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AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Sound Tigers Head Into Playoffs On Four Game Win Streak

April 7, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


The Sound Tigers finished the 2002-03 regular season on a four-game winning streak. They beat the AHL's Regular Season Champion Hamilton Bulldogs 6-0 at home Wednesday and the Albany Rats 5-2 at home Friday, as well as the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-1 on the road Saturday and 2-1 at home in overtime Sunday. Sunday's win was the Sound Tigers' 40th of the season. They finished the regular season in second place in the East Division and fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 94 points and a 40-26-11-3 record including 24-10-4-2 at home, 16-16-7-1 on the road and 5-4-1-0 in their last ten games.

WED APR 2nd vs. HAM, 6-0 W: DANIEL TKACZUK, two goals and an assist, and JEREMY ADDUONO, one goal and two assists, had three points apiece, TRENT HUNTER and JUSTIN MAPLETOFT had a goal and an assist apiece, JEFF HAMILTON scored one goal, and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season. The Sound Tigers were 2 for 4 on the power play, 2 for 2 on the penalty kill and won despite being outshot 32-25.

FRI APR 4th vs. ALB, 5-2 W: JEFF HAMILTON scored two goals and assisted on another, TRENT HUNTER notched two goals, JEREMY ADDUONO had two assists, DANIEL TKACZUK had a goal and an assist, and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 28 saves as the Sound Tigers outshot Albany 31-30 and were 1 for 5 on the power play. The River Rats were 1 for 6 on the advantage.

SAT APR 5th at HFD, 3-1 W: MARTIN CHABADA scored 1:15 into the game, and MIKE SOUZA and JEREMY ADDUONO scored 1:29 apart mid-way through the opening frame. Six different Sound Tigers notched assists. SCOTT STIRLING, who was pulled during an 8-0 loss in Hartford six days earlier, made 36 saves for the Sound Tigers who were 0 for 4 on the power play. The Wolf Pack were 0 for 1 on the advantage and outshot the Sound Tigers 37-36.

SUN APR 6th vs. HFD, 2-1 OTW: Finishing the regular season at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard in the second game of a home-and-home series with the Hartford Wolf Pack for the second year in a row, the Sound Tigers broke a scoreless tie 9:00 into third period on a goal by JEREMY ADDUONO. Hartford's NILS EKMAN tied the game with a power-play goal with 3:01 remaining in regulation, but SVEN BUTENSCHON scored :51 into overtime. TRENT HUNTER had two assists, and STEPHEN VALIQUETTE made 30 saves as the Wolf Pack had a 31-25 shots on goal advantage. Hartford was 1 for 8 on the power play while the Sound Tigers were 0 for 3. PLAYER OF THE WEEK – G STEPHEN VALIQUETTE

Valiquette stopped 90 of 93 shots to post a 3-0 record, 0.99 goals against average, .968 save percentage and one shutout last week. He came within 3:01 of another shutout Sunday, which would have been his professional-career-high third of the season. Valiquette was 15-14-3 with a 2.63 goals against average, .912 save percentage and two shutouts in 34 appearances with the Sound Tigers and also dressed for three NHL games with the Islanders this season.

THIS WEEK – Sound Tigers To Open Playoffs Saturday & Sunday In Manchester

The Sound Tigers will open the 2003 Calder Cup Playoffs on the road versus the Manchester Monarchs in games one and two of their best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinal this Saturday at 7:35 p.m. and this Sunday at 4:05 p.m. The series will shift to Bridgeport for game three on Friday, April 18th at 7:35 p.m. The series schedule is as follows:

Game One in Manchester – Saturday, April 12th at 7:35 p.m.

Game Two in Manchester – Sunday, April 13th at 4:05 p.m.

Game Three at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard – Friday, April 18th at 7:35 p.m.

Game Four at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard – Saturday, April 19th at 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game Five in Manchester – Tuesday, April 22nd at 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

SAT APR 12th at MCH, 7:35 p.m. & SUN APR 13th at MCH, 4:05 p.m.: This will be the first-ever playoff meeting of the teams who both entered the AHL last year. The Sound Tigers are 3-2-2 all-time during regular-season play versus Manchester. They were 2-1-1 versus the Monarchs this season including 0-1-1 in Manchester. The Monarchs finished the 2002-03 regular season in second place in the North Division and fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 97 points and a 40-23-11-6 record including 23-11-6-0 at home, 17-12-5-6 on the road, 5-2-2-1 in their last ten games and unbeaten, 1-0-1, in their last two games. Manchester was eliminated three games to two by Hartford in last year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, losing game five in double overtime, after finishing the 2001-02 regular season in second place in the North Division and seeded fifth in the conference with 90 points and a 38-28-11-3 record.

