Game Preview: Sound Tigers.vs.Springfield Falcons

Sound Tigers.Vs.Springfield Falcons

11am, Arena at Harbor Yard

Cool Fun 101

The Sound Tigers will be looking for their second straight win in a row, when they face off against the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday. The game is also the Sound Tiger's annual Cool Fun 101 game, which allows teachers to bring their classes to a game and teach in a creative learning environment.

Springfield Falcons 6-4-0-0, are coming off back to back wins against the Hartford Wolf Pack. Both games were close, as Springfield pulled the win in both games, only ahead by one goal.

Bridgeport 3-5-0-0, is coming off a big overtime win against Manchester. Travis Hamonic scored the OT winner only 66 seconds into overtime. The Sound Tigers may have some grit added to the lineup if John Sim can clear waivers.

Key Players:

For Bridgeport, look for David Ullstrom to continue to make nifty plays out on the ice. He made a great forehand to backhand move to score the first goal in the game against Manchester. He is also playing great two way hockey, getting back to help out his defense.

For Springfield, watch for Carter Bancks. Bancks is the leading point getter for Springfield with two goals and seven assists for nine points. He is a very good passer and is a great play maker.

Hamonic gets his first goal as Sound Tigers beats Manchester 3-2 in OT

With only one game on the schedule this weekend, the Sound Tigers came out fighting, looking to notch their first road win of the season as they took on the Manchester Monarchs. Also this was Rob Shremp's first, and possibly only, game as a Sound Tiger, as he was down with the club for a conditioning stint.

In the first, Kevin Poulin who was in net for the Sound Tigers, got right into the game, making a huge save off his own rebound, going into a split and stopping Richard Clune right on the door step. The Sound Tigers then had a couple of good chances in a row, as the puck bounced around between the crease. Micheal Haley had an open net but fanned and Manchester cleared the puck. They had another good chance as on a two on one, a pass to Anton Klementyev was blocked and bounced over Monarchs goalie Jeff Zatkoff, but it somehow managed to elude the net. Poulin was out standing yet again when a shot hit off of his mask and the rebound popped out to his glove side, then he stretched out and made a great save. The Sound Tigers would get on the board first as Manchester's Brandon Kozun would take a two minute penalty for high sticking David Ullstrom. On the power play, Ullstrom picked the puck up out of the corner, carried it low then cut to the front of the net where he did a nice little forehand to back hand move to beat Zatkoff and make it 1-0. Shots in the period, for Bridgeport 10 and Manchester 9.

The second saw more outstanding play from Poulin as he made a great glove save to rob Manchester's Brandon Kozun. The Sound Tigers would get the only goal however, as late in the second, Schremp carried it behind the net and back handed it out into the slot where Rob Hisey was waiting wide open . He caught the pass and picked the top right corner to make it 2-0. Shots in the period, for Bridgeport 13 and for Manchester 9.

Kevin Poulin, making key saves in the start of every period, was a big role in the game when in the third he came up with another good save as he stayed square to the shooter, took down the angle, and made a good save with his mask which actually unbuckled his helmet's straps and shook him up a bit but he would be okay. Jeff Zatkoff would come up big in the other end for Manchester making a couple big saves keeping the Monarchs in it. Manchester would mount the come back though as a quick little wrister from David Meckler beat Poulin short side to bring Manchester with in one and make it 2-1. Four minutes later, Manchester would strike again as with Jean Borbeau in the box for tripping, Alec Marteniez walked in from the point and put one in the back of the net past a screened Poulin to make it 2-2. Although both teams traded good scoring chances at the end of the period, the score would stay even and call for overtime. Shots in the third for Bridgeport 6 and for Manchester 9.

It would only take sixty six seconds for the the Sound Tigers to score, once overtime began. Travis Hamonic found himself all alone down low and took a quick wrist shot that beat Zatkoff through the five hole to win the game for the Sound Tigers with the final score being 3-2. This was Hamonic's first career pro goal and it came on the only shot either team had in overtime.

