You know, I was writing something completely different, watching ESPN2 and the Giants/Nationals game, and with one swing of a bat by Barry Bonds, everything I was writing got pushed aside.

First off, congratulations to Barry Bonds for hitting career home run #756. He absolutely CRUSHED the ball and he and everyone else knew from the moment it left his bat that it was out of there.

Now, lets put away all of this debate of steroids-this and steroids-that, this is an absolutely historic moment that will be remembered for a long time. This was THE record in all of sports to break, and someone actually did it. You’re not going to see this everyday folks.

Kudos to Hank Aaron for preparing a pre-taped speech and for the classy words he said. He didn’t have to do that, but he did, and I applaud that.

Kudos to Mike Bacsik for tipping his cap to Barry afterwards. He didn’t have to do that. His name will now be etched in history, just like Al Dowling when he gave up Hank Aaron’s homerun.

We also saw a very rare moment of emotion by Barry, recognizing his father, Bobby Bonds, up in the heavens. It was something that we’ll probably never see again, just like this moment.

I just missed home run 755 by a few innings, I’m extremely grateful to see this live on TV.

I don’t know about you, but this was a very historic moment and I’m going to revel in it for a little bit. For those who watched this moment on TV just like I did, you should too…

The Sound Tigers released their 07-08 schedule earlier today.

Bridgeport sound Tigers 2007-2008 Schedule 

As like last year, their schedule consists of mainly Friday-Saturday-Sunday games, with the occasional Weds game thrown in there.  This year, the Tigers have four sets of games where they play the same team on back-to-back days on the road.  Kind of odd scheduling, if you ask me…

A couple of games to look forward to:

October 6: Season opener in Hartford
October 12: Home opener vs. Norfolk
November 11-21: More odd scheduling, three straight games against Hershey (2 road, 1 home)
November 23: Hartford’s first visit to the Bridge
December: Ten of 14 games played at home
April 12-13: Home and home with Hartford to finish out the season

Quick big club news to report…

Looks like Trent Hunter is in the fold for another year, which is a very good thing for the Isles.  He has proved to be a valuable asset to the team especially over the past two years with his physical, yet not over-agressive style of play.

The $1.55 mil award also seems very fair to both sides.  It’s been reported that Hunter was looking for $1.9 million, so it seems that the arbitrator just cut it down the middle with the $1 million he was earning the previous season.

Anyone also notice has unbelievably reasonable the arbitration awards have been this year?  With Avery getting $1.9 million, and not his asking price of $2.65 million, along with Hunter’s split-down-the-middle reward; they’ve all been very fair.  Remember last year’s atrocities??  York gets $2.5 million??? Puh-lease!!

That’s all for now.  Everyone enjoy your weekend!

Wow, has it really been since the 11th since I’ve updated this?  Wow, well I do have my European trip excuse.  Which was beautiful by the way.  Not much has happened in Islanders Country since I’ve been gone, and I guess you can say that’s a good thing.

Onto some news, it looks like the Islanders will visit the Bridge again this preseason for an exhibition game against the Devils.  This will be the second year in a row that these two teams will be tilting at Harbor Yard.  I, for one, love these games and it brings up some fond memories for me.  the first game I covered was an Islanders preseason game at Bridgeport in 2003 against the Boston Bruins.  I remember it vividly…Islanders 5-3 win over the Bruins, Steve Stirling led the Islanders to a perfect 7-0 preseason that year.  Ah…the memories…

Oh, more good news.  I’ve been named as one of the first members of the NYI Blog Box!   I’m very excited for the opportunity, and in kind, have created my own blog, The Tiger Track.  Over at the Tiger Track, I’ll be focusing on all the former Sound Tigers that are now playing with the New York Islanders in the NHL.  Guys like Trent Hunter, Chris Campoli, Sean Bergenheim, Wade Dubielewicz, and much more.

I’ll also be doing some retrospectives on some of the greatest games from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season as well, from my perspective as a writer being enthralled with the action.  It should be fun.  I’ll place a link in the sidebar as well for easy clicking.  And you’ll be sure I’ll be pimping it every chance I get!

That’s it for now, I’ll be back very soon…

Nope, that’s not referencing Toronto Blue Jay’s DH Frank Thomas, but for many Islander fans, July 1 really feels like a kick in the proverbial gut.

July 1 is free agent day, and the rumours were flying.  Excitement was in the air at Islanders Iceworks during the Islanders Prospect Camp.  But as the day progressed for Isles fans, the news got dimmer and dimmer…very…slowly…

Lets take a look at who has been lost…

~Jason Blake - Toronto (5 yrs./$20 mil)
~Viktor Kozlov - Washington (2 yrs./$5 mil)
~Richard Zednik - Florida (2 yrs./$3 mil)
~Tom Poti - Washington (4 yrs./$14 mil)

and finally… Ryan Smyth - Colorado (5 yrs./$31.25 mil)

Now, I totally can live with the loss of Zednik (who wasn’t even qualified) and Kozlov.  They won’t be missed much by me.  Poti’s loss hurts, but IMO, he’s not worth $3.5 million a year.  He needed another year to prove that worth.  The loss of Blake was obviously expected, and I wasn’t surprised to see the five years out there.   The Smyth loss though, that hurt the most.  I knew Colorado was the obvious suitor that was trying to lure Smytty away, so that wasn’t surprising.  The fact that surprises me is that Smytty took LESS money to go to Colorado, as opposed to stay here on Long Island.  One would think where Smyth was traded from Edmonton because he wasn’t being offered enough money, that would go to the team that offered him more.  We always knew to expect the unexpected with the ISlanders, and this one certainly came as a shocker for sure.

