AHL PLAYOFF PRIMER: Game 1 tonight at the NVMC
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Bridgeport, 7:35 pm
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers made the bus ride from Fairfield County to Nassau on Thursday afternoon in preparation of their road-home games on Friday and Saturday at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Bridgeport takes on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in an opening round, best-of-7 American Hockey League playoff series. (Coincidentally, the Baby Pens got a mention in Thursday’s ep of “The Office.”)
One regular Sound Tigers observer provided us with this prediction of Game 1 lines:
Jesse Joensuu - Ben Walter - Kyle Okposo
Trevor Smith - Rob Hennigar - Mike Iggulden
Jon Sim - Tyler Haskins - Sean Bentivoglio
The fourth line will be comprised of three of the following: Micheal Haley, Pascal Morency, Tomas Marcinko and Dennis Packard.
Notes: As in the NHL, don’t expect to see many fighters in the AHL playoffs, or at least much fighting among AHL heavyweights…The Sound Tigers have been carrying several young Islanders prospects, including Robin Figren, Justin DiBenedetto, Mark Katic, Max Gratchev (unsigned Travis Hamonic has gone home). Although you can be certain Bridgeport will go with a more veteran lineup for most, if not all of the series, our money is on the 20-year old DiBenedetto as the kid most likely to get a look.
University of North Dakota star Ryan Duncan, signed to an ATO last week, is also likely to be part of the “Black Aces” at the start of this series…Like the Islanders, the Sound Tigers have been hit hard by injuries. Junior Lessard has not practiced all week. The absence of strong AHL vets Jeremy Colliton and Kurtis McLean is a big blow to Bridgeport.
On defense, you could see the following:
Jack Hillen - Joe Callahan
Andrew MacDonald - Dustin Kohn
Jamie Fraser - Chris Lee
Jon Glead - Mark Wotton
In goal, expect Nathan Lawson to get the call as No. 1. But with three games in under 72 hours, Peter Mannino will likely see action in the series.
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Fornabaio’s Preview: We asked for a brief email analysis from the great Mike Fornabaio, who covers the Sound Tigers every day of the year for the Connecticut Post. Check out his blog and the paper’s site for his prediction and additional info. Here’s what Mike was kind enough to write especially for us:
“As Jack Capuano has said a couple of times this week, these are two teams that play a similar game, that love to pressure, that can play at a high tempo. They both send out talented forwards who excel when they get the puck deep; both have more than one line that can score. Both have defensemen who can move the puck.
“Bridgeport has to contain the Penguins’ transition; the Sound Tigers got in trouble a few times when the Penguins got loose for odd-man rushes. And whether Capuano decides on Nathan Lawson or Peter Mannino (if only for a given night), that goalie has to at least match John Curry, who won 33 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“If you’re looking for some other players to watch, aside from Curry: D Ben Lovejoy (steady presence in the back), LW Janne Pesonen (first year over here, though not a kid; top scorer), C Jeff Taffe (big AHL scorer, playing only his second playoff), RW Chris Minard (sniper). Connor James, fearless and speedy little captain, has been out of practice with one of them lower-body injuries.”
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Capuano’s Take: Sound Tigers coach Jack Capuano, on the phone this morning to Point Blank:
“They’ve got speed, deception, grit. Ben Lovejoy was plus-42. John Curry in goal has been tremendous for them.
“I’ve told our team that the little things are going to be the big things. It’s going to come down to discipline, turnovers, territorial battles.
“No matter who we’ve put in the lineup, these guys have given us their all. Win or lose or draw, I guarantee you they will work extremely hard and play for each other.”
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The Series:
Game 1 – Friday, Apr. 17 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at SOUND TIGERS 7:30 p.m. (NVMC)
Game 2 – Saturday, Apr. 18 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at SOUND TIGERS 7 p.m. (NVMC)
Game 3 – Sunday, Apr. 19 – SOUND TIGERS at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5:05 p.m.
Game 4 – Wednesday, Apr. 22 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at SOUND TIGERS 7 p.m.
Game 5 – Friday, Apr. 24 – SOUND TIGERS at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 7:05 p.m.
Game 6 – Saturday, Apr. 25 – SOUND TIGERS at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 7:05 p.m.
Game 7 – Sunday, Apr. 26 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at SOUND TIGERS 4 p.m.
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Point Blank will have coverage of Games 1 and 2 from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and will blog throughout the series. Kevin Schultz and I will be at Game 1 and Kevin will take care of Game 2.
As I’m sure you know by now, although their season is over, 24/7 coverage of all things New York Islanders has not ended on Point Blank. Although we have not nailed down our long-term future at this, we can guarantee daily coverage until at least Memorial Day. Please continue to spread the word. Thanks as always.
Comments on this post only. Comment Guidelines. Draft Poll results and conversation continue in next thread. The draft is more than two months away. Pace yourself!
28 Responses to “AHL PLAYOFF PRIMER: Game 1 tonight at the NVMC
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Bridgeport, 7:35 pm”
Please Wait
i hope you guys get to see morency play….he is a cult hero in bridgeport…not the best hockey player..but a pain in the arse
Too bad these games aren’t televised.
