Sound Tigers rebrand as Bridgeport Islanders
Forsaking its identity after 20 years as the Sound Tigers, Bridgeport’s American Hockey League team rebranded itself as the Bridgeport Islanders on Monday.
The name matches the team’s parent club for its entire history, the New York Islanders. A small portion of the new Bridgeport logo incorporates a small part of the Islanders’ logo.
Sound Tigers president of business operations Brent Rossi said the change was in the works for a some time.
“We wanted to create a stronger connection between the New York Islanders and their AHL affiliate up here,” Rossi said. “The timing was really perfect. It aligned with our 20th anniversary as a club. Most importantly, it aligned with UBS Arena opening in the fall.”
The Islanders’ new arena next to Belmont Park opens in the fall, and Rossi said the organization saw room to grow the New York Islanders’ brand into Westchester and Connecticut. It wasn’t concerned, either, about possibly alienating any New York Rangers or Boston Bruins fans who may have supported the Sound Tigers.
AHL general manager Chris Lamoriello said he expected that the name change deepens a bond between the NHL and AHL teams for players seeking to reach the NHL. The team’s new website, weareallislanders.com, reflects that while calling back to an old mar
keting slogan of the New York Islanders.
Rossi said many of the incidental details about the change have yet to be determined, like whether to keep the team’s mascot or about the banners that hang at Webster Bank Arena (though he later teased a potential mascot change, with Storm “still... around” in a different way).
Still, “we’re not turning our back at all on the history of the club,” Rossi said. “For us it’s a way to strengthen the brand here in Connecticut. When it comes to our connection to the New York Islanders, we as an organization see Connecticut and Westchester as a massive opportunity.”
Rossi had talked in the winter of 2019-20 about plans to improve the Bridgeport fan experience in ’20-21. The pandemic scuttled those. He sees this upcoming season as a new chapter.
The team teased the change with a social-media campaign, hiding the logo in plain sight at the edges of photos and in “glitchy” pictures and videos. The Sound Tigers’ website redirected to an “error” page over the weekend.
The new logo includes a hockey stick forming part of a capital ‘B’ that the team says illustrates its commitment to the City of Bridgeport. A piece of the “NY” from the Islanders’ logo forms tape on the stick blade.
“We’re calling it the ‘iconic B.’ It shows our dedication and support for the City of Bridgeport,” Rossi said. “We thought that was extremely important moving forward.”
Rossi wouldn’t talk about any specifics on extending the team’s expiring lease, but said to expect “positive announcements” in the next few months.
“Ultimately, we’re committed to the area,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Both Rossi and Lamoriello said that the team continues to work with the city on improvements to the building.
“We’re certainly speaking with the city on a daily basis, a regular basis,” Lamoriello said. “It is our intent and our hope that Bridgeport’s going to be our home for the foreseeable future.”
The Sound Tigers joined the AHL for the 2001-02 season. The team’s original owner, the late Roy Boe, announced the name on Sept. 20, 2000. A name-the-team contest had included “Beach Tigers,” but the final version incorporated Long Island Sound.
The name also led to 20 years of references, from people familiar with Canadian cities like Parry Sound and Owen Sound, to “Bridgeport Sound.”
The team unveiled a blue, black and gold color scheme the summer before it began play. The tiger logo became orange in 2006 as the team adopted the colors of its parent club, which bought the team in 2004, and in 2009 began using essentially the uniform it wore through the season that ended last week, similar to its parent club’s.
It appears the new Bridgeport Islanders crest will replace the Tiger logo on Bridgeport’s sweaters, though other details of the uniform were to be determined.
The Hartford Wolf Pack — the Rangers’ AHL affiliate — became the Connecticut Whale in 2010 under the management of former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin. They returned to the Wolf Pack name in 2013.