After the disappointment of being swept in the first round by rival Connecticut Whale, the optimism for the 2012-13 Sound Tigers season was high. The organization promoted Brent Thompson to assistant coach of the Islanders, so the Sound Tigers had to find a new head coach.

New Year, New Team

The Sound Tigers hired Scott Pellerin to be the eighth head coach in team history. Pellerin won a Calder Cup in 1995 with the Albany River Rats before a 536-game NHL career with New Jersey, Minnesota, Carolina, Boston, Dallas, Phoenix and St. Louis. In St. Louis, he played with his new assistant coach, Eric Boguniecki.

As for the roster, the NHL was going through its third lockout in eighteen years. So the Sound Tigers were able to utilize Islanders players Nino Niederreiter, Casey Cizikas, David Ullstrom and Travis Hamonic at the beginning of the season. Rookie prospects Johan Sundstrom, John Persson, Kirill Kabanov and Brock Nelson were also major pieces of the team.

Additionally, Bridgeport picked up veterans Matt Watkins, Jordan Hill and Colin McDonald. The Sound Tigers named McDonald captain, making him the second Connecticut native to hold the title after Kevin Colley. In goal, Anders Nilsson and Kevin Poulin returned to the crease.

Another change coming into the season was the addition of a new, 30-foot $2.5 million Daktronics scoreboard, which Webster Bank Arena installed in early November. It was at the time, said to be the largest center-hung scoreboard in an arena its size.

Hot Start

The Sound Tigers 2012-13 season started off with a bang. The Sound Tigers were 4-2-0 heading into a big game with the Hershey Bears on Nov. 3, 2012. But that game meant much more than two points. The week before, Hurricane Sandy had ravaged the East Coast, including Bridgeport. The team gave away free tickets, and had the largest crowd in Webster Bank Arena history. 8,525 fans filled the building for the 3-2 win over Hershey, and many fans came out the following night as well.

The Sound Tigers had a great start until January, when the Islanders called up McDonald, Cizikas, Hamonic, and Ullstrom for the rest of the season. At the start of the NHL season (Jan. 19, 2013), the Sound Tigers had a 18-16-4 record.

New Year’s Blues

Matt Watkins would replace Colin McDonald as the team’s captain after McDonald earned a full-time spot with the Islanders. The Sound Tigers struggled as they hit the new year. Bridgeport lost nine of their first 11 games of 2013. It was not a great start for a team that had been through a lot with multiple tragedies hitting the greater Bridgeport area.

Additionally, Rick DiPietro returned to the Sound Tigers after the Islanders put him on waivers. DiPietro played in 18 games with Bridgeport, going 9-9-0.

From January on, the Sound Tigers only won 15 games compared to 17 before the turn of the calendar. Niederreiter, Nelson and Donovan were showing their worth as regular NHL players, leaving Bridgeport without replacements.

Defining Moment

On Dec. 14, 2012, an unthinkable tragedy hit southern Connecticut when a shooter killed 26 innocent teachers and students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Located only 20 miles from Webster Bank Arena, the Sound Tigers would frequently visit the school every year for assemblies, or welcome the school to the arena for the annual morning school game.

The Sound Tigers decided that they would honor the families of the victims by wearing their names of the 20 children who were killed on the back of their black alternate jerseys. The names of the teachers were displayed on the scoreboard. The Sound Tigers debuted the jerseys on Dec. 22 in a game against the Adirondack Phantoms. The Sound Tigers also put a green ribbon on their home and away jerseys. The Sound Tigers invited Newtown residents to attend the game for free, as well as the upcoming games on Dec. 26 and Dec. 29.

The Sound Tigers lost, but they never wore those jerseys again. It was an emotional night for the players, and the team retired the jerseys. However, in a touching gesture by the team, they gave the jerseys to the families of the victims. It is still to this day one of the most emotional nights in team history.

The Sound Tigers missed the playoffs by only five points. In the offseason, they assembled a young squad for the 2013-14 season as they looked to get back to the playoffs.

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.