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Bullies Sign NHL and AHL Affiliation

September 9, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies Vice President and General Manager Dan Belisle is pleased to announce that the Bullies have reached an agreement with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League to be the club's ECHL affiliate for the 2004-05 season. The Bullies will work closely with New York and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, in player development.

"Today is a banner day for Atlantic City hockey and the continuation of what has already been a great relationship," said Belisle. "The New York Islanders and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers are not only both first class organizations, but they are winning organizations and that runs parallel to our philosophies and expectations." Belisle continued, "Our successful ties in the past with both the Islanders and Sound Tigers has made today's historic announcement possible, and we look forward to the work of continuing to develop players who have aspirations of one day playing in the National Hockey League.

New York Islanders General Manager Mike Milbury echoed Belisle's sentiments. "The Islanders and Sound Tigers are very pleased to have an affiliation with an ECHL team, especially a franchise as strong as Atlantic City," he said. "We're very comfortable working with the Boardwalk Bullies because the Sound Tigers have signed a few of their players over the last few seasons and seen them produce at the AHL level. We're looking forward to working with the organization."

As part of the agreement, the Bullies will be able to send select players to Bridgeport's upcoming training camp in October, and could receive AHL and NHL prospects over the course of the season. In their three-year history, despite working agreements with different NHL teams, the Bullies have never had an official affiliation.

During the 2003-04 season, four Bullies received promotions to Bridgeport, including forward Luke Curtin who made a significant impact with 1 goal and 6 points in 10 games for the Sound Tigers.

Born into the NHL on November 8, 1971, the New York Islanders captured four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships from 1980-1983, the last major professional franchise in any sport to win four championships in a row. When their run came to an end in the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals against Edmonton, George Vecsey of the New York Times labeled them as the "best sports team of this generation."

Like the Bullies, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers have created a winning tradition in their first three years of existence. The Sound Tigers advanced to the Calder Cup Finals in their inaugural season of 2001-02, and have sent over 30 players to the NHL, including Team USA goaltender Rick DiPietro.

Computer Associates founder Charles Wang currently owns both the Islanders and Sound Tigers.

To date, 22 ECHL teams have affiliations with 23 NHL teams.

Operation: 1,700 is now underway. The Bullies have set a goal to secure 1,700 season tickets between now and Opening Night 2004, October 29 against the Trenton Titans. IT'S TIME FOR ACTION! Season tickets start as low as $324 and are on sale now by calling a Bullies Customer Service Representative at (609) 348-PUCK.

For more information on the Bullies affiliation agreement, contact Dan Weiss at (609) 348-7809. For more information on South Jersey's only professional hockey team, visit www.boardwalkbullies.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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