Brandon Svendsen signs second PTO, while Chris Blight is released

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have left winger Brandon Svendsen to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO). This is Svendsen's second time signing a PTO with the Sound Tigers this year. When his contract expired over the weekend the Sound Tigers quickly got him to sign back. In 25 games this season with the Sound Tigers, Svendsen has 4 goals and 4 assists.

The Sound Tigers have also released right winger Chris Blight from his Professional Tryout Contract (PTO). In 13 games with the Sound Tigers Blight has 1 goal and 3 assists with 19 shots on goal.

Oct 30th game vs Manchester rescheduled for January 9th at 7:30

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced today that the game that was supposed to be played on October 30th against the Manchester Monarchs has been rescheduled for Sunday January 9th. Due to a Sacred Heart University basketball game earlier in the day, the game time will be a 7:30pm puck drop.

The game was postponed because of a midterm election campaign attended by president Barack Obama. Due to security reasons and time constraints, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers were asked by the secret service to postpone the game. “It is an honor and a privilege to have the President of the United States visit our beautiful arena,” said Howard Saffan, President of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

From SoundTigers.com "The Sound Tigers will honor tickets that fans purchased for the Oct. 30 game on Jan. 9. In addition, fans who purchased tickets to the originally scheduled Oct. 30 game that are unable to attend the rescheduled Jan. 9 game can exchange their tickets for another Sound Tigers game. The exchanged tickets will be of equal value and these exchanges cannot be made on gamedays."

Bridgeport Sound Tigers Fan Blog Player Of The Month: Kevin Poulin

I have picked the Bridgeport Sound Tiger Fan Blog player of the month for the month of November. The player of the month is Sound Tigers goaltender Kevin Poulin.

Poulin finished the month strong with four great starts. In his last two games, he has shut out the opposing team, earning the first star in both games. However, it was no easy task, the first shut out came against the Portland Pirates. Portland, whose offense was first in the league, took 29 shots and kept Poulin on his guard, but they just could not get the puck past him. The second shut out came days later when the Sound Tigers played another highly ranked offensive team, the Norfolk Admirals. Poulin was peppered with shot after shot, but the Admirals could not get anything by him. He ended the game with a 40 save shut out and a standing ovation from the crowd at Arena at Harbor Yard.

In 9 games this season, Poulin has made 275 saves, only letting in 18 goals. He has 6 wins and 3 assists so far this season and boasts the best recored among all three Sound Tiger goaltenders.

Islanders sign forward Jeremy Colliton to a one year, two way contract

The New York Islanders have signed center Jeremy Colliton to a one year, two way(NHL/AHL) deal. Colliton was signed to a Professional Tryout Contract on October 21 and has been with the team since that time. He is also one of the assistant captains on the team.

The 25 year old has played 18 games so far this season and has tallied two goals and an assist. It may not look like much, but he is a great leader on the ice and a tremendous penalty killer.

This isn't the first time that Colliton has played for the Sound Tigers. He has played three seasons, skating in 250 career games. At 25, he is already an AHL veteran. Last year he played in the Swedish Elite League and has come back faster than ever.

Game Preview: Sound Tigers at Hartford Wolf Pack

Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Hartford Wolf Pack

7:00pm, XL Center

The Sound Tigers look for their second win this weekend and to sweep tonight as they play the Hartford Wolf Pack. This is the second game of the weekend home and home series. The Sound Tigers took the first game at Harbor Yard 4-1. Now all eyes turn to the XL Center for tonights game.

Last time they played each other:

It was last night at Arena at Harbor Yard. The game was close all the way through, with both teams trading scoring chances, although the score did not reflect it. The Sound Tigers got two from Jon Sim and one from Rob Hisey and Jesse Joensuu on their way to a 4-1 win. Some bad news for the Sound Tigers however, is the fact that Jon Sim, Justin DiBenedetto, Dustin Kohn, and Jean Borbeau all left the game due to injury and did not return.

Being that the two teams played each other last night their records now are, Bridgeport 5-6-0-0 move up to fifth in the Atlantic Division while Hartford 3-8-2-1 falls to seventh in the Atlantic Division. If this game is played like last night, it will be noticeably physical with it's fair share of fights.

Key Players:

With a couple of key players possibly out for Bridgeport in tonights game look for Rob Hisey to step up. Hisey leads the team with three goals and eight assists including a goal last night against Hartford and another one he put in that was credited to Jon Sim.

