Looking Back at the Sound Tigers 2004-05 Season
After the shock and disappointment of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the 2004 AHL Playoffs, the 2004-05 Sound Tigers season came with an interesting twist. The NHL’s CBA was up and the NHLPA and owners couldn’t decide on an agreement for the season. With that, the AHL was the top professional league in North America and the league would hold some of the top young players in the world.
Old and New Faces Collide
With the lockout, the Sound Tigers received a similar core of players from the 2003-04 team with Ryan Kraft, Rob Collins, Kevin Colley, and Justin Mapletoft returning. Also returning on defense was Jody Robinson, Tomi Pettinen, who was destined to get a regular role with the Islanders after Kenny Jonsson was gone and Cole Jarrett. Eric Godard and Justin Papineau came back after spending all of 2003-04 with the Islanders. In goal, Wade Dubielewicz and Dieter Kochan both returned, but a major part was the influx of young Islanders prospects. For the 2004-05 season, the Sound Tigers roster included Steve Regier, Bruno Gervais, Chris Campoli, Matt Koalska, and Ryan Caldwell. Keith Aldridge was brought in to be the captain, and longtime NHLer Jim Campbell came over.
With the lockout, The Sound Tigers Split affiliates with Trenton of the ECHL, and an unofficial affiliate in the UHL. The Danbury Trashers were located just 30 miles north of Bridgeport and brought a rough style of hockey. John Morlang split the season with the Trashers and the Sound Tigers, playing in 36 games in Danbury, scoring 37 points. Morlang played 46 games for the Sound Tigers and was not the only member of the Trashers to play games with both teams.
A Good Start
The 2004-05 Sound Tigers had a solid start at 10-8-0 which was highlighted by a win over former Sound Tigers Steve Valiquette and Jeff Hamilton on Nov. 26. Sean Bergenheim had a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” with an assist on Justin Mapletoft’s goal and scoring an empty netter which resulted in a mini line-brawl. After this win, Bridgeport hovered around .500 until Christmas. Then things started to take a bad turn.
A Rough Stretch, Trades, and a Captaincy Carousel
When the term carousel is used here, it is much-needed. Keith Aldridge’s season and career ended with an injury midway through the season. In response, Richard Seeley became the third captain in team history until he was traded to the Norfolk Admirals. Following the departure of Seeley, Jim Campbell was traded to Springfield just after he teamed up with his younger brother Ed Campbell for the first time in the duo’s career, and Eddy Campbell became the fourth captain in Sound Tigers history following the trade. This was Ed Campbell’s final round in the AHL as he would help lead the Danbury Trashers the next season as an Assistant Captain and the Danbury Whalers in 2012-13 to an FHL Championship. This all occurred after the Sound Tigers lost 11 of their next 13 after Christmas. The Sound Tigers struggled in an ultra-competitive division that included future NHL regulars along the lines of Jason Spezza, Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrick Sharp, and Dustin Byfuglien.
Bright Spots
Rob Collins led the Sound Tigers in points with 62, while Chris Campoli set a Sound Tigers record for most points by a defenseman in a single season with 49. The goaltending was not a major problem, but the young defense struggled with Jarrett, Robinson, Bruno Gervais, and Vince Macri. The Sound Tigers missed the playoffs for the first time in team history with a record of 37-38-5.
The Season’s Defining Moment
For a season that didn’t have much success, the defining moment of the Sound Tigers season was not at the Arena at Harbor Yard, or even in an AHL Arena. On February 18, 2005, the Sound Tigers played the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Nassau Coliseum. The first time that the Sound Tigers would play a home game at anywhere but Bridgeport. For Islander fans, it was the first time they saw hockey all season. Justin Papineau, a New York Islander in 2004, electrified the crowd which was then the 10th largest in AHL history with a crowd of 16,297 with two goals. The Sound Tigers put only 13 shots on Marc-Andre Fleury but put three past the future Hockey Hall-of-Famer. The Sound Tigers would win 3-2 in a game where many Islander fans, and Sound Tiger fans who came from Connecticut went home happy.
After the season, Greg Cronin would step down as Head Coach to accept a job with Northeastern University. The Sound Tigers had a plan in place for another head coach coming from the ECHL, but that plan changed. No matter what the outcome would be of the offseason, the 2005-06 season was set to be much more successful for the Sound Tigers with the NHL coming back.
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.
