Officially made official about ten days ago, the Bridgeport Islanders are relocating to Hamilton, Ontario for the 2026-27 season. They will play in the North Division. The Penguins will be losing a divisional foe, but more than that, a city loses a team.
It seems nonsensical that you would move your AHL affiliate further from you and in a different country. But that is what the New York Islanders are doing, for some strange reason.
So next time you want to complain about anything related to the Penguins, think about Bridgeport, or any team really (Binghamton, Manchester, Worcester, Portland, Norfolk, Albany) that lost their team.
For me, I’ll miss Bridgeport incredibly.
Mike Fornabaio, who covered the team for years, is the teams defacto living encyclopedia. His writing style inspired me to start this blog. I already knew how to write and was good with a keyboard, etc., but it was still good to see how an actual professional did it and to mimic that in whatever mess this blog has been for the past 15 years. He’s an incredible follow on Twitter and a great human being.
My first media credential was signed out of Bridgeport. I think it was a booster club trip if I remember correctly. I think they had been to Hartford, then up to Springfield and then played a Sunday game in Bridgeport at the time. Suzanne, who ran game ops for the Sound Tigers at the time, messaged me to see if I was coming to the game and when I told her I was, she without hesitation wrote me out a press credential. It’s a good thing I packed a button-down shirt that day because it would have been weird wearing a hockey jersey on press row.
Actually I wasn’t on press row for that game, I was on an end. I didn’t want to be on press row because I would have bothered Fornabaio at his job and probably would have bothered him the whole game and watched in awe at the master at his craft. I didn’t know what I was doing then, and really like to treat hockey games as fun and a distraction from my regular 9 to 5 salaried job where I have to act like an adult and a professional and not make puns, cat jokes or other hijinks. That’s one of the reasons I stopped bothering the Penguins and really have no interest in media access. You have to act with some level of decorum. I consider this a hobby and don’t want to conform to someone else’s rules with said hobby.
Bridgeport has had some really great broadcasters. I remember Sound Tigers play by play man Phil Giubileo hosting the weekly Around the AHL show on AHL Live and would look forward to that like a kid at Christmas to learn about the other teams in the AHL that the Penguins never saw. When Giubileo moved on, Alan Fuehring stepped in. Fuerhing recently graduated to the NHL Islanders but was on the call for the AHL All-Star Classic in Rockford. That was the first televised AHL broadcast I watched of the festivities in years. Fuehring made it enjoyable and at the end I said to a few people that I would pay money to listen to that guy read the phone book. He’s good, really good at what he does.
The Sound Tigers / Islanders have given the Penguins fits over the years. I wasn’t around in 2006 for Konstantin Koltsov taking us to the promised land, but I was there sweating in my seat when the Sound Tigers were good enough to make playoffs and gave the Penguins some scares in the mid-2010’s.
I think I have prattled on long enough about this team, but I sure will miss them and sincerely thank them, from the bottom of my heart, for the memories.
The Penguins make their final regular season trip to Bridgeport, Connecticut on Thursday.
Let’s abridge the usual, and get through this in under 1500 words maybe? I’m at 671 right here.*
Hold Me Closer Gandy Dancer….
After the Thursday meeting in Bridgeport, the Penguins have a Friday off and then host Cleveland in the AHL Game of the Week when they transition into the Steamtown Gandy Dancers.
Steamtown, affiliated with Scranton, which is in Lackawanna County, presented to you by Visit Luzerne County.
Make it Make Sense!
Last Week / Records
Bridgeport had one game, a 4-2 win at home against Hartford. This solidified the Islanders playoff hopes, as one of either Hershey or Lehigh Valley along with Hartford isn’t making playoffs out of the Atlantic. The Islanders are 30-28-3-5 and have 68 points, good for fourth in the Atlantic. After hosting the Pens Thursday, they are in Allentown Saturday then home against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Cleveland swept the visiting Milwaukee Admirals last weekend and then lost to the Rochester Americans in a shootout on Monday. The Monsters have a 35-25-6-2 record with 78 points and sit third in the North Division and have locked up a playoff spot.
Magic Numbers and Rascals that Matter…
Providence’s magic number for the division is 1. They beat Syracuse and lost to Rochester in overtime last weekend. They have Hartford Friday. If the Penguins lose in any form or fashion against Bridgeport later, the division is theirs.
