So long, old friend: Twin brother Manchester

ManchVegas. You and Bridgeport arrived at the same time, both with brand-new yet so different buildings.

Those days when the barn was packed and the rivalry was a rivalry. The 2003 playoffs that could’ve been something special (“Monarchs in five” –some nut from the Connecticut Post) and instead became a short series and a footnote in a book. (If it makes you feel any better, Bridgeport’s only won 10 playoff games in 12 years since.) Hanging out with people like Ken Cail and Kim Mueller.

I spent a lot of time in that barn with the playoff series and several schedule quirks that, back when we traveled more, often kept me in town a few days. Found a few decent places, though none more exciting than that Dairy Queen that stayed open late. (Sad but true.) Best of all, it was across the river from the arena and close to that EconoLodge, where the floors tilted, and the cheap room wrapped around the elevator shaft and had a twin bed (“One person! One person only!” repeatedly insisted the guy checking me in, holding up one finger, and I looked around the empty lobby to see if he thought I was with someone), and the parking lot was pretty sketchy, and it once took about 25 minutes to get checked in (same guy, different time, same empty lobby).

You know, character.

Stayed there for the 2005 All-Star Game, when for a brief, shining moment it seemed as if the lockout might be ending (it was not) and all those amazing players seemed about ready to depart for the NHL (they did not). That’s where Jonathan Bombulie played us the Mike Therrien “Arena Bar & Grill” tape.

If this is it… Oh, man, ManchVegas.

TEN MEMORIES

Beginning with one that wasn’t: Nov. 2, 2001: The lights go out at the Arena at Harbor Yard several times before the game and again during the first period. The game’s postponed to January.

Jan. 18, 2003: One of the best ties ever. Scott Barney gets credit for a controversial tying goal (Rick DiPietro thinks he pushed it in with a glove) as Bridgeport blows a 4-2 lead. Steve Stirling gets hit with a gross misconduct at Verizon Wireless Arena.

Cheating to make 10: The 2003 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, April 12, 13, 18, 2003: It begins with a 2-1 Bridgeport win in Manchester behind Steve Valiquette’s 27 saves and goals from Jeremy Adduono and Trent Hunter. Before Game 2 the next day, Graham Belak and Kip Brennan nearly come to blows. After Manchester scores two quick goals to grab a lead 6:41 into the game, Bridgeport scores three in a row; Sean Avery ties it in the second, but Bridgeport scores three in a row again to win 6-3. The Monarchs lead 2-0 again in Game 3 in Bridgeport, but the Sound Tigers get two in the second, and the Adduono-Daniel Tkaczuk-Jeff Hamilton line scores twice in the first 4:13 of the third to win 6-3 again. It’s Bridgeport’s fourth playoff-series win in two years, and that kind of success is just going to keep rolling on, right?

(It’s Bridgeport’s last playoff series win.)

Nov. 4, 2005: Manchester wins a breathtakingly wild 7-5 game in Bridgeport. The Monarchs put 31 shots on Wade Dubielewicz in the second period. A certain blog had been kicking around for a couple of months, but — “Are lineups of interest to anybody?” — it was, in purpose, born this night.

March 7, 2010: Jake Gannon scores in the second period, and then in overtime, on a deflection, Jon Gleed scores his first (and only) AHL goal at Verizon Wireless Arena.

April 2, 2010: Bridgeport loses 4-1 (“We had a half a dozen guys who probably should have stayed at the hotel,” Jack Capuano says), though Rhett Rakhshani, in his pro debut, feeds Brendan Witt for a goal. There’s a power failure with 1:21 remaining, and in incredibly eerie fashion, the teams play those last 81 seconds under auxiliary lights.

April 10, 2010: In Mark Wotton’s 1,000th North American pro game, Bridgeport wins 2-0 at home to clinch a playoff spot and keep destiny in its own hands to finish fourth in the Atlantic Division. A win the next day over Hartford and it’ll play Worcester. (It loses. It plays Hershey. The rest, etc.)

Oct. 29, 2010: Wotton walks past his goalie’s postgame media scrum with the assembled reporter in Manchester. “Poulin Wall,” he says with a grin. Poulin’s stellar in a 3-2 overtime win. It’s Rob Schremp’s rehab appearance; he’s slick as usual and would’ve got a third assist, if I recall, on Travis Hamonic’s overtime goal.

Feb. 26, 2011: Manchester wins 5-0 in Bridgeport. No big deal… Except when it’s 4-0, the puck goes up into the netting in the Bridgeport zone, comes down, is recovered by Manchester after a wait-that-was-out-of-play pause, and gets put in the net. Goal. Wotton goes ballistic; referee Joe Sullivan finds his whistle and kicks him out. Off the draw, recent Bridgeport arrival Brett Gallant gets a match penalty for going after Richard Clune.

March 19, 2011: In a winter devoid of many great-for-Bridgeport memories — devoid of wins, mostly; they’d be mathematically eliminated the next day — Justin DiBenedetto ended it with a nifty behind-the-back goal to beat the Monarchs in overtime. He and his teammates spent a few minutes watching it (and other highlights) on film in the dressing room at Harbor Yard.

Jan. 10, 2014: Trailing 2-1, Bridgeport finds itself having to figure out which puck to play. A chuck-a-puck appears from the stands, Manchester collects the real puck as Bridgeport’s befuddled, and scores the first of two empty-netters to finish it off 4-1 at home.

Michael Fornabaio