For Hartford look for Kris Newbury. Newbury leads Hartford with one goal and eight assists for nine points this season.

Sound Tigers defeat Wolf Pack 4-1

The Sound Tigers got their first win of the year against their arch rivals the Hartford Wolf Pack tonight with a 4-1 win. However, the score does not indicate how close the game was. Also, the Sound Tigers had four players who did not return to the game due to injuries.

The first period started off with a bang, when Sound Tiger Jean Borbeau railed Pavel Valentenko into the boards. Valentenko was down for a bit before getting helped off the ice by the trainer. During that time, Borbeau was jumped by Hartford's Dane Byers. Both received five minutes for fighting with an extra two going to Byers for roughing. The Sound Tigers would capitalize on the power play as Rob Hisey jammed it past the Hartford goalie. The puck was over the line, but the ref could not tell, for good measure Jon Sim hit it all the way in and was credited the goal making it 1-0. Poulin made a couple good glove saves keeping the Sound Tigers ahead. Shots in the period, for Bridgeport 13 and Hartford 8.

Sound Tigers would strike quickly in the second, as Jon Sim banked one off of Wolf Pack goalie Cameron Talbot and into the net to make it 2-0, only :45 seconds into the second. Tony Romano would score three minutes later for the Sound Tigers to put them up 3-0. With the game slipping away, Hartford put out their tough guys to try and gain some momentum. Justin Soryal and Borbeau dropped the gloves, and five seconds after that, Jeremy Yablonski fought Jared Nightingale; Yablonski threw Nightingale around like it was nothing. After Borbeau's bout, he left the ice and appeared to be hurt. He would not return in the game. With 2:15 left to go in the second, a scrum in front of the net, lead to Justin DiBenedetto getting mauled and being thrown to the ground. DiBenedetto would receive a double minor and be lead off the ice. He would not return to the game due to possible injury. Poulin stood on his head this period, seeing numerous odd man rushes, he stood tall and kept his shutout going. Shots in the period, for Bridgeport 7 and Hartford 11.

Poulin's bid for a shutout would fall short in the third, as Hartford's Devin DiDiomete scored on a crazy scramble in front of the net making it 3-1. This is as close as Hartford would come as Poulin kept shutting the door on everything the Wolf Pack threw his way. Jon Sim, who had two goals so far on the night, was hit in the nose area with a stick, and left the ice not to return. Also, Dustin Kohn did not come out after intermission to play the third period. However, the Tigers stayed strong and Jesse Joensuu put in a empty netter to make it 4-1. Shots in the third, for Bridgeport 8 and for Hartford 10.

THREE STARS
BRI – Jon Sim
BRI – Kevin Poulin
BRI – Rob Hisey

Bridgeport Lineup:

FORWARD LINES
Sim – Hisey – Rakhshani
DiBendetto – Ullstrom – Joensuu
Haley – Colliton – Figren
Bourbeau – Romano – Yablonski

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Kohn – Hamonic
Katic – Reese
Motherwell - Wotton

Before the game, Scared Heart Men's D1 Hockey Team played American International College in a close and exciting game. Sacred Heart won 4-2. If you can get to one of these Sacred Heart/Sound Tigers Double Header days, make the effort, it is great hockey.

Their remaining games at Harbor Yard are:

Jan. 8 - vs. Air Force @ 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 5 - vs. Bentley @ 3:30 p.m.
Feb. 20 - vs. Holy Cross @ 12:00 p.m.
Feb. 26 - vs. Army @ 3:30 p.m.

Pre Game: Sound Tigers.vs. Hartford Wolf Pack

The Sound Tigers look to get back to there winning ways tonight as they face off against there arch rivals the Hartford Wolf Pack. This is game one of a home and home series which will see the Sound Tigers home tonight and in Hartford tomorrow.

Last time they played each other:

The last time the two teams played one another was on October 16th. In a very physical game at Harbor Yard which saw two fights and saw five roughing minors in the first period alone. It was close all the way to the end with Hartford taking the game 2-1 scoring with five minutes to go in the third.

Hartford 3-7-2-1 lost to the Manchester Monarchs on Friday 3-2. Brodie Dupont and Mats Zuccarello scored Hartford's goals.