3 Stars:

#1.Travis Hamonic-BST

#2.Alec Martinez-MAN

#3.Kevin Poulin-BST

Shots:

Bridgeport:30

Manchester:27

Sound Tigers Lineup:

FORWARD LINES
Hisey – Schremp – Rakhshani
DiBenedetto – Ullstrom – Joensuu
Haley – Marcinko – Figren
Bourbeau – Colliton – Yablonski

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Kohn – Hamonic
Katic – Reese
Wotton - Klementyev

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 late rally comes up short in 2-1 loss

Looking to salvage a win this weekend, the Sound Tigers were in Portland, Maine to play the Portland Pirates. Although the Sound Tigers pounded the Pirates with shots, Portland's David Leggio stopped all but one to get Portland the win.

In the first Portland would take the lead quick as only :22 seconds into the period as T.J. Brennan shot one from the top of the circle that got through a maze of people and past Sound Tiger goaltender Mikko Koskinen to put the Pirates up 1-0. The rest of the period would be played pretty even, as both teams traded scoring chances. The Sound Tigers would also take three penalties, one by Rhett Rakhshani and the other two by Jeremy Colliton who is on the team by a professional tryout contract. They were able to kill the penalties and escape the period only down by one. The Sound Tigers would also get a shot on the power play but hit both the post and cross bar. Portland led in shots after the first with 10 to the Sound Tigers 7.

The second period would see Portland score again, this time on the power play. After a slash from Portland's Luke Adam, a skirmish started after the whistle behind the net and led to both Robin Figren and Tomas Marcinko of the Sound Tigers receiving two minutes each for roughing. This put Portland on the power play and they made the most of it as Matt Ellis who was all alone in the slot, fired a one timer past Koskinen to make it a 2-0 Portland. There were a ton of shots taken in the second as Portland took 14 and the Sound Tigers took 13.

The Sound Tigers poured it on offensively as the third wore on, peppering Leggio with shot after shot. They took 17 shots on Leggio in the third period alone. The Sound Tigers looked like they had a shot at coming back in the game as Jesse Joensuu found a puck after a turn over and fired it past Leggio to make it 2-1. This however, would be the only goal the Sound Tigers would get as with the seconds ticking down on the clock, Joensuu's shot was stopped, this time point blank by Leggio to secure the win. Sound Tigers out shot the Pirates by a impressive 17 shots to 7.

# Stars:

#1. David Leggio-POR

#2. Matt Ellis-POR

#3. Mikko Koskinen-BST

Honorable Mention-Jesse Joensuu-Scored lone goal for the Tigers

Shots:

Bridgeport:37

Portland:31

Sound Tigers Line up:

FORWARD LINES
DiBenedetto – Colliton – Joensuu
Martin – Hisey – Rakhshani
Haley – Marcinko – Figren
Bourbeau – Taylor – Yablonski

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Hamonic – Kohn
Reese – Katic
Wotton - Klementyev

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

Former Sound Tiger Returns Home

Former Sound Tiger Jeremy Colliton will be looking to impress the coaching staff this weekend as he has been signed by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO).

Colliton played four years for the Sound Tigers before leaving the team to go play in Sweden last year. In four years with the Sound Tigers, he recored 48 goals and 83 assists to equal 131 points. He also tallied 156 minutes in penalties. While in Sweden he had 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points and he would receive 24 penalty minutes.

Colliton will wear the number 21 like he did in 2008-09. He practiced today with the team and will likely to play over the weekend against either Manchester or Portland. He will be considered a veteran stat-wise, as he has played 320 games in the AHL and the Swedish Elite League but look for him to add a much need scoring presence the Sound Tigers.

October 30th Sound Tigers.vs.Manchester game game postponed

http://www.soundtigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=22700&ATCLID=205015776

(Official article from Soundtigers.com on the game.)

At the request of the City of Bridgeport, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers have postponed their scheduled game on Oct. 30 against the Manchester Monarchs to accommodate President Obama’s visit to the Arena at Harbor Yard.

“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.

The game has not been scheduled yet and makes the next Sound Tigers home game November 3rd at 11am against the Springfield Falcons. This is also cool fun 101.