Looking Back at the Sound Tigers 2007-08 Season
The 2007-08 Sound Tigers season began with an influx of new players coming to Bridgeport. Wade Dubielewicz had solidified the backup goaltender role with the Islanders meaning two new goaltenders were going to take the spot in Bridgeport. Assistant Coach Jack Capuano was promoted to Head Coach, while Bernie Cassell remained his assistant and Pat Bingham returned after spending the 2006-07 season as the Head Coach of the UHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
The Sound Tigers also debuted new uniforms with the introduction of the Reebok Edge System. The same white “star” jersey returned but a new alternate jersey which was worn for almost every home game with the exception of those against teams that wore red.
A Young Core
The makeup of the Sound Tigers roster was different than it was in 2006-07. There were two new goaltenders set to protect the crease with Wade Dubielewicz up with the Islanders for good. Former AHL All-Star Joey MacDonald and Mike Morrison were the new netminders for the Sound Tigers. Upfront, high-scoring forward Jeff Tambellini was back for his second full season with the Sound Tigers. Ben Walter was acquired in a trade with the Boston Bruins for Petteri Nokelainen. A new ECHL affiliate with the Utah Grizzlies brought over some future NHLers and key players to the Sound Tigers in Trevor Smith, Michael Haley, and Sean Bentivoglio who earned full-time spots with the Sound Tigers. On defense, Dustin Kohn, Matt Spiller, Jamie Fraser, and Scott Ford all joined with captain Mark Wotton, Drew Fata, and Andrew MacDonald.
Also returning was Steve Regier, who came for year number four with the Sound Tigers and solidified himself as one of the most popular players in team history. Blake Comeau and Jeremy Colliton also returned for their third year with the team. The Sound Tigers also had four tough guys on the 2007-08 roster in Pascal Morency, Kip Brennan, Tim Jackman, and the returning Jason Pitton. Joey MacDonald also wasn’t afraid to drop them, as he was close to breaking Ray Emery’s penalty minutes record for goaltenders. Morency became one of the most popular players in team history as well, which he got from after a fight where he lifted the crest of the Sound Tigers jersey and pushed it towards the crowd. It was later immortalized on a bobblehead.
A Back-and-Forth Season
The Sound Tigers had a solid season, but not a great one. At Thanksgiving, they were 6-10-1. Into the new year, the Sound Tigers got back to .500 and got a massive prospect. After graduating in the winter at the University of Minnesota, Kyle Okposo made his professional debut on January 11th in Binghamton against the Senators. Okposo impressed throughout the season with 28 points in 35 games.
After the All-Star Break, the Sound Tigers, led by Okposo had won five straight, but winning streaks also turned into losing streaks. The frustration had caught up to the Sound Tigers, and on March 14, at the Arena At Harbor Yard, the biggest brawl in Sound Tiger history had commenced. After Paul Bissonnette fought Scott Ford earlier in the game, tensions had blown over when future Sound Tiger Tim Wallace went after Pascal Morency. Drew Fata went after Wallace, while Joey MacDonald got in the fray and fought John Curry after Deryk Engelland got involved. The only players who did not fight, and were more peacemakers were Mark Wotton, Wilkes-Barre’s Alex Goligoski, and shockingly Paul Bissonnette, who had a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” in the game.
Those streaks ended up hurting the Sound Tigers as the team missed the playoffs by eight points to the Hershey Bears, the third time in franchise history, and the second time in a row.
The Season’s Defining Moment
Kyle Okposo coming to the Sound Tigers was long-awaited. Okposo brought a lot of scoring and needed to work on some things to become a regular NHL player. On January 12th in his first home game at the Arena at Harbor Yard, in the second period of a game between Bridgeport and Springfield, Okposo received a pass from Scott Ford and ripped one over the shoulder of Devin Dubnyk.
Okposo had an impressive rookie year with the Sound Tigers and earned a regular job on the Island for 2008-09, although he would make cameo appearances the next season with a Bridgeport team who were looking to return to the playoffs and bring back many big pieces.
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.