Bridgeport 4-6-0-0 is coming off of a lack luster performance on Friday night in a 6-1 loss against the Providence Bruins. Rhett Rakhshani recored the only goal for the Sound Tigers in the game on the power play.

Key players:

For Hartford look for Kris Newbury. Newbury Leads Hartford with one goal and eight assists for nine points this season.

For Bridgeport look towards the net. If the Sound Tigers stick with the rotation they have had in goal we will get tot see Kevin Poulin. Poulin so far has played the best out of all three goalies on the roster. Every time he is in the net the Sound Tigers have a chance to win.

Hockey Double Header! Sacred Heart Men's Division One hockey team to play AIC at 3:30 on Saturday

The Sacred Heart Pioneers Men's Ice Hockey Team will play its first of five home games at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday, Nov. 6 against American International College at 3:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, Nov. 3 the Sound Tigers and Sacred Heart University held a press conference at the Arena at Harbor Yard announcing that the Pioneers would play five of their home games at the Sound Tigers home arena in the 2010-11 season. All five Pioneers games will precede Sound Tigers home games. Following each Sacred Heart game, fans who purchase their tickets through Sacred Heart will have the opportunity to exchange their tickets for a voucher to the Sound Tigers game that night. Sound Tigers tickets for that night will also grant fans entry to the preceding Sacred Heart game.

-http://www.soundtigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=22700&ATCLID=205024784

Former Sound Tigers Updates

This is an article that will feature updates on past Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Pascal Morency: Pascal, a fan favorite in Bridgeport, has signed a two way AHL-ECHL contract with the Houston Aeros. He has since been sent down to the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL. We wish him the best of luck with his new team.

Drew Fata: Drew, one of my favorite former players on the Sound Tigers, Has been released from his PTO with the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. In his one game with the Penguins during the PTO he had no points.

Jeff Tambellini: Signed with the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. In four games so far Tambellini has recored one goal and one assist with six penalty minutes.

Raffi Torres: Also signing with the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. In eight games, Torres has two goals and an assist with twenty-one penalty minutes.

Sean Bergenheim: After not being resigned by the Islanders in the off season, Bergenheim signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL. In eight games he has three goals and two assists with six penalty minutes.

Jeremy Reich: Signing with the Boston Bruins in the off season he was assigned to Providence. In six games with Providence, he has two assists and eleven penalty minutes.

Tyler Haskins: Haskins has signed with EHC Wolfsburg. So far, he has one goal and four assists.

Joe Callahan: After signing with St.Louis in the summer. Callahan was involved in a trade that would send him to the Florida Panthers. He was then assigned to the Rochester Americans in the AHL. Callahan was named assistant captain this year for Rochester. In seven games he has three assists and six penalty minutes.

More to come in the next edition.

Sound Tigers fall 6-3 to Manchester

It was a very rough game tonight in Manchester against the Monarchs as the Sound Tigers fell by the final score of 6-3. Tonight saw the season debut of two Sound Tigers in Jeremy Colliton and Nathan Lawson.

The first period was the most penalized period the Sound Tigers have ever played. It started early, as at 5:09 Micheal Haley blatantly cross checked a Manchester player away from the play then proceeded to go after a Manchester defenseman in the corner, jumping him and trying to throw punches as the Manchester player had his arms over his head protecting himself. This drew everyone on the ice over. Micheal Haley would receive a double minor for roughing and a two minute penalty for cross checking to add on to it. He would total six minutes in penalties on the play. Manchester's John Zeiler would also receive a two minute minor for roughing. Haley's bad penalties would cost the Sound Tigers as Manchester would score twice on the power play. The first one came on a two on one, as Manchester's Corey Elkins made a great pass to teammate David Meckler who made a great shot top shelf over the glove of Lawson to make it 1-0. With six minutes of penalties because of Haley, the Sound Tigers would still be on the penalty kill. A shot from the point would beat a screened Lawson to make it 2-0. The Sound Tigers were getting frustrated and it showed as after Dustin Kohn got nailed by two Monarchs, Travis Hamonic fought Zeiler who hit Kohn. On the ensuing face off, Matt Martin and Manchester's Richard Clune, who helped sandwich Kohn, dropped the gloves. Martin got a couple good blows in but Clune won the tilt landing a good right and taking down Martin. On the next face off, Jeremy Yablonski dropped the gloves with big Justin Johnson, Yablonski took advantage of Johnson getting a couple solid punches before taking Johnson down. Manchester would not be done scoring, as Brandon Kozun would score at 10:04 to make it 3-0. There was a bright spot in the first however, as Hisey would find the loose puck in front of Manchester's Jeff Zatkoff and put it into the open net to bring the Sound Tigers within two, with the score 3-1.

