Soundin' Off

Sacred Heart plays its last Harbor Yard game of the season, and in case I’m running around a bit post-that-game/pre-pro-game, just wanted to get the framework of the pregame post up. Should be Anders Nilsson vs. Jason Bacashihua (per Joe Paterson via Tim McManus last night, and give that story a read for the tough time Matt Ford has gone through lately). Riley Gill, the Kalamazoo goalie you may remember from last season, signs a PTO to back up for Bridgeport.

BRIDGEPORT
F: Riley-Frischmon (A)-Marcinko
Howes-Colliton (C)-Backman
DiBenedetto (A)-Cizikas-Rakhshani
Ullstrom-Mouillierat-Haley
D: Landry-Jackson
Gentile-Cunningham
Donovan-Oleksy
G: Nilsson
Gill

ADIRONDACK
F: Hamel (A)-Holmstrom (C)-Ford
Zolnierczyk-Roe-Harper
McGinn-Brown-Akeson
Klotz-Pither-Rowe
D: Manning-Eddy
Lauridsen-Thomas
Gustafsson-Jancevski (A)
G: Bacashihua
Leighton

R: T.Koharski. L: Galvin, Redding.

Tony Romano had an assist credited Friday night, but it was taken away in his first game with Chicago. We’d talked at practice about the former Sound Tigers there; I’d forgotten there were that many, not to mention that they were playing against a former BST. (If you feel like some minor trivia, go ahead and name the seven (unless you have another) former BST players or staffers involved in that game.) Meanwhile, on his first shift since October, Chris Langkow scored. Unfortunately for the Aces, they didn’t score again.

And got a start on the day at Fairfield University for the Special Olympics floor hockey tournament. The shots some of those kids were taking, sign ‘em up.

*-Maybe. Tell you for sure in like two hours**. He’s an assistant coach for Holy Cross now.
**-Holy Cross 3, Sacred Heart 2.

Two men missing this morning, one newcomer, one in a different but not unusual spot. Let’s start with who wasn’t here. Chris Langkow was released from his PTO, which sends him back to Alaska to get some games in as he comes back from injury. Tony Romano, Brent Thompson said: “personal,” without more specifics.

Dallas Jackson joined the group on defense. “We’ve got seven D out there who are reliable, with Olson being the seventh, a strong, physical presence,” Thompson said. “Dallas Jackson’s a big body, seems like he moves his feet very well. Wes Cunningham’s mobile, got a head on his shoulders.” They join, in order of appearance, Donovan, Oleksy, Gentile and Landry. Benn Olson, in the different but not unusual spot, wore white today with Tyler McNeely and Trevor Gillies.

Mark Katic, Calvin de Haan and Brett Gallant (the latter two in orange no-contact jerseys) took part in the whole practice (except the contact parts). They’re not expected back this weekend. (In case it got lost in the chat, Barry Goers went back to Vegas on Tuesday.)

If you didn’t see it earlier in the week, our Vinti Singh from news side wrote on the business side of having the NCAA* at the barn, with the note that the team says Sunday was its highest-grossing date.

I may’ve been looking in the wrong spot earlier, but Sports Club Stats has the AHL playoff probabilities up and… well, sorta running; the stats are a week old. Going into last Friday, Bridgeport had a 70 percent chance of making the playoffs, by their numbers; that presumably went up a smidgen.

All kinds of injuries for incoming Adirondack**, including former future Sound Tiger Blake Kessel. Edit: Here’s more of a summary from Tim McManus. And if this got lost in the chat, too, Boyd Kane is suspended for the weekend, so he’ll miss Sunday’s game here. (And Sunday’s a TV game to Central PA, apparently.)

Edit2: Trade sends almost-BST Bryan Rodney to Edmonton for former BST Ryan O’Marra; O’Marra reports to Syracuse.

Gwinnett sent Jackson to Bridgeport, and today it sent former Sound Tiger Joey Haddad to Hamilton***.

Edit3: Milwaukee re-upped with Nashville through 2014, with a mutual option for one more.