But now, the Isles have some serious issues to address.  They just lost this season their top three scorers (Smyth [granted w/ EDM], Yashin, Blake), their most reliable defenseman (Poti), and another 20-goal scorer (Kozlov).   When you look around the league, I see the Flyers getting Briere for a ridiculous 8-year deal, the Rangers inking Drury and Gomez, Kariya (who was strongly rumoured as a potential backup to Smyth) going with St. Louis, and all the Isles have to show for it is Jon Sim.  Not a very impressive opening IMO.

Garth and Co. better be making waves instead of splashes now, because the pool is draining…

Hi all. I figure with the season over I’m going to do a weekly update for news concerning the Isles and Sound Tigers. This seems like a good format idea to me, and I’ll be open to suggestions if anyone doesnt think otherwise. Let’s get on to the news, and there is many…

~Sound Tigers Head Coach Jack Capuano has a new assistant, and it’s a pretty familiar face in the form of Pat Bingham. Bridgeport fans know Bingham best as assistant coach for Dave Bassegio during the 2005-2006 season.

~Some prospect signings to report on. The Isles signed Sean Bentivoglio and Andrew MacDonald to three-year deals. Bentivoglio was an undrafted free agent and got a shot with Providence this past year on an ATO and impressed greatly. He played at Harbor Yard late last season with the P-Bruins and really shined scoring a goal and two assists. McDonald signed an ATO with the Sound Tigers late last year and went scoreless in three games. I unfortunately did not get the chance to see him play since I was covering the Devils playoffs during that time, but I’ve heard good things about him.

~Welcome back ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies to the organization!

~Congrats to Kenny Morrow, who signed a multi-year deal and continuing his position as Director of Pro Scouting. Couldn’t go to a classier guy.

~The Sound Tigers ambassador program is underway. Great promotion to get fans more involved so all should sign up.

~Music of the week: Maroon 5, “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” Great stuff and VERY long awaited by Maroon 5, since it’s been five years since 2002’s “Songs About Jane”. More dance-oriented than their previous outing, but it’s fun to listen to and great to have in the background when you need to relax.

That’s it for now. Maybe I’ll get that music-related post out soon…

Greetings from Bridgeport, CT again!  The Tigers have a crucial game again tonight as they face the Providence Bruins at 7:30 tonight.  The Tigers are currently tied in the last playoff spot with the Albany River Rats, who are in Binghamton to play the B-Sens.  Odds are that the River Rats will take two points from the Senators (who hasn’t this year) so it’s must win again for the Tigers if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.

A couple of roster moves I failed to mention that are of note:

Released:
Cam McCaffrey
James Sixsmith
Steve Crampton

Add to roster:
Bruno Gervais

I’ll be back with pre-game line combinations after the warm ups!

Til then…

Big game for the Tigers tonight. Down by 2 points to the River Rats after a emotional loss to the Bears 6-5 last night, Bridgeport will have some familiar and some un-familiar faces in the lineup tonight.

Add:
~#7 Jeff Tambellini
~#38 Allan Rourke
~#39 Steve Regier
~#42 David Desharnais (signed to ATO)
~#45 Trevor Smith (signed to ATO)

James Sixsmith will be wearing #11 tonight. Steve Crampton will be donning #37 and Kyle Rank with #47.

Anyone remember the famous SNL skit “Jingleheimer Junction”, where Will Ferrell and the gang are in a children’s TV sho about friendship? They try to play “Mix-mash-mix-em-up” and almost spell a four-letter word that I’m sure Isles and Sound Tigers fans are saying to themselves right now as the injury woes continue to bite both clubs in such a crucial point of the season. They’re almost forcing me to bring back the M*A*S*H reference again…
So there have been a TON of roster moves lately. Just got the official word from the Sound Tigers organization, so let’s run them down…

On Recall to the Islanders:
–Steve Regier (emergency unless Smyth or Hilbert cannot play)
–Wade Dubielewicz
–Jeff Tambellini
–Allan Rourke

Joining the Sound Tigers:
–Mike Mole, recalled from Pensacola
–Sergei Ogorodnikov, recalled from Pensacola
–James Sixsmith, signed to ATO
–Kyle Rank, signed to ATO
–Steve Crampton, signed to PTO (Las Vegas)

Currently out day-to-day:
–Frans Nielsen (minor concussion)
–Eric Boguniecki (sickness)

Released from PTO:
–Dustin VanBallegooie
–Cam McCaffrey

On to business at hand now. Sound Tigers are in Bridgeport tonight hosting the Hartford Wolfpack on the tail end of a home-and-home. Your guess will be as good as mine on what line combinations Dan Marshall and crew are going to throw out tonight, but I will be on it when I find out.

Finally, here are the current playoff standings. Albany plays Manchester tonight for those who are going to be scoreboard watching. Those in bold have obviously clinched playoff spots. Binghamton has officially been eliminted.

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