Shots in the period for Bridgeport, 11 and Manchester, 14.

The second was no where near as physical as the first and had a lot less scoring. The Sound Tigers would get on the board first, when on the power play Justin DiBenedetto took a shot from the top of the circle by the boards, the puck would go five hole past Zatkoff to make it 3-2. Jesse Joensuu provided a great screen on the goal, giving Zatkoff no chance at all to find the puck. The Sound Tigers looked to have good momentum going into the third when at 19:49 Manchester's Kozun got his second of the game off of a rebound to make the score 4-2. Lawson continued to play well but got little support from the team. Shots in the second for Bridgeport, 9 and Manchester, 11.

It was a quick start for the Sound Tigers in the third as at 1:13 David Ullstrom took a quick wrist shot past Zatkoff to make it a 4-3 game. This would be the closest the Sound Tigers would come to coming back in the game. The Manchester Monarchs would put the game away the Sound Tigers would surrender two more goals. Shots in the third for Bridgeport,11 and Manchester,11.

The Sound Tigers got a good showing from goaltender Nathan Lawson tonight. Even though he did let up six goals, only one looked to be weak. Other than that Lawson made 30 saves and looked pretty composed. Colliton split time on the second and third line and recored a penalty.

3 Stars:

#1.Brandon Kozun-Man

#2.Alec Martinez-Man

#3.David Meckler-Man

Shots:

Bridgeport-31

Manchester-36

Starting Lineups:

Bridgeport/Manchester

#52-Nathan Lawson-G/#36-Jeff Zatkoff-G

#3-Travis Hamonic-D/#76-Viatcheslav Voynov-D

#5-Dustin Kohn-D/#37-Tomas Hickey-D

#10-Rhett Rakhshani-RW/#9-Bud Holloway-RW

#17-Matt Martin-LW/#21-Dwight King-LW

#26-Rob Hisey-C/#15-Justin Azevedo-C

Game Preview: Sound Tigers at Manchester Monarchs

Sound Tigers at Manchester Monarchs

7pm, Verizon Wireless Center

The Sound Tigers look for back to back wins as they will face off against the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday night. Last Sunday, the Sound Tigers gave the Portland Pirates their first loss of the season, winning by the score of 4-1. The Sound Tigers found power play goals from Justin DiBenedetto and David Ullstrom to put the game out of reach for Portland.

Last time these two teams met:

The Last time the two teams met was on October 10th. Even though this was only the Sound Tigers' second game of the season, it was one of the most controversial games they will probably have this season as with .6 seconds to go in the game Matt Martin's game tying goal was called off due to a hand pass that never happened. The Monarchs would go on to win by the score of 2-1.

Manchester 2-2-0-1, who looked to have found their scoring touch, played Tuesday night against Portland. Manchester took Portland into overtime tied at two. But overtime would not settle it, so the game went into a shootout. In the ninth round, with both teams tied at one in the shootout, Portland's Whitmore scored to end the game. Manchester fell to Portland 3-2 in a SO.

Bridgeport 2-3-0-0, is coming off a strong showing on Sunday against Portland as they won 4-1. The power play was on fire, with DiBenedetto and Ullstrom score two power play goals. Also Kevin Poulin, who got his pro win, had a great performance and was named one of the stars because of it.

Key Players:

For Bridgeport, if he is played, look for center Jeremy Colliton who is signed to a PTO at the moment. He will be looking to impress the coaching staff so he can stay around for the rest of the season. When Colliton is on his game he is a point-a-game player.

For Manchester, David Meckler has been playing great hockey for Manchester and is tied for first on the team with Dwight King with five points. He also leads Manchester with 16 shots. Look for Meckler and King to be on Manchester's starting lineup.

Update: Nathan Lawson has been loaned from the New York Islanders to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Lawson was put on injured reserve at the start of season with the New York Islanders. Last year Lawson played 36 games with the Sound Tigers going 16-16-3. Look for him to get a start soon enough and if the goaltending can hold up on the Island, I would not be surprised if he took over the starting spot, as he has proved before that he can handle the work load.