A new era was upon the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the 2009-10 season. The Sound Tigers had changed uniforms for the fourth straight season, this time going to a look that was reminiscent of the 1980’s New York Islanders, which would be the look that the Islanders returned to a year later. The uniforms were announced at a press conference at the Arena at Harbor Yard with Pascal Morency and Mark Wotton showing off the new jerseys.

The Roster Makeup

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers had brought back their usuals with Sean Bentivoglio, Michael Haley, Captain Mark Wotton, Dustin Kohn, Jesse Joensuu, Tyler Haskins, Nathan Lawson, while regulars like Blake Comeau and Andrew MacDonald had earned full-time jobs with the Islanders. Unlike his former teammates who stayed in the system, Jeremy Colliton left the Sound Tigers to play in Sweden.

A good mix of new faces were set to join the Sound Tigers. While the defensive core stayed the same for the most part, two former members of the Syracuse Crunch in Greg Mauldin and Jeremy Reich, both big-time scorers in their days with the Crunch, were added to the forward core. Mark Flood, another former member of Syracuse who had spent the last four years with Albany, was a big offensive defenseman brought in to lead the team on the back end.

In goal, sharing time with All-AHL Rookie Team member Nathan Lawson was former Phantoms goaltender Scott Munroe. The last big veteran piece to the puzzle was someone who terrorized the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for three years in Hartford, Greg Moore. Future Islanders and Sound Tiger fan favorite Trevor Gillies was brought in to add to the toughness.

The Islanders were still filling out their prospects and some of the prospects who joined the Sound Tigers were promising players. Fresh off of a successful playoff campaign, Justin DiBenedetto joined the Sound Tigers for his first full season. The biggest new prospect was a 2008 fifth-round pick from the Sarnia Sting named Matt Martin. Martin joined the team for the 2009-10 Sound Tigers season. Rookie Defenseman Mark Katic was also brought into the fold.

An Up-and-Down Start

The 2009-10 Sound Tigers season began with back-to-back home games against Lowell and Worcester, both going into overtime. The Sound Tigers started off the season with a 4-0 record even after losing MacDonald and Comeau; however, four straight losses had put the team back at .500. Bridgeport ended October with a record of 7-5-0. After the new month, Jack Capuano’s squad struggled, with five straight losses.

By December the Sound Tigers sat at .500 and one of Bridgeport’s earliest superstars was making his return to the place where he led the Sound Tigers to a Calder Cup Final.

Conditioning Netminders

After multiple injuries with the Islanders, Rick DiPietro was making his first regular-season start in Bridgeport since March 8, 2003. The Sound Tigers were playing DiPietro’s former teammates Kip Brennan and Chris Armstrong. Drawing inspiration from DiPietro’s return, the Sound Tigers won by a score of 7-3.

With DiPietro back up with the Islanders at the halfway point of the season, the Sound Tigers were positioned in the middle of the pack. Bridgeport was 21-20-8 at the all-star break which saw Dustin Kohn represent the Sound Tigers in Portland.

In February another Islanders goaltender came down for conditioning. Martin Biron played in his first AHL game since 2000. He started on Feb. 5 in Springfield and the next night at home against Manchester. The Sound Tigers split the two games with Biron in goal.

Trade Deadline Moves

At the Trade Deadline, the Sound Tigers needed more help on defense, and a skilled two-way forward. In a trade with the Syracuse Crunch, Greg Moore was dealt in exchange for two-way forward Mike Radja and Dylan Reese, who reported to the Islanders until late in the season.

Jeremy Reich returned to the Sound Tigers after an injury in December as well. Brendan Witt was also added to the Sound Tigers after clearing waivers and brought leadership and almost 900 NHL games to the club. Rhett Rakhshani was also in Bridgeport after playing in college, and lastly, Mikko Koskinen came over from Sweden to get some gameplay with the Sound Tigers towards the playoffs.

The Playoff Run

Going into the last weekend of the season, the Sound Tigers needed to win at least two of three games, especially against Hartford. Bridgeport beat Lowell and Manchester, then lost to Hartford, but with Norfolk losing, the Sound Tigers were into the playoffs for the second straight year. Unlike the year prior, the Sound Tigers played all home games in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport was the eighth seed and slated to play against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. The Bears had a star-studded lineup with multiple future AHL Hall of Famers and a couple future Stanley Cup Champions. The goaltending duo of Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth helped them succeed, while upfront the Bears were led by Alexandre Giroux, Phil Aucoin, Andrew Gordon, and Chris Bourque. Veteran Bryan Helmer was on defense and captained the squad.

Game 1 in Hershey started off with a 3-1 Sound Tigers lead midway through the game off of goals by Andrew MacDonald, Matt Martin, and Trevor Smith. Hershey stormed back and scored three unanswered including an overtime winner by Andrew Joudrey. Game 2 was another close one, two Dustin Kohn goals were lost as Giroux and Mathieu Perreault scored to give the Bears a 2-0 lead heading back to Bridgeport. In Game 3, Hershey drubbed Bridgeport at Harbor Yard 7-2. The Sound Tigers put four in on Braden Holtby in Game 4 with Sean Bentivoglio, Andrew MacDonald twice, and Robin Figren contributing to the Sound Tigers’ win. Game 5 was back in Hershey, and the Bears dominated again and beat Bridgeport 4-1. This eliminated the Sound Tigers and it was their fourth straight first-round exit.

The Sound Tigers went against one of the best teams that the AHL has ever seen. Hershey made four Calder Cup finals in five years, winning three of them along the way. 2010-11, the team’s tenth season, saw lots of change for the Sound Tigers including another new group of prospects to run through Harbor Yard on their way to Long Island.

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.