Things looked more or less status quo for Bridgeport this morning, except:
–Christopher Gibson rejoined them. All three goalies were out there.
–Michael Dal Colle in red. Scott Eansor departed early for the second day in a row. Parker Wotherspoon wasn’t on; was at the doctor’s.
–Also on in red: Devon Toews, three months removed from shoulder surgery. I was fortunately not the only one to bust his chops about whether he was making the trip. Not taking full part, obviously, but good for him and them to see him out there.
–While all that was going on, Bridgeport announced it had called Josh Holmstrom and Pat Cullity back up from Worcester, for whom they played last night in Reading, cutting the Railers’ magic number to two points. Josh was back in the room after practice. Afterward, Bridgeport sent Yanick Turcotte down.
So that’s the crew that heads to Wilkes-Barre to try to keep hope alive at least till Saturday. After Charlotte’s demolition of the Phantoms last night, the magic numbers are Wilkes-Barre 1, Charlotte 2, Providence 4. That is, a Bridgeport regulation loss coupled with a Providence win would eliminate Bridgeport. Any other combination might clinch for the other two but would at least make Saturday night meaningful.
Waiting on David Quenneville news.
Onetime Sound Tigers property Corey Syvret capped a heck of a rookie year as a referee last night with his NHL debut.
Dylan Strome, like his brother before him, made the AHL all-rookie team. The all-star teams come out today. Ex-Sound Tigers goalie Parker Milner is first-team All-ECHL; Sacred Heart’s Justin Danforth is a second-team all-star.
Locally, goalie Spencer Knight of Darien is on the Under-18 national team. Albertus Magnus is starting a hockey team.
And there are not many players left who can bring forth memories of the early days of the Sound Tigers, of Mike Therrien complaining about his guys being clutched and grabbed, of Greg Cronin answering back with mildly butchered versions of the Penguins’ names. Tip of cap to Tom Kostopoulos, for whom this is it.