Sound Tigers schedule heavy on weekend dates
Season 19 for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers begins with four road games, ends with three road games and, in between, features 25 home games on Saturday or Sunday.
The AHL released its schedule Wednesday afternoon, with Bridgeport opening in Springfield on Oct. 5 and playing its home opener Saturday, Oct. 19, at Webster Bank Arena. Bridgeport has 10 home games on Sunday (all but two of them 3 p.m. starts, with the others at 5) and 15 on Saturday nights. There are also five Fridaynight home games, including one at 7:30 on March 20.
The team will again play three morning games aimed at school and youth organizations. Those have traditionally drawn some of the team’s biggest crowds of recent seasons.
“We are thrilled with this year’s schedule, especially because it is dominated by weekend home dates and divisional opponents,” Sound Tigers president Michael Picker said in a statement.
“It also provides good balance on home and away dates, so our players can effectively chase a Calder Cup championship. Our fans should look forward to the return of popular theme nights, new promotional events, and unique game offerings that will be announced in the near future.”
The theme nights begin opening night with Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
The Sound Tigers will play New England rivals Hartford, Providence and Springfield 12 times each, split evenly home and away.
They’ll only meet defending Calder Cup champion Charlotte four times this year, down from eight, and will face its other three division rivals six times apiece. For the second year in a row, Bridgeport plays every North Division team except Cleveland.
There are nine threegamesinthreedays weekends on the Bridgeport schedule, up one from last year’s teamrecordlow, and 17 other backtobacks.
Bridgeport’s season ends April 11 in Toronto, capping a road swing through Hartford and Rochester.
NEW HOMES: Bridgeport’s parent New York Islanders signed veteran AHL goalie Jared Coreau, TSN 1260’s Brennan Klak first reported early Wednesday morning.
Coreau has played 193 AHL games as well as 21 in the NHL, adding some veteran depth to the organization. He finished the past season with the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, recalled after the regular
season from San Antonio (AHL).
Veteran forward Mike Sislo signed to play in Germany with Wolfsburg after one season in Bridgeport. Sislo had 15 points in 39 games for the Sound Tigers.
NEW BOSS: Ryan Warsofsky, who played parts of two seasons at Sacred Heart a decade ago, was named Charlotte’s head coach on Wednesday. Warsofsky was an ECHL head coach for two years before joining the Checkers’ staff this past season.
Mike Vellucci, who coached Charlotte to the championship, became head coach of WilkesBarre/Scranton last month.
NEW GIG: Connecticut native Luke Curadi was named director of player personnel for the USHL on Wednesday. Curadi played in the USHL before playing at RPI and in pro hockey.