage at 24-22.

SOUND TIGERS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RW ROB COLLINS

Collins finished last week on a four-game point streak with two goals and three assists during the run following a two-game goal streak with a two-game assist streak. The Peterborough, Ontario native had one goal and three assists in last week's three games. He finished the week as the Sound Tigers' third-leading scorer on the season with four goals, seven assists and 11 points in 18 games. Collins has gotten some real bang for the buck scoring a power-play goal, a first goal and two game-winners, including one in overtime.

THIS WEEK – "Cool Fun 101" Kicks Off Home-Stand The Sound Tigers will open a four-game home-stand with three games at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard this week. They will host the Norfolk Admirals this Wednesday morning in the second-annual, educationally-themed "Cool Fun 101", the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this Friday and the Lowell Lock Monsters this Saturday.

WED DEC 1st vs. NOR, 11:05 a.m.: This will be the second of eight meetings of the teams this season, the second of four in Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers are 5-6 all-time, 1-0 this season, versus Norfolk who finished last week in second place in the East Division with 27 points and a 12-7-1-2 record, including 5-6-1-2 on the road and 5-3-1-1 in the last ten games. Wednesday morning's game will be the fifth of eight straight on the road for the Admirals.

FRI DEC 3rd vs. WIL, 7:35 p.m.: This will be the third of eight meetings of the teams this season, the second of four in Bridgeport. Including last spring's playoffs, 15 of the 19 all-time meetings have been one-goal games; a 16th ended in a tie. The Sound Tigers are 8-3-1 all-time, 1-1 with a home, overtime win this season, versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who finished last week tied with Binghamton for third place in the East Division with 24 points and a 9-5-4-2 record, including 3-3-3-1 on the road and 5-1-3-1 in the last ten games. The Penguins will visit the Philadelphia Phantoms this Wednesday night in the third game of four in a row on the road.

SAT DEC 4th vs. LOW, 7:05 p.m.: This will be the first of four meetings of the teams this season, the first of two in Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers are 6-3-1 all-time versus Lowell, including 2-1-1 with a loss and a tie at home last season. The Lock Monsters finished last week with two straight losses and in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 18 games and a record of 8-7-1-1, including 1-4-1-1 on the road. They will host Worcester this Tuesday and visit Hartford this Friday.

SOUND TIGERS TEAM LEADERS
Goals – SEAN BERGENHEIM, 8
Penalty Minutes – ERIC GODARD, 73
Assists – JUSTIN MAPLETOFT, 10
Wins – WADE DUBIELEWICZ, 6
Points – JUSTIN MAPLETOFT, 14
Goals Against Average – WADE DUBIELEWICZ, 2.27
Plus / Minus – BLAINE DOWN, +5
Save Percentage – WADE DUBIELEWICZ, .922

SOUND TIGERS SPECIAL TEAMS; AHL RANK
Power Play – 13 for 100, 13.0%; 21st
Shorthanded Goals Against – 1; t-4th


Penalty Kill – 110 for 131, 84.0%; 18th
Shorthanded Goal For – 1; t-19th

SOUND TIGERS STREAKS

The Sound Tigers have won five games in a row at home. • They have outshot the opposition in five straight games with a 153-128 overall advantage in that time. • RW ROB COLLINS (2,g3a) is on a two-game assist streak and a four-game point streak. • RW SEAN BERGENHEIM (1g,2a) is on a two-game assist and point streak. • C JUSTIN MAPLETOFT (GW,PP) is on a two-game goal streak.

SOUND TIGERS TRANSACTIONS

The Sound Tigers signed RW JOHN MORLANG to a professional tryout contract this past Friday. • D VINCE MACRI was assigned to the ECHL's Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies by the Islanders on October 12th.

"COOL FUN 101" THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING

The second-annual "Cool Fun 101" educationally-themed morning game will take place when Norfolk visits at 11:05 a.m. this Wednesday with half-price tickets for all students, as well as free admission for teachers and chaperones from schools that purchase in advance. All students who attend "Cool Fun 101" will also receive a workbook filled with creative lessons and activities, and there will be an essay contest. Information is available by calling 203-334-GOAL.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR & PROMOTIONAL NEWS

Sound Tigers Holiday Gift Packs are on sale now for just $39.95. The gift packs include four tickets to any home game, a puck autographed by a top Islanders prospects, a coupon for 20% off Sound Tigers and Islanders merchandise and a coupon for 20% off additional Sound Tigers tickets. • Steiner Sports will hold a silent auction of sports memorabilia at this weekend's games to raise money for "Swim Across the Sound". • This Friday will be "Shelton Family Fun Night" with special ticket prices for Shelton residents and employees of Shelton-based companies. • This Saturday will be "Trumbull Family Fun Night" with special ticket prices for Trumbull residents and employees of Trumbull-based companies. • The Sound Tigers will also hold their annual "Teddy Bear Toss" to benefit WICC's "Holiday Children's Fund" this Saturday. • The Sound Tigers will once again team with March of Dimes for the third-annual "Bowling For Babies" at Nutmeg Bowl in Fairfield this Sunday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Fans and/or groups interested in participating should call 203-334-GOAL. • The Port Jefferson Ferry offers a ticket and ferry-fare package, as well as special round-trip fares for Long Island fans who will be attending games in Bridgeport. On all Saturdays and Sundays that the Sound Tigers play at home, the last ferry will also wait until 10 p.m. or a half-hour after the end of the game, whichever is later, to depart for Long Island. Additional information is available by calling 631-473-5138 or logging on to www.bpjferry.com.

SOUND TIGERS ON AIR

All games are web cast live at www.soundtigers.com. Most games, including both of this upcoming weekend's contests, are also broadcast live on 600 WICC-AM.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

The Sound Tigers are scheduled to practice at the Rinks at Shelton this Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10 a.m. and at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard this Friday at 10 a.m.

Check out the Bridgeport Islanders Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from November 30, 2004


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