Looking Back at the Sound Tigers 2002-03 Season
After a stunning end to their first year, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers geared up for the 2002-03 season. With the arrival of year two, the makeup of the Sound Tigers looked drastically different than the one from the year prior.
New Faces up Front
The Sound Tigers kept familiar faces in goaltenders Rick DiPietro and Steve Valiquette, along with forwards Raffi Torres, Trent Hunter and Justin Mapletoft, but they also brought in a new crop of veterans. Eric Manlow came over from the Boston Bruins organization to give the Sound Tigers more scoring power up-front. They also brought in Daniel Tkaczuk, a former sixth overall selection of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 draft. Tkaczuk didn’t live up to the expectations of many, as he had only played 19 NHL games in 2000-01 with the Flames, and in the same season, won a Calder Cup with the Saint John Flames. After being traded to the Blues organization, he with to Bridgeport as a free agent. When it comes to the rookies that were acquired, former Barrie Colts forward Blaine Down along with Yale star Jeff Hamilton made immediate impacts for the Sound Tigers.
A New Look Defense
On defense, Ray Schultz was the only returning player from the 2001-02 roster on the back end. Tomi Pettinen made a cameo appearance in the 2001-02 playoffs as a rookie and played his first full season overseas with the Sound Tigers.
They acquired Brandon Smith, who spent 2001-02 with the Cleveland Barons, the then-AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. Another signing was Alain Nasreddine, who spent the previous two years as the captain of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Nasreddine paired up with another newcomer in Alan Letang. Letang was a member of the Dallas Stars organization and was a black ace for their 1999 and 2000 Stanley Cup Playoff runs. Letang spent the 2001-02 season with the Flames organization. The final piece on the blueline was Sven Butenschon. The German-born defenseman had 50+ NHL games on his record with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers.
A Slow Start Leads to a Hot Streak
For the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the 2002-03 Season started off differently than the season prior. Bridgeport started off slow, beginning at 0-2-1, and was 8-5-4-1 in the middle of November. Afterward, they went on a nine-game unbeaten streak, with six wins and three ties heading into the second week of December.
A Season of Streaks
Throughout the season, the Sound Tigers won a couple games, then lost a couple. These streaks were concerning at times, but the Sound Tigers were helped out a ton on offense by a rookie, Jeff Hamilton. Hamilton scored 22 goals in his rookie season and was a force to be reckoned with in the AHL. Another key piece was the development of Trent Hunter. Hunter was the first Sound Tiger to have back-to-back 30 goal seasons and was named the Sound Tigers representative at the 2003 AHL All-Star Classic in Portland. Hunter’s years with Bridgeport are fondly remembered not just by him, but by the fans. Hunter was named in a 2010 fan vote as the greatest Sound Tiger during the first ten seasons of Sound Tigers hockey. Hunter earned a call up to the Islanders multiple times throughout the season.
The Season’s Defining Moment
There’s one defining moment to this season, and it’s not really a big game in the playoffs. Raffi Torres scored the third hat trick in team history in January against Worcester. That was one of Torres’ last moments as a Sound Tiger. A trade shocked the fans of Bridgeport and some Islander fans as on March 11, 2003, Raffi Torres and Brad Isbister were dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Janne Niinimaa and a 2003 second-round pick (Evgeny Tunik). That wasn’t the only move the Islanders would make that would affect the Sound Tigers. Bridgeport picked up defenseman Jody Robinson from Rochester and speedy forward Mike Souza from Norfolk.
That same day, the Islanders traded Chris Osgood and a third-round pick to the St. Louis Blues for AHL All-Star Justin Papineau and a 2003 second-round Pick, who turned out to be future Sound Tigers captain Jeremy Colliton. Papineau played 11 games with the Isles in 2003 before scoring seven goals and one assist in five games for the Sound Tigers heading into the playoffs. Papineau made up for what Bridgeport was missing in Torres.
The Playoff Run
Heading into the 2003 playoff run, the Sound Tigers were the fifth seed and played against their 2001 expansion foes in the Manchester Monarchs. Going into the series, the Islanders assigned Rick DiPietro, Justin Mapletoft, Eric Godard and Justin Papineau to Bridgeport. Trent Hunter broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, and the Sound Tigers took Game 1, 2-1. In Game 2, Manchester scored two early goals to give the Monarchs a 2-0 lead, but Bridgeport didn’t back down. Sven Butenschon scored two goals and Martin Chabada had three points to lift the Sound Tigers to a 2-0 series lead with a chance to sweep heading back to Bridgeport.
The Sound Tigers 2002-03 Season was a season of streaks and comebacks. Nothing meant this more than Game 3. Manchester scored two early goals again, including one from Sean Avery. Smith, Chabada, and Hamilton scored three unanswered and sent the Sound Tigers to the second round.
The Sound Tigers were expecting to face off against old friend Raffi Torres and the Hamilton Bulldogs, but the Manitoba Moose, the nine-seed had other plans. The Moose upset the second-seed Providence Bruins and faced off against Hamilton, while Bridgeport played against a team they had trouble with, the Binghamton Senators. The Senators had future AHL Hall-of-Famer in Brad Smyth, along with Hall-of-Fame Coach John Paddock, who brought Smith over along with him from Hartford. Along with Smyth, Binghamton had Antoine Vermette, Christoph Schubert and Ray Emery in goal. But the big name was Jason Spezza. Spezza wouldn’t play though as he was called up to the Ottawa Senators as they took on the Islanders in the first round.
The Senators won the first two games, while Bridgeport came back and won Games 3 and 4 at home. Binghamton ended up winning the series in six games. The Sound Tigers’ season ended early, as the Houston Aeros would win the Calder Cup.
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.