CB, this site has been a God-send. Let us know what we can do to keep you on this.
Dwight Schrute: [Holding a business card from Michael's Rolodex] And on the back, he wrote, “great salesman, better friend.” [shakes his head and shows the card] Tall and beats.
CB, what happened to Jeremy Colliton?
derek-”Tom, the homosexual sophomore?”
Please keep this blog going CB!! I need something to look at all day during work
I will gladly pay $20 a year to help keep this site going.
I wonder if Joensuu has a chance to make the big club next year.
I believe Colliton has a head injury.
I’ll gladly pay $20 a year too. This is easily one of the best hockey sites on the web.
I hope for a lot of the NYI fans to post on here today that they will be going to the games on the Island. You all should be supporting your future Islanders!
Looking forward to the game tonight, a bunch of buddies and I will be going, 20 dollars a ticket, we are game, should be great to watch the islanders…….cough…..I mean bridgeport play.
Thanks for all the great articles you provide cb, definitely turned me into a daily visitor and reader, and have showed several friends as well.
I imagine Dibenedetto (Can we just abbreviate his name Dibo?) won’t be playing at first since he needs to learn the system and how to play in it, but later in the series/later in the playoffs they really should add him to the fourth line. I think all of us would love to see what the kid can do.
Don’t think Morency will play cuz he’s not on the clear day roster, although he can be an injury sub.Getting Dibo in a game is more likely. BTW, the defenseman with the cool hairdo spells his name Jon Gleed. Thanks for the coverage CB, see you at the game.
(3) Colliton took a huge hit from Staffon Kronwall and has a concussion. Gr hasn’t been cleared to play yet. This led to a fight by Micheal Haley [my personal favorite player]. I agree with (1) Morency is a god in BPT. (he has his own fanclub in sections 111 & 112] and would be quite the fan fav on the island once the fanbase sees him play.
It’s funny how MSG carried the Hartford Wolfpack games when the Rags weren’t in the playoffs or they were eliminated … I know that MSG and MSG+ have heavy schedules with the Rags, Devs, Knicks & Nets (the later 2 will be done soon) … but I’d really love to catch these games … if anything on tape delay.
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To answer JZimm’s question on the previous thread about the cartoon with the Islander #22 jersey … I think it was called the Raccoons … Ironically my brother was just looking for that on You Tube for my nephews … I’m not sure if he had any luck … I remember the “kid” in the cartoon wasn’t a kid … it was a near sighted ant eater. My brother said his name was Cedric … LOL!! I remember seeing it a few times in the late 80s.
Looking forward to supporting many current and future Isles tonite at the NVMC!
PB Guaranteed at least until Memorial Day? Tell us what we need to do to extend the life of this blog!
If San Jose does lose in the first round to Anaheim, can someone please tell me what pick the Isles get? I have heard 22, 24, or 26. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks in advance.
I just went looking for the AHLs webpage… and it is hard to find. theahl.com isn’t the first thing that people are going to try, and searching “American Hockey League” or “AHL” on Yahoo it doesn’t even come up on the first page.
Best pick the Isles get if SJ loses in the first round is 22 islesphan
I get the pleasure of seeing almost ALL the games live because I’m coming down from PA to see tonight’s game, and Scranton is only an hour away from my house, so I get to see games 3 and 4. Hope to see everyone there.
Memo to Chris Dey:
Please make CB the Director of “all Web Meida realted stuff” CB would like 150K per year. CB as agent I will only take 5%
Hopefully they will be selling bridgeport shirts, I really like the jerseys.
make it 4% since i cant freakin spell “Web media related stuff”
CB, if you ever stop writing this blog I will do two things. 1) wish you great success in whatever else you choose to do 2) cry, in a quiet manly way. This site is my first stop every time I check in for news about my greatest non-family related passion in life. Thanks for all that you do.
Please don’t leave us Chris. We can’t bear to live without you Chris. The thought of you not being the first thing we see when we wake up, and the last thing we see before we go to sleep, breaks our hearts and shatters our spirits. Please, let’s make this work. Our love can conquer all things and endure all things. We’ll even put out more if it helps.
PS: I’ll see you guys Saturday at the Coliseum. I’ll be the drunk one.
Is this game gonna be broadcast in any form? TV, Radio, Online? I’d love to be able to watch it. Alternating with the Pens/Flyers as the Pens secure us another 3rd round pick. Anyone see our boy Billy take down Coburn?
(23) http://www.AHLlive.com will have the game. You have to pay for the webcast but the readio feed is free.both can be had on that site
I’m trying to convince the ms. to come out and cheer on the kids. will the place be operating normally (concessions, shops)?
problem is coming from queens costs an arm and a leg to take train then a cab to coliseum.
Why wouldn’t they televise a game, being played on LI, on LI?
I’m disappointed, I won’t be able to watch our minor league team play. We NEVER get to see them all season so it wouldve been nice.
I feel like I’ll be missing something worthwhile if I don’t make it to one of these two games…
I found your blog and read a few of the posts. Keep up the good work. I am looking forward to checking out more from you in the future.