Soundin' Off

Weird that it’s over like that. It happens.

It does appear that Kevin Poulin’s 50 saves on 54 shots set a team record. Wade Dubielewicz made 45 on 48 shots in Game 6 of the 2006 playoffs. His 22 in the second aren’t a record, though; Dubielewicz made 26 on 27 in the second period that night. That game also ended on an overtime power-play goal, Ryan Stone’s.

Did up the stats today after the chat. Updated the all-time lists. Most notably, Rhett Rakhshani moved into 10th in all-time scoring, two points ahead of Jesse Joensuu. Jeremy Colliton caught Jeff Hamilton in one category: He has more shots than Hamilton, 685-653. (Jeff’s still got him by 12 goals.) The team’s games-played list: (1) Wotton 368, (2) Colliton 326, (3) Regier 290, (4) Haley 247, (5) Marcinko 243, (6) Mapletoft 240.

Considering that fully half of the franchise’s playoff games occurred in the first two seasons, this probably isn’t stunning, but… of the Sound Tigers’ top 18 players in playoff scoring, not one played for the team after 2006. The 19th was Trevor Smith, 2-5-7 in 10 playoff games over two springs. Those 18 players include eight who weren’t in the 2002 playoff run.

Bridgeport is 43,833 away from 2,000,000 fans all-time. (ahemyes, tickets distributedahem) Take out two games at Nassau and two in the Maritimes, and they’re 77,198 away from 2,000,000 at Harbor Yard. So there’s that to look forward to, sometime in the first half of next season.

….

Below the fold are selected quotes from some of the people I pestered for a few minutes on Monday. And then we’ll go to summertime blog mode. The playoffs (Sean Bergenheim, again!), the Worlds, we’ll keep an eye as best we can. They’ll make me work, no doubt, but I’ll be around. Hope you’ve enjoyed stuff here for seven years and in the paper for 11.

Thanks to the bosses. Thanks to the PR folks and the league and the organeyezation and the fellow writers all over this league. Thanks to players and staff and coaches and Leni, Matt and Kevin and everybody else over there for putting up with me.

And most of all, thank you for reading and being here.

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(more…)

Replay scoreboard: Fourth use, with… Wait.

Let’s go back. Puck bouncing. Four penalties in the first assaults the flow. Bridgeport escapes with a lead. (Blair Riley, three-game goal streak.)

Portland ties it on a bounce off a skate. Portland takes a lead through a screen. Bridgeport looks like it’s having one of those nights.

Jon Landry scores. Justin DiBenedetto collects a perfect pass in the slot and feeds Rhett Rakhshani in front of the net. (Sadly for Portland, that perfect pass to DiBenedetto was from a Pirate.)

And then Andy Miele ties it with 55.1 seconds to go in regulation.

And then Donovan tries a wraparound as overtime winds down. It bounces back off a defenseman to Frischmon. He tries once, then twice. Somewhere in there, the buzzer sounds. Somewhere in there, the puck goes into the net.

Somewhere in there, referee Tim Mayer gives the most half-hearted point toward the puck in the back of the net. He knows what’s coming at him from the team in red. There’s not much he can do about it.

Jeez. A weird game. But two big points for Bridgeport.

“Our team won with sheer character,” Brent Thompson said. “Our details weren’t good enough. Our habits within the game weren’t good enough. Character, heart, willingness to go to those areas and get dirty goals — the guys stepped up, and obviously Poulin was fantastic.”

Poulin was. Peter Mannino wasn’t bad, either.

But it’ll be remembered for two moments in overtime, one at either end, one where the new video replay system could’ve really helped.

With about 2:30 left, Brett MacLean carried it up three-on-three. He got around Ty Wishart to the outside and put it to the front, where Nick Ross had a half-step. Poulin stopped Ross’ shot and tried to cover it behind him; it kicked instead toward the goal line, where Jon Landry pulled it out of either the net or the crease, depending on how far across the goal line the puck got. The red light came on. Mayer, arriving on the scene, waved “no.” Naturally, play went on for another 90-something seconds. Mayer finally goes in to take a look.