Wilkes-Barre’s magic number for a first round bye is four points. They presently have 94 points and Charlotte can only max at 97. The Penguins have a game in hand on the Checkers. If the Pens win tonight they will have 96 and then the magic number will be 1. Any points lost by the Checkers who host Hershey for a pair of pivotal games for the Bears this weekend, will also give the Penguins the first round bye, thus avoiding a three game series to open the Playoffs.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Up: Avery Hayes and Sergei Murashov went back up this week. Murashov because Stuart Skinner took a puck to the face while sitting on the bench. I think Pittsburgh is crazy if they carry three goaltenders. Skinner is their number one, Murashov is their number one in Wilkes-Barre. Don’t overthink it, don’t stunt the kids development by having him backup Skinner in playoffs. As result of all of this, Taylor Gauthier was reassigned from Wheeling to Wilkes-Barre.
Down: Nolan Renwick and Zach Urdahl went to Wheeling on Easter Sunday.
Out: Tristan Broz and Melvin Fernstrom are week to week with upper body injuries.
привет товарищ
A big addition to Wilkes-Barre came Wednesday when Forward Mikhail Ilyin was reassigned from Severstal in the KHL to Coal Street. He was at practice Wednesday so he’s in town getting acclimated. I would expect to see him make his debut in North America in a mere few hours. Pittsburgh is high on the kid.
ATO Szn…
Forward Tiernan Shoudy from Sparty (Michigan State) signed to an AHL Contract for 26-27 but joins the team now as Coal Street continues to amass B1G talent. Shoudy was sent to Wheeling, who also signed Penguins draft pick goaltender Gabriel D’Aigle.
Ryan Miller and Quinn Beauchesne are actual ATO signings. Fifth round picks from Pittsburgh this year, join Wilkes-Barre for the remainder of the season. Don’t get used to these kids yet, they are too young for full time AHL work next season as Miller is only 18 and is committed to the University of Denver for the fall semester.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Don’t shed a tear about Murashov going up. Taylor Gauthier is long overdue for an AHL recall and owns just about every record a Wheeling Nailers goaltender can have. We will probably see Gauthier in one of the two games if Murashov isn’t sent back.
The Penguins still have work to do, but it’s like a four day work week. It’s Thursday morning (literally as this post goes up) and you want to get all of your work done today plus whatever leftover stuff you let sit for the week before 5 o’clock for the long weekend. Trust me, I know, I’ve been in a 9-5 job with the same company for 25 years. I have been there.
So you want to get all of the important stuff done today so you can come in fresh on Monday to essentially let your ATO’s and new kids clean up the three remaining home games you have left in your regular season next week and not have to worry about magic numbers.
The thought is that Kirk MacDonald has them primed to do just this, this weekend. The proof, as always, is in the pudding.
Who’s in Goal?
Joel Blomqvist tonight then depending on results, possible Taylor Gauthier on Saturday or Murashov deepening on what Pittsburgh does in the next 48/72 hours.
Henrik Tikkanen and Ivan Fedotov for the opposition.
Who’s Running the Show?
Liam Maaskant and Mike Dietrich have the assignment tonight in Bridgeport with Trevor Disbennett and Anthony Lapointe on the lines.
Saturday sees Dietrich again with Andrew Bell with Tommy George and Jud Ritter on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Final week of the regular season and three home games. Hershey is in Wednesday, Bridgeport here Friday and Rochester makes their only visit of the season in the last game of the season.
Come on, City!
The Pigeons have their first real test of the season when they host the defending Western Conference Champion Vancouver Whitecaps this Saturday. I see a 2-2 draw.
It’s Bristol, Baby!
I remember when Elliott Sadler won the 2001 Food City 500. Some of you that read this blog probably weren’t around then. The Sadler victory was seen as an upset at the time. Do I see an upset this weekend at the Last Great Coliseum? No, I do not. Give me Ryan Blaney.
Give us a bold prediction…
Gabriel D’Aigle gets recalled next week, starts against Rochester as the Penguins play with house money after wrapping up a first round bye and pitches a 27 save shutout in his AHL debut.
–
* – this little trick here I stole from, “Soundin’ Off” and the great Mike Fornabaio**
** – 1672 words
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 