Looking back at the Sound Tigers 2010-11 Season
After being eliminated in the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs by the eventual Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears, the 2010-11 Bridgeport Sound Tigers were ready for their monumental tenth season as they honored the past, present, and future of the team.
New Arena Name
For the first time in the ten-year history of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, their arena had a corporate sponsor attached to it. Waterbury, Connecticut, based bank Webster Bank signed a ten-year naming rights deal. This was significant, as not even the next-door Ballpark at Harbor Yard had naming rights. Nevertheless, some people still called the arena by its original name, Harbor Yard.
Honoring the Past
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced during the offseason that to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the team, they would name an all-time fantasy team selected by a fan vote.
Sound Tigers fans selected forwards were Jeff Hamilton, Trent Hunter, and Jeff Tambellini to the fantasy team. The defensemen were Bruno Gervais and Mark Wotton. The best fighter was Eric Godard, and the best goalie was Wade Dubielewicz.
Mixing the Old With the New
As was the case for many years, players who joined the team in the playoffs got full-time roles with the team the following season. This meant Rhett Rakhshani joined the Sound Tigers for the 2010-11 season. Jeremy Colliton returned to Bridgeport after playing a year in Sweden. Mainstays Robin Figren, Tomas Marcinko, Justin DiBenedetto, Jesse Joensuu, Michael Haley, Nathan Lawson, and captain Mark Wotton all returned. Bridgeport did not get many new veterans as Islanders prospects Marc Katic, David Ullstrom, Mikko Koskinen, and Kevin Poulin all filled roster spots.
The Sound Tigers had an exciting mix of young and old players, looking to help the Islanders build on a solid prospect pool that already had Kyle Okposo, John Tavares, Matt Martin, and Josh Bailey.
Big Name Cameos
Throughout the year, both the Sound Tigers and Islanders struggled. This led to many players making their NHL debuts on Long Island. But it was also the season Josh Bailey made his Sound Tigers debut. In his first game with the Sound Tigers, he ripped a shot off the faceoff to score on the Worcester Sharks to tie the game and send it to overtime with eight seconds left.
Another prospect in a similar situation that season was Matt Martin. After the Islanders called him up, he made a brief seven-game trip back to Bridgeport before permanently returning to the Islanders.
Up and Down Season
The Sound Tigers struggled in the 2010-11 season, finishing with a record of 30-39-4-7. They missed the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history.
The team dealt with a major coaching change after 15 games. Pat Bingham took over for the team when Jack Capuano was promoted to head coach of the Islanders. Capuano replaced Scott Gordon during a long Islanders losing streak.
The Sound Tigers had some tough guys on the team as well. Jeremy Yablonski, one of the best fighters in the AHL, joined tough guys Michael Haley and Trevor Gillies.
Then-rookie Brett Gallant also made a name for himself during the season, which included a massive fight with former Sound Tiger Joel Rechlicz in Hershey.
The Islanders also dealt with multiple goalie injuries that season, so the Sound Tigers had to reach deep into their depth chart. Journeymen AHL goalies Riley Gill and Joel Martin both played for the team during the season.
The Sound Tigers saw growth from young players like Ullstrom, Rakhshani, Marcinko, and DiBenedetto, and got leadership from Joensuu, Wotton, and Colliton.
Defining Moment
Mark Wotton scored four overtime goals in his five-year Sound Tigers career. None were bigger than the winner on Nov. 13, 2010, at Webster Bank Arena. Wotton scored with ten seconds left to beat Dustin Tokarski and the Norfolk Admirals before leaving the ice to go to the locker room.
While the 2010-11 Sound Tigers Season did not have major success, the team grew together and prepared for the arrival of a new era of Sound Tigers hockey. A new coaching staff, a new captain, and more prospects were ready to join the team the following season, which was a year to never forget.
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.