What specifically happened in there, we don’t know. From the league: “A malfunction of the system being tested prevented proper review from taking place. Officials followed proper procedures to rule on the play.” Mayer talked to the goal judge after a while, went back to the box, exited and waved it off one more time.

Presumably, then, the system wasn’t available to check one more thing: Whether the puck went into the net before time expired in overtime.

We’ve got a VHS look at that. It’s impossible to tell for sure from the center-ice camera angle with Phil’s audio patched into it; the buzzer sounds on that tape just about as Frischmon gets his second whack. Is the audio synchronized to the video? Is there any delay to the audio? No way to know. It’s close enough that you’d almost certainly need some sort of clear visual evidence — clock, superimposed, for instance — to overturn the call. And the call, as that half-hearted point made clear, was “goal.” They’ve still got a two-point lead on the Whale.

“It was one of those games where we had to find an ugly way to win,” Thompson said.

“And we did.”

….

The Sound Tigers’ magic number for a playoff spot is five points. It can’t be done before Wednesday (Portland is off until Tuesday in St. John’s), but if things break right, they could do it that morning.

Ullstrom hurting the Cy Young candidacy with two assists. Now 21-6.

Steve Oleksy moved back to defense late in the second period and was there for the third in his usual defense spot alongside Matt Donovan. They were more or less down to three lines, with Tomas Marcinko spotting in on the penalty kill and on the wing with Frischmon. “I was just trying to shake it up,” Thompson said, adding, “every guy contributes every game, whether they play one shift, whether they play 100 shifts. Even the guys who don’t play are contributing. We want every guy to feel valued. Tonight, we needed to shorten the bench.”

The Whale beat the Phantoms to stay two points back.

Portland actually gained a spot in the standings (because Adirondack lost to the Whale, falling to 10th) but lost ground (by only gaining one while Manchester and Syracuse got two).

Speaking of, Prescout. It will be really weird to see Trent Hunter back here, particularly in another sweater. Brian O’Neill also returns, for the second time since last year’s regional ended early.

Not sure if it was mathematical before on some level, but it certainly is now: There will be a new Calder Cup champion, with Binghamton eliminated. Steve Stirling was running the bench tonight for the Sens with Kurt Kleinendorst suspended.

St. John’s win over Hershey clinched the Atlantic Division for the Caps. It also clinched the East Division for Norfolk, which wins even when it doesn’t play.

Tip of cap to Ray Whitney, 1,000 points.

Merits aside, take a look at Tim E. O’Brien’s rebranding concept for the Columbus Blue Jackets Generals… and in particular, look at his concept for the captain and alternates patches.

Beltran/Wainwright, teammates five and a half years later. Painful read. (Hat tip: Andy Martino.)

And RIP, Samuel Glazer.

You could probably have written something like the script to this one before the game, though you might’ve taken a Providence power-play goal or two away for realism’s sake.

Depleted lineup. Depleted goaltending. Three-in-three for Providence after a Bridgeport day off. This is a game the Sound Tigers are supposed to win in fashion like this. They executed and got it done.

“It’s what we try to do, bang bodies, get pucks to the net, outwork (the other team),” Micheal Haley said. “It worked out tonight.”

Jeremy Colliton, Blair Riley, newbie Russ Sinkewich: They all had a memorable hit in the first period. The team went to work on the forecheck, forcing turnovers that helped lead to a couple of goals.

“I thought our guys played hard,” Thompson said. “Five on five, we moved the puck very well. We pushed the pace.” The defense moved it up; the forwards got it deep.

Thompson said they kept a pretty even keel through it all, not getting too high or too low as the scoreboard swung a bit early in the game. It’s that whole “we haven’t done anything yet” thing that they’ve talked about once or 300 times, I guess. But they kept playing the way they wanted to play, and against a beat-up team, it worked pretty well.