SOUND TIGERS TEAM LEADERS

(* single-season team record, italicized players are on recall to the Islanders)
Goals – TRENT HUNTER, 30*
Penalty Minutes – ERIC GODARD, 199; ALAIN NASREDDINE, 114
Assists – TRENT HUNTER, 41*
Wins – RICK DiPIETRO, 16; STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, 15
Points – TRENT HUNTER, 71*
Goals Against Average – RICK DiPIETRO, 2.14*; SCOTT STIRLING, 2.57
Plus / Minus – BRANDON SMITH, +10
Save Percentage – RICK DiPIETRO, .924*, STEPHEN VALIQUETTE, .912

SOUND TIGERS SPECIAL TEAMS

(* single-season team record)

Power Play – 65 for 402, 16.2%; 18th

Shorthanded Goals Against – 11

Penalty Kill – 330 for 378, 87.3%*; 1st*

Shorthanded Goal For – 8*

SOUND TIGERS STREAKS

The Sound Tigers won their last four games, as well as their last four home games. • DANIEL TKACZUK (3g,4a), JEREMY ADDUONO (3g,4a), TRENT HUNTER (3g,4a) and ERIC MANLOW (5a) all finished the season on four-game point streaks. • Manlow (5a) and Tkaczuk (4a) finished on four-game assist streaks. • Adduono (2g) finished on a two-game goal streak. • Hunter (3a) finished on a two-game assist streak.

SOUND TIGERS TRANSACTIONS

G RICK DiPIETRO, C JUSTIN PAPINEAU, RW ERIC GODARD and C JUSTIN MAPLETOFT are on recall to the Islanders. • LW GRAHAM BELAK remains with the Sound Tigers on recall from the East Coast Hockey League's Cincinnati Cyclones. • G SCOTT STIRLING remains with the Sound Tigers on a professional tryout contract. • C KONRAD McKAY signed a PTO Friday and was released Monday. • RW MARCO CHARPENTIER was recalled from the ECHL's Trenton Titans Saturday and was reassigned Monday. • D DANIEL TETRAULT and D DUSTIN WOOD were recalled from Trenton Sunday and were reassigned Monday.

SOUND TIGER BITS

The Sound Tigers were 5-3-11 in overtime games, 3-2-4 at home and 2-1-7 on the road, this season including 1-0-1 versus Manchester winning 3-2 at home on November 27th and skating to a 4-4 tie on the road on January 18th. • The Sound Tigers were 2-3 in the extra session during last season's run to the Calder Cup Finals. Two of those games were decided in double overtime with the Sound Tigers beating the St. John's Maple Leafs 3-2 on the road in game three of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and losing to the Chicago Wolves 4-3 on the road in the fifth-and-deciding game of the Calder Cup Finals. • The Sound Tigers were 8-4-2-0 versus North Division teams, 6-0-1 at home and 2-4-1 on the road, as well as 35-17-7-1 versus Eastern Conference teams, 22-6-2 at home and 13-11-5-1 on the road, this season. • As the AHL's KILPATRICK TROPHY Regular Season Champions, the Sound Tigers had home-ice advantage in all four of their playoff series last season.

SOUND TIGERS ON THE AIR

All Sound Tigers' games are broadcast live on "News/Talk 960" WELI-AM and at www.soundtigers.com. • WSTC/WNLK 1400/1350 AM also broadcasts road games. • Fans can click on the Ask The Broadcaster link at www.soundtigers.com and email questions and comments to Voice of the Sound Tigers BILL McLAUGHLIN who will respond live on the air.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

The Sound Tigers will practice at Bridgeport's Wonderland of Ice Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., as well as at Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard Thursday and Friday at 10:30 a.m. They will not practice Wednesday. The team will depart for Manchester Friday afternoon and will practice at the Verizon Wireless Arena Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Sunday's schedule is to be determined. Call 203-334-4625 to confirm practice times and locations or with any special media requests.

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