CANTLON: BYE-BYE SOUND TIGERS, HELLO ISLANDERS 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are no more. They’re not leaving. The team was rebranded and will now be known as the Bridgeport Islanders.

After twenty years, the name of the Park City’s AHL team was officially changed to the Bridgeport Islanders, spelling the end of the highly recognizable Sound Tigers name and logo.

It was all smiles and happiness on Monday.

“The ‘B’ is the predominant part of the logo and represents the symmetry between both (the New York Islanders and Bridgeport) organizations. It reflects our history and future commitment to the city of Bridgeport and brings the two organizations together as we enter into going into the UBS Arena in the fall,” remarked Bridgeport General Manager Chris Lamoriello.

On the marketing and business side, the infectious enthusiasm of Brent Rossi, the president of the Sound Tigers’ business operations,  was very prevalent in the mid-afternoon Zoom press conference.

ROSSI REACTION

“This a part of our storytelling of the future growth of the franchise and the new and exciting things that are coming with the Islanders and Bridgeport.

“The game night presentation will be different. It’s been about a year-and-a-half-long process, and a lot goes into it,” remarked Rossi.

Rumors have floated, and many believed that the New York Rangers would move their AHL franchise from Hartford to Bridgeport while the Islanders would head to Long Island.

Lamoriello quickly shot down those rumors of the team moving to a downsized but thoroughly renovated Nassau Coliseum.

“That was never on my radar at all, or at any time ever considered or part of any discussions. We are committed to the city of Bridgeport for the foreseeable future.”

STAYING IN BRIDGEPORT

The Islanders inherited a lease they couldn’t change with a looming $250K per year early exit fee penalty. The Rangers stay in Hartford because they get paid to stay. The team earned $1.55M in 2019, and that number escalates by $500K every year so that neither team would be moving.

The Webster Bank building’s twenty-year lease expires on June 30th. While there was no official word, it seems the announcement of a new multi-year agreement is forthcoming.

“We have had an internal working group that has been talking with the city to define areas that need improvement. We’re in the final stretch of itemizing that list. Hopefully, we will have an announcement in the next couple of months that we can go a little more in detail about,” Rossi remarked.

Marketing is a crucial element for the team’s success.

“We want to grow this brand, but we’re not turning our backs on the Sound Tigers name. We’re very proud of it, but if you look at what’s going in with the Islanders franchise and with the organization’s success on the ice and with the opening of the UBS Arena, which will be spectacular, we see this as a fantastic opportunity for building our brand the New York Islanders brand.”

HISTORY

Given the team’s tumultuous early years, it’s incredible the team has made it this far.

Some twenty miles from the since-demolished New Haven Coliseum, The Webster Bank Arena opened with the initial name being “The Arena at Harbor Yard.” The building was a political gift, along with the next-door baseball stadium, from former Governor John Rowland after the city lost out on getting a casino.

The original tenants would be an ECHL team with local owners, Mary Jane Foster and Jack McGregor. Those negotiations were well along the way.

Roy Boe threw promises at the AHL like slapshots and swept in to secure the new arena lease with an unheard-of twenty-year $20 million offer.

The former Beast of New Haven (AHL) made the original offer of ten years at $1.1 million per year, a standard bid at the time. The New Haven team and the AHL were aware of the schedule for the building to be closed and demolished. After rejecting the offer by the Beast of New Haven, the city seemed destined for the ECHL.

BEAST OUT MANEUVERED

The Beast of New Haven leased their AHL team from the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers in a dual affiliation deal. The Panthers would move to Louisville, KY. After two years with the option to buy the team at $2 million, which was the going rate at the time, they passed when Carolina rejected another multi-year lease arrangement offer by Paragon Sports, the company that owned the Beast.

Thirty days after the Beast of New Haven folded in June 2000, and their awful cartoon logo retired, Boe purchased the AHL team from Carolina for $2 million. Originally, Boe wanted to build a small arena in Stamford, but that never happened.

Boe, one of the original owners of the New York Islanders when they entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1972, then worked out an affiliation arrangement with the team.

That move set off a chain reaction of events leading to a press conference on the concourse of the former baseball stadium located next door to the site where they announced the deal.

MORE INTRIGUE

The Islander AHL affiliate at the time, the Lowell Lock Monsters, hadn’t been informed by then Islanders GM Mike Milbury of the new deal and the impending move.

That oversite led to a volcanic telephone exchange with then Lowell GM/Head Coach and former Hartford Whaler, Tom Rowe. The result of that call led to Milbury pulling all of his Islanders players (five in total) from Lowell mid-season. Millbury sent three of them to a fellow divisional team, the Springfield Falcons, nor Thunderbirds.

Lowell filed a complaint with the league over the move as both Lowell and Springfield were battling for playoff positions.

Once the parties agreed to an original finalized lease, Center Plate Management was set to become the building operator and held the concession contract, but the relationship soured within three years.

Boe’s failure to pay the Islanders their affiliation fee led to a lawsuit to collect it. The now-late owner of the Islanders, Charles Wang, purchased the AHL team on July 22, 2004.

The financially distressed Sound Tigers owed a lot more than just the Islanders’ affiliation fee. They also had tremendous outstanding commercial debts from local vendors and suppliers, and there was also a massive problem with unpaid salary and compensatory issues with employees.

MORE CHANGES STILL

When Center Plate finished its ten-year contract, they didn’t submit a bid to renew the arena operator portion of their contract.

Global Spectrum (now Spectra) then came in to review the books. According to a well-informed source who was present, “We didn’t leave the building, we ran. The level of debt was so great it was recommended we not make a bid at all.”

A new management company, Harbor Yard Sports and Entertainment (HYSE), was created by the Islanders to operate the building and was run by its former GM/President, the irascible Howard Saffan. The team was able to make things work until that relationship soured. After ten years in charge, Saffan was fired by the Islanders on June 3, 2015.

On March 1, 2019, OVG (Oak View Group), in part funded by MSG and involved in managing the new NHL arena in Seattle, was named the new building operator.

OVG is working with Bridgeport and the Islanders to make a new lease to match the new identity created by the parent team.

The Islanders hope for better post-season success. They made the Calder Cup final in their first season and the conference finals the second year, but over the last 18 years, the team has made the playoffs just six times and have not advanced past the first round.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

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