…..

Will clean up tags and messes from home. Computer’s being a pain, and I may be the only one in the building.

Well, there’s 20 games left, and I said I’d start looking at it then, so… Hartford came from behind to beat Manchester 3-2, so Bridgeport remains a tiebreaker ahead. Albany came back to tie Syracuse late, but the Crunch won it not two minutes later (with a primary assist from Ryan O’Marra). The Devils are five points back.

Mark Katic got his first body contact early on his first shift, stepping up to hit a guy. “I just wanted to get that out of the way early, put a hit in to see how the shoulder felt,” Katic said. “It felt strong.” A few seconds later, he found a seam toward the net and took the puck deep, then tried a wraparound. The kid was back. “It just felt great to be back out there,” he said; he wasn’t where he was at the end of last year, obviously, but a good first step. He wasn’t on the ice for a goal either way. “I thought he gave us a boost on the power play,” Thompson said. “He moved the puck. You could tell his offensive skill level. I’m very happy with the way he played.” Katic missed a couple of shifts to start the second period after a skate blade broke on him.

Riley went all those games without a goal, and now they’re coming furiously, three in the past six games. “It’s good to chip in. It’s not necessarily what I’m expected to do, but (getting down toward the playoffs) you need your third and fourth lines to chip in.”

Arbitrary numbers and other factors and all, but for what it’s worth, Jeremy Colliton is only the second player to score at least 10 goals in four Bridgeport seasons. (One of those factors is that he’s the only player to play in six Bridgeport seasons.) Justin Mapletoft is the other.

Anders Nilsson shut out New Jersey. An assist for Casey Cizikas, too.

Prescout. Nice comeback for a point.

Wade Redden is the new captain of the Connecticut Whale.

Tim Leone wrote a nice piece on the 10th year of Giant Center. He also has the Bears’ top individual moments there, which feature Bridgeport once or twice, and he has team moments, too, which surprisingly don’t include Bridgeport.

Under oddball circumstances, Erie (OHL) gave up 13 goals today with an injured centerman in goal.

And RIP, Alex Webster and Ralph McQuarrie.

Afternoon edit: The Islanders sent Aaron Ness down this afternoon. Edit2: Cizikas up (possible NHL debut to come), Poulin down as well. Edit3: Kael Mouillierat’s agent says he’s agreed to terms.

Tim Wallace had just gone onto the ice at Webster Bank Arena for a skate after the Sound Tigers’ practice when Brent Thompson, phone to his ear, bolted out from his office to the rink.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had claimed Wallace off waivers before the noon deadline, sending him to the Gulf Coast instead of Bridgeport.

“It’s nice, obviously, a good thing that another team likes you,” Wallace said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a couple of days. I’m just going to take it one game at a time from now on.”

Wallace (this was about 12:45) was just leaving the arena and had talked to his agent but not anyone from the Lightning yet. He has a familiar face waiting for him: Nate Thompson, a good friend from back home in Alaska.

(We’d say “former Islander Nate Thompson,” but it’s Tampa; they’re all former Islanders.)

Unless I’m forgetting or misinterpreting something, the timing seems to pretty much eliminate him from coming back here. He’d have to be in the minors Monday at 3 to be sent down this year, and to do that, he’d have to be placed on waivers by Saturday and claimed by the Islanders and only the Islanders. So, good for Wallace.

(Without Klementyev, including Koskinen, not including the two in junior, and now without Wallace: 43 NHL contracts? I should recount those at some point.)

And so, Bridgeport is stuck with the cast that has won 16 of the past 18. For now. It’s logical, as Arthur Staple tweeted Wednesday, that a call-up could be coming; there didn’t seem to be a tip here about who might be going. The forward lines looked a smidgen odd, actually, until someone pointed out that Tomas Marcinko, skating with Justin DiBenedetto and Casey Cizikas, was probably a placeholder for No. 36. Well, neither Marcinko (three-game suspension announced Wednesday afternoon, if you missed it) nor Wallace will be available Friday in Springfield.