Community corner: You can sign up to bowl with the Sound Tigers. And Saturday morning is the second annual Special Olympics Floor Hockey Invitational, with the support of the BST Booster Club and the team. It’s at Fairfield University’s Quick Recreation Complex, 9-11:30 a.m. with awards and lunch to follow for the competitors. Neat event last year.

*-I both love and hate reading USCHO’s weekly Bracketology. It’s obviously going to change week-to-week; there’s no real way to predict today who’ll be here in late March. But it’s fun to think about.
**-Aside: As seen on Tim McManus’ feed, so wrong, but…
***-For some reason, Peter Lenes’ name always trips my “local ties” radar. I wish I knew why. Somebody have a similar name on a local team, maybe? As far as I know, his ties to the area are “played two NCAA games at Harbor Yard for Vermont.”

Not only were there no defensemen missing for Bridgeport this morning, there was an extra body up front: Chris Langkow took the full practice for the first time since October. He said he felt good. Timing and conditioning are still to come, and it’s not like he’s playing this weekend, but it’s a step forward.

Barry Goers, with No. 40 on his helmet, practiced with the team for the first time. It’s probably not often that a guy gets to go bowling with his teammates before he skates with them, but hey. He appeared to be with Steve Oleksy on the first run-throughs (having Mark Katic available for some drills mixed things up sometimes); Brent Thompson remembered Goers playing the left for Las Vegas even though he’s a righty. Still a couple of days before they play.

The NHL’s going to the Big House for next year’s Winter Classic. Grand Rapids plans to piggyback on the downtown Detroit part of the event and play the Marlies at Comerica in December. (I’d say they missed a marketing opportunity by not bringing Bridgeport, but then again, it’s not Tiger Stadium.)

And belatedly noted, RIP, Ian Abercrombie.

For 30 minutes or so, it looked as if this post was going to be a panegyric to the power play, a whole lot of “is this where it turns around” and such.

And then Brock Trotter and Nathan Oystrick broke out, and bad things happened from there for Bridgeport. A 2-0 lead turned into a 4-2 loss. “We gave away points the last two weeks,” Brent Thompson said, and after they led Manchester 2-0 and 3-1, and led Albany 3-1, it’s true. There has to be “killer instinct, to nail it down, that nobody’s going to get another goal.”

A breakdown turns into a two-on-one. A penalty at the end of the period turns into the tying goal. A crazy bounce becomes the winner. And an empty-netter. That’s ballgame.

….

But hey, the power play, right? Ty Wishart and Calvin de Haan get shots through. Second effort by Colliton and Howes in front of the net. Good things happen. “We have to do (those kinds of things) at five-on-five as well,” Thompson said. We don’t see the second unit until the second period. Maybe this is where that turns around. (Portland coach Ray Edwards was displeased with his guys’ first period in general, let alone the penalty kill. But still.) Only the third time the Sound Tigers have scored two PPGs in a game. Someone noted a weird one, though: Bridgeport lost all three games.

This was Game 25, so Chris Langkow’s season-opening PTO expired. He has signed another, though he remains out.

Oystrick said he was looking to saucer the puck to Ethan Werek in the right corner on the winner. Fortunately for him, he got too much on it. I stand by this.

Prescout. Wouldn’t think they’re happy, either. Two points for Cam Atkinson.

Patrick Wiercioch will see a throat specialist, Joy Lindsay reports.

Darren Haydar reaches 700 AHL points.

Speaking of milestones, one for the Rangers. Haven’t seen the Travis Hamonic major that beat the Islanders up tonight, but sounds like a doozy. (Haven’t seen the big college basketball fight, either.)

And RIP, Joe Restic.

Steve Oleksy indeed joined the team on a pro tryout. He’s apparently insurance for Benn Olson, who like Chris Langkow was out today. “We’ve got a couple of guys banged up, upper-body,” Brent Thompson said; he wasn’t sure if they might be out for the weekend. That left 12 forwards and seven defensemen to go with the three goalies.

They got skated hard at the end of practice. Welcome home, fellas.

Reminder that the chat will be Wednesday instead of today, still at 1:30. Off to work on said story right now.

Edit: They had the defenseman this morning, and it looks like they’ll have the forward tomorrow: Afternoon’s ECHL transactions have Alaska loaning Dan Kissel to Bridgeport. Second-year pro has yet to make his AHL debut.

