- Who, when, whatever: Wolf Pack at Sound Tigers, Arena at Harbor Yard, Saturday 7 p.m.
- Watch: AHLTV pay-per-view
- Listen: Mixlr audio
- Twitters: Alan / the Sound Tigers / the Pack / Bob Crawford, assuming the Rangers haven’t called him up again
- Box score: Sure (R: C.Syvret, Labonte; L: Colby, N.Briganti)
- Game notes: Sitting on my hard drive is most of an essay, thrown down after Charlotte’s visit last month. Most decent-to-successful teams, like Bridgeport has been the past four years before this one, you remember the big names: Kolnik-Krog-Hunter, Jeff Hamilton outscoring everyone, Smith-McLean-Iggulden. “What was at the heart of these Brent Thompson teams?” I had written. “S**t-disturbing, pester-you-to-death, run-you-over-and-make-you-bleeping-remember-it third and fourth lines.” Florek-Holmstrom-Vaive, Jones-Jones-Holmstrom, Gomes-Jones-Markison (whose first visit back to Bridgeport sparked the whole thought), and even last year when the overall cast was a little better, Connor Jones was in the middle of it all and Ben Holmstrom was at least in the room. This year’s team sort of had one of those lines to start the year: Bourque-Bardreau-McDonald. They had them for four games; Bardreau went up before the fifth, and this year’s team took a while to latch on to that identity (or really any). As far as I know, they trio had never been reunited until some point last night before the middle of the second period. But there they were. I picked the game up for a bit after Springfield took a 2-0 lead. Travis St. Denis threw a hit that turned the puck over and let Mason Jobst, led by Nick Schilkey, coast in alone to deke Chris Driedger out of his skates. The same line stayed on the ice, and St. Denis tipped in a Sebastian Aho shot to tie it 25 seconds later. Then Oliver Wahlstrom won a faceoff after Jeff Kubiak got tossed, and Kieffer Bellows scored. Then Wahlstrom scored off a broken play, and Thomas Hickey had three points after having none in his first 12 games (of which he probably played a full game in like eight). Two more in the third, including Bellows’ 18th, and they’d won in the House of Horrors. Figure this game out sometimes, know what I mean?… Wait, which game is this supposed to be the game notes for? Alan last night said Jordan Schmaltz likely debuts tonight.
- Meh, what else is going on: One Joshua Ho-Sang debuted for San Antonio last night. The league approved San Antonio’s sale to the Golden Knights and move to Nevada. Coincidence? (Yes.) Guess who scored to put the Rampage ahead in the third, which proved to be the game-winner? Nice work on the boards by him and out from behind the net by Jordan Nolan to set Ho-Sang up down low on the left side. Elsewhere, Charlotte, decimated at the deadline, scored a delayed-penalty own-goal last night, but at least it had a sense of humor about it. (Speaking of Charlotte, Bridgeport’s new VP of ticket sales and service comes here from there. His resume includes stops with the league and the Worcester Sharks.) Even more elsewhere, conference playoffs start tonight. Hand and Branford play for the top seed in SCC/SWC Division II.
- RIP, Johnny Antonelli and Freeman Dyson.
- Scheduled post again? Living dangerously.
- If this were a regular blog post, what word or phrase would most likely follow “More” at this point: Tomorrow. (And don’t forget that’s a 5 p.m. start.)