With Ty Wishart back, Bridgeport released Wes Cunningham from his PTO. Brent Thompson said he thought Calvin de Haan could play this weekend, and — “big maybe” — Mark Katic was also possible. They don’t plan to rush Rhett Rakhshani back; he seems to be doing well.

The team announced Blair Riley’s and Steve Oleksy’s AHL contracts.

Afternoon edit: Tomas Marcinko receives a three-game suspension from the league for Monday’s boarding penalty. Of note, both of the other guys who were suspended will miss a Bridgeport game: Cody Bass for a hit against Hartford, and Nathan Perkovich for his hit on Mark Parrish.

–Benn Olson is going to the ECHL again to play some more games. He’ll serve the last game of his ECHL suspension tonight, then play four games in five days for Greenville, expected to return here a week from today.

–The Islanders announced they’ve placed Tim Wallace on waivers, and they sent Ty Wishart to Bridgeport. (Not here this morning.)

–Calvin de Haan, Mark Katic and Brett Gallant continue to practice. Brent Thompson wouldn’t say yes or no on any of them yet, but they’re in the conversation again, at least, for lineup spots, depending on what the doctors and the management say in the next few days.

–Thompson said he doesn’t expect Rhett Rakhshani to play this weekend, but he said Rakhshani rode the bike today and was feeling OK.

–Blair Riley’s agent spilled the beans Tuesday night: Riley has signed an AHL deal, and we’re told today that Steve Oleksy joins him. It’s likely that others follow in short order.

Lines today were basically Monday’s, with the exception of Trevor Gillies in the spot normally held by Tomas Marcinko. Given the facts above, nothing else unexpected.

Meanwhile, Columbus, banged up in goal up and down the organization, gets Curtis McElhinney as part of a trade for Antoine Vermette. You can’t make this up: McElhinney’s out injured.

This, from this week’s Saturday Night Live, gets me every time.

A darn good class for the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

And happy 32nd anniversary.

With Trevor Frischmon reportedly banged up (“day-to-day,” per Brent Thompson), missing his first game in a long while, left winger Blair Riley comes up from Chicago of the ECHL (former BST trainer Mike Schroeder’s team) on a PTO. Riley’s wearing No. 5, the lowest number worn by a Sound Tigers forward by a Sound Tiger in the regular season. (Two caveats to that: Mike Davies wore 3 in the 2010 playoffs, and Paul Flache was wearing 5 when he played some games at forward in 2005-06.)

Oh, yeah. And the Sound Tigers are wearing… that. It’s black and blue and kinda orange-and-grayish. (White numbers and names, though. Phil Giubileo caught that difference.)

Looks from the rushes as if de Haan is in and Olson is out. We’ll check for the officials. edit: indeed.

BRIDGEPORT
F: McNeely-Colliton (C)-Rakhshani
Howes-Cizikas-Wallace (A)
Gallant-Marcinko-Backman
Gillies-Romano-Riley
D: de Haan-Wishart
Donovan-Reese (A)
Ness-Klementyev
Olson
G: Poulin
Nilsson

CONNECTICUT
F: Grant-(Audy-Marchessault)-Zuccarello (A)
Bourque-Tessier-Bouchard
Voros-Bell-Thuresson
McKelvie-Owens-Tanski
D: Erixon-Bickel
Valentenko-Redden (A)
Baldwin-Parlett
G: Talbot
Johnson

R: J.Hebert. L: Galvin, Wahl.

I’m short an ‘A’ for Hartford. Will add it if it exists. Brendan Bell did skate with the forwards in the rushes; we’ll see if that sticks in the game. Edit: Bell starting on D.

Micheal Haley was otherwise occupied today (but similarly dressed).