So that’s two goals in four games deflecting home off defensemen. Two goals for Tomas Marcinko in four games. A goal and an assist for Brett Gallant in three games. A goal and two assists for Chris Langkow in four games.

A night when it took a while to get things going, and the fourth line gets two big ones.

“The fourth line was fantastic,” Brent Thompson said. “(They) were consistently strong the entire 60 minutes.” He laughed. “Now they’ve got to back it up tomorrow.”

They were outshot, dominated, for 27 minutes. It could’ve been 3-0; Klementyev jumped into the rush, but a turnover on the other side of the ice left him trapped, and it turned into a Hartford two-on-one that turned into a Kelsey Tessier breakaway from the hash marks. Kevin Poulin made the save on the backhander. And then a minute and a half later David Ullstrom comes up the right side and starts the comeback.

John Mitchell goes for unsportsmanlike conduct five minutes later, and then Jared Nightingale gets the stick up on Justin DiBenedetto, and then Ty Wishart gets his first assist of two when the shot hits DiBenedetto (five goals in nine periods). Tie game, somehow. And then Marcinko banks one in off Brendan Bell. And then Hartford comes back again, early goal in the third, short-handed breakaway off a turnover, and the Whale lead. And then Wishart’s shot again, with Gallant in front…

“I don’t know what to tell ya,” Gallant says with a laugh. “I just went to the net.” He says he has no idea where it hit him. “They can go off my teeth and I’ll be happy,” he said.

However they can win, I guess.

…..

Colliton’s assist on the Ullstrom goal, added at the start of the third, gives him 111 as a Sound Tiger, one more than Rob Collins. Just 22 more goals to tie Jeff Hamilton.

Klementyev took a Wade Redden shot off his leg in the third period and was limping around. Thompson called him day-to-day.

Prescout, and turns out the Phantoms are human. Four points for former Farmington standout Nick Bonino for Syracuse.

Kris Newbury has points on eight of the nine Whale non-shootout goals this year, and that’s only one short because Hagelin picked off that short-handed goal himself. That earned Newbury a call to the Rangers. Mats Zuccarello headed the other way.

An all-2008-09 Sound Tigers goaltending matchup in St. John’s tonight. The win to Peter Mannino over Nathan Lawson.

You can really ask your iPhone questions like this? And it comes back with answers like that? Jeez, all I can do is yell at my phone. “Why won’t you work, Celly?” And after that, it’s 50-50 that I can call somebody.

Speaking of, should call the office. More tomorrow.

It began with a few players shooting on the goalies, and it continued with about a 75-minute, uptempo, hard-working practice. Brent Thompson was “extremely” happy. “They all worked very, very hard,” he said.

Lines in no particular order, with the addition of Chris Langkow on a pro tryout:

Haley-Ullstrom-Wallace
McNeely-Cizikas-Backman
DiBenedetto-Langkow-Marcinko
Gallant/Romano

Olson-Klementyev
Ness-Donovan
De Haan-Wishart

Plus goalies Poulin, Koskinen and Nilsson.

Groupings subject to change, as you’d expect would be said, particularly since they could get a few more players by Wednesday afternoon. “We’re definitely just going to be feeling the lines out,” Thompson said. He’d like to have them a little more firm late in the week. Thursday or Friday is, by the way, also when he expects the team will announce its captains.

Langkow — cousin to Daymond and Scott*, per his Aces bio — played for Thompson last year with Alaska; he also played eight games for Peoria and was in Rivermen camp until recently. “It’s an opportunity for him to show what he can do,” said Thompson, who said he’s a skilled kid, can play defense, good character, goes to the hard areas.

Mark Katic, Rhett Rakhshani and Jeremy Colliton are all in town.

The team will be at Harbor Yard all week to get ready for Saturday/Sunday.

*-Holy cro, that was the year I covered New Haven that Scott won the Bastien Award with Springfield.

Edit, 4 p.m. — The Islanders announced this afternoon that Nino Niederreiter and Trevor Gillies have gone on injured reserve; groin for both. That leaves 26 active, including Strome and Kabanov, and if those two go back to junior, that leaves only one other move necessary.