With Josh Winquist and Steve Bernier out — Bernier day-to-day though doubtful tomorrow, and Winquist perhaps a little longer — and Connor Jones suspended, Bridgeport puts an assortment of new guys in and gets Scott Mayfield back. There seemed to be a possibility that they’d go with seven defensemen, putting in Loic Leduc, if a forward couldn’t go, though I’m not sure who that is. Binghamton also has one to scratch; first blush was Macoy Erkamps, just up from Wichita. Edit: Leduc is scratched, so guess whoever it was is OK.
It’s meanwhile a bit of a milestone night. In the summer of 2001, the guy who’s over the defense on the other bench tonight, Steve Stirling, hired a former Yale defenseman as his assistant coach with the Sound Tigers. Dave Baseggio was an assistant here for four years, then head coach for one more, a total of 400 regular-season games. Until tonight, that was the most anyone had coached for the Sound Tigers.
Tonight is Eric Boguniecki’s 401st regular-season game as a Sound Tigers assistant. (Now, he’s 37 behind Baseggio’s 43 playoff games, but you’ve got to start somewhere.)
BRIDGEPORT
F: Verhaeghe – Kearns (A) – Ho-Sang
Dal Colle-St. Denis-Fritz
Rowe-Gionta-Markison
Johnston-B.Holmstrom (C)-J.Holmstrom
D: Cullity-Mayfield (A)
Toews-Burroughs
Landry-Graham
(Leduc-scratch)
G: Williams
McAdam
BINGHAMTON
F: McCormick-Varone (A)-Akeson
Bailey (A)-Nehring-Blunden (C)
Perron-Flanagan-Rodewald
Gagne-Krushelnyski-Stortini
D: Lepine-Kostka
Sieloff-Harpur
Rumble-Carlisle
(Erkamps-scratch)
G: O’Connor
Driedger
R: Voss, Mullen. L: Baker, Colby.
Bridgeport scratches (believed healthy unless noted): Gibson (lower body), Lafranchise (lower body), Pulock, Bernier (lower body), Boulton, C.Jones (suspended 1/4), K.Jones (lower body), Winquist (lower body) and one more.
Tonight’s lightsabers turn out to be “Magic Swords.” Disappointing. Also, the X-Wing pilot jerseys are — hate to say it — one of those that are cooler off the ice. Tough to read the TV numbers.