It has been a tough season for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. This was supposed to be a season with so much promise and hype. A team with new pieces, top prospects, and strong goaltending was slated to hit the ice. The veteran leadership was at a new level with captain Kyle Burroughs, Steve Bernier, Thomas Hickey, Ryan Bourque, and Chris Gibson all returning to the organization, and top prospects Kieffer Bellows, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Otto Koivula were set to make an impact for Brent Thompson.
After the All-Star Break, however, the Sound Tigers are not anywhere close to where they expected to be. They sit at 15-25-4-1, for a total of 35 points, giving them the second-worst record in the American Hockey League, and the worst in team history following the All-Star Break. Why is the team doing so poorly with so much good talent, including Andrew Ladd who was added to the roster in December? Let’s take a look at some of the problems the team is having.

Injuries

The Sound Tigers have dealt with a ton of injuries this year. They have lost Steve Bernier, Tanner Fritz, Chris Gibson, Thomas Hickey, Otto Koivula, and Mitch Vande Sompel for long amounts of time throughout the season. Fritz hasn’t played since November. Hickey has only played in five games following a hit to the head in Springfield on opening night. Vande Sompel got hurt during training camp, and will likely be out the entire season.

Scoring

The Sound Tigers have lacked the scoring that they expected to have this season. They have only scored 98 goals through the first 45 games of the season, which is the worst in the AHL. Last season, the Sound Tigers scored 233 goals, which was in the middle of the pack for the AHL. During their worst season to date in 2013-14, where the team only garnered 64 points and a record of 28-40-2-6, they scored 183 goals. That isn’t the worst number in team history as they scored 178 goals in 80 games in 2003-04.

Power Play

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ power-play is bad. They have the worst power play in the American Hockey League with a 10.4% conversion rate, having scored 18 goals on 175 opportunities. The power-play has always been a problem under Brent Thompson, and it mirrors the power-play struggles the Islanders had last season.

Now, how can these problems be fixed ahead of next season?

Brent Thompson, Eric Boguniecki and Matt Carkner are the last remnants from the Garth Snow era, and in the six years that Thompson and Boguniecki have coached the team, they have made the playoffs three times, winning only two of 11 playoff games. While the franchise has not won a series since 2003, is it time for new coaches? Many fans are outraged by the choice to keep Thompson as the coach, and are asking for him to be fired as the head coach. But very rarely do you see AHL coaches being fired midway through the season, as traditionally, the only time you see an AHL coaching change is if they get promoted to the NHL, such as Sheldon Keefe did this year.
It will be interesting to see how the Sound Tigers do in the 2nd half of the season. Crazier things have been accomplished in the AHL, so we’ll see what happens.

Christian Gardecki

A Native of Danbury, CT. Christian is one of the longest tenured Drive4Five writers, Christian Gardecki began writing for Drive4five In May of 2017. Christian covers Minor League Hockey and the Bridgeport Islanders for Drive4Five. Outside of Drive4Five, Christian was the captain of his High School Hockey team and currently attends Hofstra University with a major in journalism. Christian was the play by play broadcaster for the Danbury Westerners summer collegiate baseball team during their 2021 NECBL Championship. Christian also was the Public Address Announcer for the Danbury Hat Tricks Minor Pro Hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and NAHL Junior team from 2019-21.